Devilreaux (2023)

Devilreaux (2023). 1h 34m | R

“Devilreux is a low budget- borderline homemade horror- featuring a shovel-wielding Baron Samedi type character, with a backstory about being the son of a Voodoo witch, that was murdered by a family of racist slaveowners, before being brought back by his mother…to reap vengeance from beyond the grave.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe character, himself, is alright.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut the rest of the acting is so laughingly bad.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt makes it hard to take the film seriously.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eEspecially considering the poor plot structure around which the story is based.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhich Iu0026#39;d chock up to director Thomas J Churchill having way too many projects on the go at once.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBecause it jumps around way too much, and lacks cohesion.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGoing from the opening sequence; to a completely unrelated case, used to introduce the backstory of the character; followed by a lengthy (much too drawn out) flashback sequence, that comes off as a bit redundant- and feels like it should have been the basis for the film as a whole (as opposed to taking place on the two different timelines).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe flashback needed to be much shorter, and more succinct, to prevent it from ruining the flow of the film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eConsidering the length it is, it should, at least, have been used as the opening- before jumping forward in time, to the present- with a bunch of scenes cut for lack of importance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe main problem is, that they take no time at all, to develop the characters we are supposed to care about.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo it never manages to fully engage you on any front.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA condemnation that results from the overuse of time and resources on the development of the backstory.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd itu0026#39;s lack of cohesion, overall.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe best things about the film are definitely the sets and costumes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhich come off as impressive, in relation to the low budget feel the rest of the film gives off.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, they arenu0026#39;t enough to save this from being the travesty it is.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBecause it flows so badly…that itu0026#39;s impossible to care about any of the plethora of characters that are introduced.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSo this gets a hard pass from me.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e2 out of 10.”