Evengyny
Thanks for the memories!
Kidskycom
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Aubrey Hackett
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
venusboys3
I've seen people recommending this movie for years... it turns up on many 'best horror' lists. For whatever reason, though, I'd never watched it. Partially because of the cover image I think, it just didn't grab me. Anyway, I finally broke down and watched it (and YES, I watched the 'final cut' version)... and didn't really like it at all. It's just not a very good movie. Really, this is just about a blandly attractive but uninteresting guy who happens to be an evil spirit... he hooks up with a blandly attractive woman who is selfish and dumb... and they drive a round a while till stuff happens. Along the way there is a lot of important sounding blather delivered in a ponderously dramatic manner... but it all adds up to not much. Mostly I blame the writing and the directing... though the guy playing the Dust Devil is just straight up dull. Pretty, but dull. It's far from the worst movie I've ever seen... but it might be one of the most over-hyped, at least in horror fan circles.
Ben Larson
South Africa's all-time horror classic Dust Devil (1992) spins a genuinely chilling tale of a supernatural shape-shifter roaming the Capetown area in the form of a particularly vicious serial murderer (played by Robert John Burke). With police in pursuit of the phantom slayer, the bodies pile up in this atmospheric genre bender (thriller and western) and Chelsea Field peels down most pleasingly, as does Terry Norton.Conflict between the production company and the director (Richard Stanley) resulted in several cuts to the film, and, as a result, it seems a bit disjointed.
Edgar Soberon Torchia
This comment is related to the director's cut of "Dust Devil", one of the biggest film disappointments I have had in recent years, in part due to the story surrounding its release: it creates expectation and anticipation, making one think that this is another case of American distributors ravaging a fine work. Perhaps the 87 minutes version produced by Miramax is execrable (if -as they say- everything supernatural was cut, and the role of policeman Ben Mukurov was reduced), but I can understand the reaction they had. No one can justify damaging a work, but at least we can understand the intention to "fix" what was seen as bad. Later director Richard Stanley was able to rescue the negatives and finish the film as he wanted. Unfortunately the result is not good. Starting with the casting, there is actor Robert John Burke as a villain that is more repellent that frightful, wearing a long coat, perhaps to make a connection to Sergio Leone's westerns: considering that this is a demon conceived in African soil, the entity had a bad wardrobe consultant in Hell, as he looks like a product of globalization, a Texan by way of an Italian costumer. Then you have a female character (played by Chelsea Field) that alternates between being a nasty, racist, promiscuous woman, and being plain dumb: even by the standards of horror film, what young woman would give a ride twice to an entity that, when she picked it up the first time, literally vanished from her moving car, and who was nowhere to be found when she got off? But this lady does, and by minute 59 she is seduced by the entity, dances with the dust demon and then they have sex, anticipating the ending of this silly tale even to a spectator who is a non-expert in demonic possession. However "Dust Devil" has the visual virtue to make you feel that you are watching something magnificent: besides the splendid locations in Namibia, Stanley deserves an applause for introducing pseudo-mythic elements -very nicely evoked by late John Matshikiza, as a film projectionist, in dreams as well as in what is left of a drive-in cinema in the desert; or proposed by Marianne Sägebrecht, as a forensic surgeon- that create an atmosphere of terror associated with the ancient religions that had good and evil divinities related to Nature. On the other hand, there is an interesting subplot pointing at political and social unrest. But in the end this is an underdeveloped aspect of the story that makes little contribution to the story, and that seems as "local color", comparable to the camera flourishes (including aerial shots or travelings in and back) that add to nothing. The key character of Mukurov (Zakes Mokae), the only one who seems to have a strong purpose and a credible dark past, gets lost in all the mumbo jumbo and dusty events, until the film reaches its predictable end.
Spikeopath
After rowing with her husband and deciding enough is enough, Wendy Robinson takes off into the African sun. Picking up a hitch-hiker, she finds herself strangely drawn to him, unaware that he is a travelling serial killer. When police detective Ben Mukurob arrives on the scene it becomes apparent that her companion is something far worse than a killer, he is a shape shifting demon who steals the souls of his victims.....Richard Stanley's Dust Devil has a well documented troubled history. Briefly, Stanley's original cut of 120 minutes was trimmed to 110 and US distributor Miramax held the rights to re-edit an American release if they so wished. Stanley still hoped his longer cut would thrive in Europe, however Palace Pictures in Britain had a 95 minute cut of the film that was test screened once before Palace Pictures went bankrupt afterwards. Thus this meant the post-production of a "European" version was shut down and Stanley lost control of the film. With Miramax chopping away in the states it now meant that Dust Devil was floating around in cuts that ranged from 110 minutes to a staggering 68 minutes. In 1993 Stanley managed to buy back the print from Miramax, and the cut material, and using his own money, set about restoring the film to something like his original vision. The result is that now a widely available DVD box set has two cuts of the film to view, The Final Cut and the {rough} Work Print.With so many versions of the film around over the years, it's hard to gauge what a true weighted rating Dust Devil has. I feel sure that if judged solely on it's Final Cut version the film would be highly regarded and rated far better than its internet ratings suggests. That's not to say it's a perfect film, for it's not, some problems exist, and the flow of the film, even by Richard Stanley's own admission, is far from fluent these days. However, Dust Devil is one hell of a fine movie, technically stunning with a horror story of deep cranial worth. Starring Robert Burke {Devil}, Chelsea Field {Wendy} and Zakes Mokae {Ben}, Dust Devil has three interwoven character plots dovetailing together towards an apocalyptic finale. Along the way we are treated to much dialogue cloaked in haunting mysticism, with dashes of grim horror that assault the senses. The film is one that begs revisits to truly appreciate the complexity of it, never mind that the visuals alone are worth seeing time and time again. It will remain a divisive film, of that I don't think there is any doubt. But I would urge any genre fan who hasn't seen it to give it a go. You may not be as impressed with it as myself and its fans are, but one feels you are unlikely to forget having ever seen Dust Devil. Mesmerising, haunting and even lyrical, it's hoped that the film in its final form will find a more appreciative audience. 9/10
