Why So Blu?

A couple’s son and daughter inexplicably reappear after being lost overnight on a desolate, cave-riddled mountainside. Becoming withdrawn and beginning to exhibit strange behavior, their parents quickly assume something sinister happened to them. But after hearing an ominous local legend, the concerned mother and father begin to realize that their children may have fallen prey to something inhuman and that this dark, unstoppable evil has now returned home with them. 

Film 

Here Comes the Devil is the story of a family who go out to spend some time in the nearby mountains. When the two children, Adolfo and Sara, venture off to explore the ominous hillside they end up missing, as their parents had also left them to go explore alone. Days pass and the frantic couple hope for the best but expect the worst. One day, the kids arrive, accompanied by the police, and all seems normal again. Wrong. Adolfo and Sara may be back but they are not alone…

Ahí va el Diablo aka Here Comes the Devil is a low budget horror film that highlights demonic possession, family turmoil, blame, denial, etc. It’s equal parts horror with equal parts family drama, with a twist. When Adolfo and Sara are missing the film focuses on the parents, Felix and Sol, and what they’re going through. They start blaming each other for the disappearance of the children and they fall into the familiar scenario of the blame game.

Once they’re found, their lives return to normal until they start to see that Adolfo and Sara seem to be inseparable. This is strange to Sol as she suspects that maybe something happened to them during their disappearance. Earlier there was a creepy looking dude spying on Sol and Sara in the women’s restroom of a convenience store (before the kids went missing) and that starts up the notion that this strange fellow may have had something to do with it.

Felix and Sol put their thinking caps on and go on a little mission to find the truth but what they do and find is not what they expected and some of the consequences of their actions will come back to bite them in the face. Here Comes the Devil was written and directed by Adrian Garcia Bogliano and it’s a neat little horror thriller, with several brutal scenes of violence. It’s a very atmospheric film and that’s thanks to the cinematography and sound design; you do get a sense of evil lurking in the hillside and the cave within it. Once you go in you come out transformed into something more. The film even has a very shocking intro that sets up the brutal world of Devil. 

I think the horror elements work for the most part even though they don’t always hit their marks as intended, low budget be damned, but what really sells the film are the performances by all the leads. Watching Felix and Sol interact as the average couple in love, with their two kids is all nice and normal, but when the children come back and all may not be normal, the way they change into these “darker” characters of their former selves really comes through. Adolfo and Sara also become creepier as they start to act out in an almost Village of the Damned “hive mind” kind of way. In fact, now knowing more of what I know about the project, I’d say Here Comes the Devil is a combination of Dust Devil, Village of the Damned (either version), and Picnic at Hanging Rock rolled into one, with just a dash of Satan thrown into the mix.

I was looking forward to watching Here Comes the Devil for sometime and It’s a slightly above average horror film. I wish I could have liked it a bit more than I did, because there’s an obvious mythology set up here that is never quite explored as much. All we get are the after effects of what this “evil” does and that’s it. That’s a bit of a buzz kill, but don’t let the 3-star fool you into thinking it’s a “bad” film. It is not.

 

Video 

Encoding: AVC MPEG-4

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Clarity/Detail: This is not a very aesthetically pleasing film, because it was obviously shot on the low-end but the scenes in the hills fare the best.

Depth: Depending on the scenes contrast levels do seem a tad on the artificially boosted side and sharpness levels do spike up a bit.

Black Levels: Crush is present here and there in several of the nighttime scenes.

Color Reproduction: The color palette is warm and I would say that the scenes in those mysterious hills fare the best.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural and you can pretty much see any blemish or skin imperfection on some of the actor’s faces. They kept it real and natural on this project it seems.

Noise/Artifacts: I did detect a few instances of noise and some banding but nothing disastrous.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): Spanish  DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio (dubbed)

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French

Dynamics: As the rating dictates: this is a reference soundtrack. Here Comes the Devil may be a low budget horror film but they spared no expense in the mixing room. The film has some loud and jarring visuals that are accompanied by an equal and jarring soundtrack. If you love it loud then you’ll love this soundtrack.

Low Frequency Extension: The low level bass design was absolutely epic. There are a few scenes where an earthquake hits and you’d think the earthquake was happening where you were. Loved it.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels were very aggressive and they didn’t just handle ambience they also handled the creepy and horrific demonic sounds coming from the front that swirled to the back.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue was clear, crisp, and audible. You could hear and understand every word spoken without any problems.

Extras 

Here Comes the Devil has a few special features thrown into the mix. There’s a director’s commentary, a behind the scenes look at the film, with side-by-side comparisons, rehearsal footage, and extended scene, and more.

• Commentary with Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano – A very cool and informative English language audio commentary by the director is included and he talks about his influences and most notably that he was inspired to make Here Comes the Devil by watching Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil 20 years ago. Honestly, in watching Here Comes the Devil, I would say that he is pretty spot-on with that aesthetic feel.
• Extended Nightmare Scene (HD, 1:32) – This is the extended cut of the “nightmare” scene from the film. It runs longer but it retains its full chaotic feel.
• Behind the Scenes Comparisons (HD, 6:26) – Here’s a few minutes of behind the scenes footage with a picture-in-picture of the finished version that play simultaneously while watching.
• Rehearsals (HD, 9:34) – The director rented a small studio and had his primary actors read and act out some intense scenes together. It’s very cool and very intense. I was actually in a daze as I was watching, because it felt real and unscripted even though they were reading from the memorized script.
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (HD, 7:23) – Here’s a collection of photographs from the film and some behind the scenes shots, as well.
• AXS TV: A Look At Here Comes the Devil (HD, 2:55) – Here’s the typical AXS TV fluff piece on the film, which acts as a longer promotional trailer than the theatrical trailer.

 

Summary 

Here Comes the Devil definitely has a Richard Stanley feel to it (slow burn, with tons of atmosphere) but falls just a bit short in terms of explanation, because the end of the film leaves one with more questions than answers. The Blu-ray has average video and a thunderous and downright scary reference soundtrack, with average special features and stellar director’s commentary. I would recommend the film overall as a rental to horror fans and to aspiring filmmakers. You can get many tips from the film on how two make your own horror movie, as it is a very accessible film in terms of production and directing.