Micitype Pretty Good

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

mikemignola allstarvideo blogspot Dust Devil is that rare movie that is both art film and genre piece. It is beautifully shot and wonderfully put together. And yet, it is in that strange unmarketable space of being strange and creepy, but doesn't have the scares or gore needed to draw a horror audience. Not surprisingly, the distributor (Miramax) hated it. Stanley originally brought in the film at 120 minutes, and Miramax cut it to 87 minutes without his permission or cooperation. The version they cut removed all supernatural elements of the film and cut out nearly all of Zakes Mokae's scenes, as he was a non-traditional hero, ie: African Zulu. The studio, Palace Pictures, went broke and the film disappeared, never finding any kind of wide release. Stanley hunted down the negative, which was being held by the investors, and he personally paid for his own cut of the film. Subversive Cinema has now released Stanley's final cut of the film. The film centers on three major characters: Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae), who is a Zulu policeman who has been hunting the Dust Devil (Robert John Burke) and Wendy (played by Chelsea Field, who you might know better as the flight attendant in Commando "Don't wake my friend, he's dead tired" or Teela in Masters of the Universe -Dolph Lundgren!). The Dust Devil is a supernatural evil, called a Nagtloper. He is a drifter who kills and feeds off the life-force of those who have lost the will to live. As the narrator tells us, he can smell towns and people that are dying. He ritualistically cuts people apart and then keeps their fingers, as we are later told, "there is a whole lot of power in fingers." Mukurob has dedicated 15 years of his life to the hunting of this man, this serial killer, this Nagtloper. His room is plastered in newspaper stories linked to this devil. Wendy walks out on her abusive husband and decides to just drive, with no sense of hope. Wendy ends up picking up the drifter and giving him a ride. Mukurob continues to hunt, but is caught in the politics and mire of South Africa, which is in the midst of civil unrest and racial tensions are high. Wendy gets involved with the Devil, and becomes his next target. She escapes and he chases her into the desert. Mukurob follows them into the wasteland, where there is surreal showdown in a deserted city sunken in the sand. At one point, Mukurob tells Wendy to wait, saying: "I know what I'm doing. I'm a cop." Wendy replies, "That Won't Help." Mukurob, "I know." Exactly right. The film was shot in Namibia, and sand dominates every inch of it. It can be seen in the hair and teeth of every actor. It blows constantly and seems to cover every surface. The color temperature and film stock give the film an almost Aussie exploitation look. It feels all the more epic with the giant sweeping helicopter shots and long wide takes. Simon Boswell's Morricone-ish soundtrack adds another dimension to the moody, atmospheric feeling of the film. All the elements of a Western seem to come to the fore after the soundtrack really finds it's place near the end of the film. I originally heard about Richard Stanley when I read his wonderful essay, "Dying Light: an obituary for the great British horror movie," in a book a friend loaned me (thanks Tom!), British Horror Cinema. In it, he discussed The Scala cinema in the King's Cross neighborhood of London. The cinema had originally been London's first Primatarium (an ape house). His love for the theatre and his description of the programmers and projectionists at the theatre made a deep connection. Unfortunately, the Scala is now closed, and I feel a bit mournful for a place I will never know. But, it is from there that he met the people from Palace Pictures and how we now have Dust Devil.Set Yourself Up: The film's pacing is slow and moody, so set the lights correctly. Don't have the fluorescent overheads on. Get some Tyson Chicken Fingers and a few cans of Castel, put them in your basement and let a small layer of dust form over them.-J. Moret, www.allstarvideo.blogspot.com

mfnmbessert-224-279128 Very unknown and definitely very under appreciated early 90's horror film, revolving around a particularly unique idea, and a particularly unique villain at that. The film is definitely a slow-burner, Richard Stanley's final cut clocking in at around two hours long. Not saying that is an entirely bad thing, but there are moments when the film drags its feet.The film is slightly sparse on the dialogue, giving way to let the haunting musical score do most of the talking. The visuals speak on their own terms as well, the African sunset to an abandoned movie theater in the middle of the desert filled with sand, the film comes off as some kind of bizarre western. The acting isn't anything to brag about, but it is definitely of a very high caliber for horror movies, although 'Dust Devil' is so ripe with slow-moving action, I would almost not even consider it horror at all. Inspired probably by 'El Topo' and probably did inspire films like Larry Fessenden's 'Wendigo' just a little bit, 'Dust Devil' has a very unique story behind it, which is probably the film's strongest point.Zekes Mokae is probably most notable as the detective, and he definitely outshines Chelsea Field, and Robert John Burke as the 'Dust Devil' himself. All in all, recommended for the horror buff who can tolerate slow-moving melodrama and a good story to back up their thrills.DUST DEVIL -----7/10.

Christopher T. Chase So you know how I feel about movies I've never even heard of. When I saw that DUST DEVIL: THE FINAL CUT had not one or two, but FIVE discs in the set, I was really skeptical. The ONLY reason why I was willing to cut it any slack was because of the director, Richard Stanley. I do remember seeing his sci-fi/horror/action cult favorite, HARDWARE, back in the good old days of VHS, and it kicked MAJOR butt-cheeks back then.Here's the deal: apparently, DUST DEVIL went through the usual headaches and hardships during filming, Bottom line: a finished 'director's cut' of this movie as of now, does not exist. What Stanley and his co-conspirators had to do is piece together a rough version, using additional scenes pulled out of a work print. It's very similar to what had to be done when a "completed" cut of THE WICKER MAN was reconstructed.The result is an erratic, but visually stunning piece of work, but it goes pretty deep into the metaphysical and supernatural aspects of native folklore in the country where it's set...Africa, particularly South Africa. Translation: people in this movie spend a lot of time talking, including the narrator. Sure, lots of stuff happens, but there's also a lot of time in between those events, so if you don't feel like putting up with a lot of dialogue, you might want to save this film for another time.Robert John Burke (the ROBOCOP series, OZ and RESCUE ME) plays the title character, who is also called "The Shapeshifter." If he seems very familiar to you, he should be. He's a figure that runs through a lot of the mythologies of different cultures and has been used to represent both Good and/or Evil in many popular books and movies. But make no mistake about it - this 'Dust Devil' ain't here to help anybody but himself. He's a demon trapped in our world in human form, feeding off the souls of the lost and the lonely who have given up on everything but life itself, gathering strength until...well, as far as I could tell, it was never all that clear WHAT he was trying to do - return to his shadow world, or eventually take over ours. Anyway, Burke plays the role really well, and he's believable as a charismatic force of evil who can convince his victims to stick out their necks while he pulls out his shiny axe...or knife, in this case. As it happens, there are two souls on a collision course with Mr. DD: a police detective, Ben Mukurob (THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW'S Zakes Mokae) whose wife left him after the tragic death of their child, and a woman named Wendy Robinson, (Chelsea Field of PRISON and THE LAST BOY SCOUT), who has just left her clingy husband, Mark, (Rufus Swart), after he finds out she's been having an affair.With his job the only thing he has left to look forward to, Ben dives into the investigation of the murder of the Dust Devil's latest victim with a vengeance. Adding an extra layer of substance to the story are indicators that the story takes place not long after the fall of apartheid, but the residual effects can still be seen in Ben's grudging relationship with the uniformed officers he supervises, and the friendship he has with his immediate superior, Captain Beyman (William Hootkins, everybody's favorite "red shirt" from HARDWARE and a little flick called STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE). When symbols at the crime scene indicate that the murder has undertones of ritualistic sacrifice and black magic, Mukurob consults a shaman he knows named Joe Niemand (John Matshikiza), who warns him that forces are at work that he shouldn't be screwing with...unless he's ready to go all the way. Meanwhile, Wendy runs into a mysterious, Western-garbed stranger hitching rides. She picks him up, and at first, she's attracted to the handsome and unusual "dude from Texas." Until some freaky stuff happens that indicates he's not quite who she thinks - or is that hopes? - he is.There comes a point where he reappears to her, when you figure that a) this Wendy chick is one screwed-up piece of work, or b) this guy really does have a power to attract his victims beyond all reason. Because most women I know at this point (and you'll know it when it comes) wouldn't care if this guy was Brad Pitt - they'd be beatin' feet out of there faster than Usain Bolt going for a one-minute mile.Wendy's husband Mark goes looking for her, and he runs into some trouble that has nothing to do with supernatural events of any kind. But eventually, the paths of all three people will cross at some point and all of them will encounter the Dust Devil...though not all of them will live to tell about it.I wish I could say that including the shots from the work print does the movie justice, but the transition between clean, sharp cuts and the fuzzy, murky segments from the dailies doesn't allow the movie to weave the completely seductive and creepy spell that Stanley was ultimately after, and it makes you wonder what the finished film would've been like if he'd been able to gain all the resources and money he needed to give it that proper 'polish.' As is, though, it's still pretty heady stuff. Casual fanboys sniffing out a "Triple-B" movie (Babes, Boobs and Blood) may want to wait for the next Eli Roth extrava-GORE-za, and leave this one on the shelf. I'm just hoping that whatever he does next, Stanley will be given a proper budget and the leeway to see at least one more film through to a completed AND finished version of what he envisions.

ametaphysicalshark Part horror, part serial killer thriller, part supernatural Western, and featuring some unforgettable surrealist sequences, "Dust Devil" is one of the most distinctive and under-appreciated horror films there are, and as good as its original cut was, Richard Stanley's final cut improves drastically on it, making "Dust Devil" a must see film.The technical aspects of "Dust Devil", Simon Boswell's haunting score, the beautiful look of the film, and the excellent work with the sound, and Stanely's creative and intelligent direction make this film one of the most aesthetically pleasing of the early nineties. The film's screenplay may not be as good, but outside of a few serious faults it's also very good. I can't pick on the acting either, some of which is excellent, the rest of which is serviceable.Any film with a concept as original and intriguing as "Dust Devil" and one that is executed this well deserves to be seen, and now that the final cut has been released and can be relatively easily found, there's no excuse not to.8.5/10