Devil's Bridge (2010)
Directed by: Chris Crow
Written by: Chris Crow
Starring: Gary Mavers, Joseph Millson, Joshua Richards
Devil’s Bridge (2010)
(18) Running time: 88 minutes
Director: Chris Crow
Writer: Chris Crow
Starring: Joseph Millson, Joshua Richards, Gary Mavers
Reviewed by: Matt Wavish, official HCF critic
Filmed in the Welsh countryside, director Chris Crow’s (Panic Button) latest tale of tension and menace was a real surprise for me. I was not overly impressed with his previous effort, Panic Button, so approached Devil’s Bridge with caution, caution which was not needed. Devil’s Bridge is a very simple, yet extremely effective horror in the vein of films like Deliverance, Switchblade Romance and any other backwoods psycho film where a group of unfortunates are hunted by a vicious killer. The main difference here though is it feels closer to home due to the location, and feels pretty real at times, and generally the actors give convincing performances.
Three friends have come to the Welsh countryside to do some dodgy deals with “some dangerous people” and the group are way out of their city life comfort zones. There is no point in getting into the reasons of why they are here, because all the back story really does is place these three friends in the place they are, and causes them some real trouble from someone not involved in their dealings. The friends are all believable in their mannerisms, and in all honesty, could well be just about anyone you might consider a friend, and it is this realism that helps the film raise itself above many other films of the same nature. One night while travelling along a country road, the friends come across a local carrying a shotgun: beard, farmers cap and intense look on his face, this is quite a character, very menacing and the scene where they meet is quite chilling. Stood in the middle of the road, he stares, says nothing and refuses to move, forcing the driver of the car to reverse and manoeuvre around him. This is not the last time they meet…
Later, in a superb and incredibly unsettling scene the friends have gone to the local pub for a drink, stay away from a group of locals and try to blend in. The menacing man from earlier walks in, says hello and orders a whisky, then another and tells a joke to the pub. You can tell from people’s reactions that he is feared, and when a local challenges him the violence which follows is quick, horrific and savage. The friends suddenly feel they have to leave, and things get worse as they make a quick getaway, and are suddenly pursued by this maniac. What follows is your usual maniac chasing a group of unfortunates, but thankfully these unfortunates do not play by the normal rules of being complete idiots, and once again it is the realism which makes this work. The maniac chasing them is terrific, not saying much, but incredibly scary, and later when he removes his top to reveal a staggering collection of tattoo’s, you feel a whole Max Cady thing going on! Great stuff.
Devil’s Bridge is a tight, neat little horror that relies on good acting, a simple yet effective story, strong characters and some superb atmosphere. Mostly filmed at night, or during the day with lots of country mist, the general feeling is that of a harsh, dark mood. As outsiders, we feel like we are really imposing on the maniacs back yard, and he makes it perfectly clear to these poor guys that he does not want his kind here. The violence is quick, sudden and shocking, and the intensity of the proceedings make for some compelling viewing. However, the camerawork at times will really test your patience, with the director using this new style of filming everyone seems to be using these days: jittery camerawork, frantically jumping around scenes and characters, going out of focus, whizzing round to the next person and plenty of other examples I don’t really care to mention. This is not found footage, and if you’re going to use this frantic style of filming, it needs to be good. Sadly here it isn’t, and is the one downfall to an otherwise chilling film full of menace and creepy atmosphere.
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