Hey folks, Valkor here. I'm the kinda guy who will watch almost anything - and I must stress the term "almost" because there are some things I will never sit through. For example surgeries, scat, or real beheadings. That shit freaks me out. But horror, as in the fantasy kind, the kind you find in books, movies, and video games? I'm all in and I'll try out a new horror flick just to see if it will scare the bajeebies out of me, any day of the week. While at work a friend passed along a film, I was told I would enjoy called "Devon's Ghost". And while I didn't find it at all scary, I did find it to be somewhat decent as there was enough cheesy goodness embedded in the film that I sat through it in its entirety. And only with a crazy group of friends will I ever sit through it again. Read on.
If they only knew....
"Devon's Ghost" comes from the minds of two Ex-Power Rangers; it was written by Karan Ashley (Former Yellow Ranger), Ron day and Tim Grace. And was directed by Johnny Young Bosch (former black Ranger) and Koichi Sakamoto. "Devon's Ghost," tells of a community shrouded in a mystery of the deaths of two parents and the disappearance of their son Devon. What happened and why does it involve a high-class lawyer? Well, the pieces start to come together between three students: Symphony (Ashley), Josh (Bosch) and Genesis (Kristy Vaughan) and the reappearance of Devon (played, I think pretty damn good by Reza Bahador) who when he sees a couple about to... Uhhh couple, he then gets pissed and hacks them up. But as the story progresses and through Symphony's freakish flashbacks, you find out just how and why Devon is the way he is. "Devon's Ghost" is an interesting tale, not really scary, but there are some gruesome scenes when Devon goes to slice someone up that I cringed. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's get to the meat of this review.
The Good:
Johnny Young Bosch and Reza Bahador are the saving grace of this film. Johnny doesn't do too much, but when he's on-screen, he's on. Plus his moves aren't rusty since his PR days as he still kicks ass and it makes me wonder why he hasn't gotten any good action roles because he certainly has the moves. Reza's "Devon" doesn't have to do much but stalk and kill, which is pretty much it. Had this film had a real sense of horror, Devon would scare the hell out of me, because he's that damn good. If, by some chance, there's a part 2 and you're in it Reza, make sure your character doesn't say anything. Just look pissed, stalk and kill. That bit about "I want to play", doesn't really work. If all Devon wanted to do was play, he could just slash the boyfriend, fuck the girlfriend, kill her and move on to the next victim - now THAT would be a great movie! Also, this film leaves things open for a sequel. And, quite honestly I'd like to see a Josh vs. Devon type flick with lots of ass kicking, slashing and explosions... yeah explosions...
The Bad:
Ahhhhh everything that's not good about "Devon's Ghost" is just bad. I love me some Karan Ashley, I honestly do. And I'll admit I watched Power Rangers religiously because she was on it. But girl your acting skills needs some work. As a matter of fact, almost everyone in this film needs lessons because... sweet jeebus it's bad. We're talking Limburger left out in the hot, hot sun for three days, covered in goat piss bad. You'd think acting would be in the ugly section but I'm saving the best for last.
The Ugly
Everything not good or bad about this film is just plain ugly, which leaves the overall silliness in some scenes. It's really hard to get absorbed in a horror flick when you have a guy, who is a country bumpkin, say to his lady whom he's about to bang "I'm about to tap that ass!!". No, I'm not kidding! He says this! And I dare anyone, ANYONE to watch this film and when Johnny and Karan start fighting, try NOT to yell "it's morphing time". I dare you! It's impossible! I watched it by myself and I couldn't help but yelled it. I couldn't resist!
Halloween is just around the corner and if you're looking to grab some friends and watch a few horror flicks, then find and add "Devon's Ghost" to the rotation because this is the sort of film you need to watch with an audience. I guarantee everyone will have a good time. It's not the greatest of greats, but there are some saving points that make this film "watchable". I was gonna give it a 2 but because of the sheer fact that this film would make excellent MST3K fodder, I'm gonna give it a 3.