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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Devil's Mile (2014)

Devil's Mile (2014)

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Released 20-Apr-2016

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Action / Horror Trailer-30 + trailers including Devil's Mile
Audio Commentary
Featurette-VFX Featurette (6:03)
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2014
Running Time 84:07
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Joseph O'Brien
Studio
Distributor
Accent Film Entertainment Starring David Hayter
Marina del Mar
Casey Hudecki
Frank Moore
Amanda Joy Lim
Samantha Wan



Case Amaray-Opaque
RPI ? Music Chris Alexander


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English dts 5.1 (768Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

"The road will never let you go"

     Three people, one man and two women, are bickering in a car while lost on a road in the middle of nowhere. They are Toby (David Hayter), Cally (Marina del Mar) and Jacinta (Casey Hudecki) and when they stop at an isolated petrol station to ask directions we find out that in the boot of their car are two young Japanese women, Kanako (Amanda Joy Lim) and Suki (Samantha Wan), whom the three have abducted and are trying to deliver to their boss, Mr Arkadi (Frank Moore). Further down the deserted road their car has an accident with a white van. They stop and in the confusion the two Japanese women try to escape during which Kanako is accidentally killed and Jacinta shoots Toby. Cally and Jacinta flee the scene with Suki and the body of Kanako in the car boot, but this is only the start of a night of terror; not only do they seem to be caught in a time loop on the road from which there is no escape but Kanako reappears as a terrifying demon bent on revenge. This is truly a road watched over by the devil.

     Devil’s Mile is written and directed by Joseph O’Brien, his first feature film. He perhaps suffers from the first film syndrome overdoing the camera tricks with jump cuts, double exposed frames, low, jerky camera angles and colour grading that draws attention to itself with, for example, the daytime scenes being bright and an almost colourless brown and white. Some of the dialogue is pretentious, enigmatic and almost meaningless, with “f***” passing for meaningful conversation, David Hayter being the most frequent offender: he has a lot of acting credits, mainly TV, but is perhaps better known as a screenwriter with films such as X-Men (2000), The Scorpion King (2002) and Watchmen (2009) to his credit. He shouts and swears a lot, but perhaps fortunately for most of its running time Devil’s Mile is more a two hander between Marina del Mar and Casey Hudecki, who has mainly credits as a stuntwoman, who are both good.

     Yet Devil’s Mile manages to be both entertaining and good fun. The demon effects are impressive, a combination of practical prosthetics and digital enhancement that works because they are used and seen only fleetingly, allowing the tension of the unknown to build. There are also the requisite number of shocks, but again they are not overdone, allowing the focus to remain on the story and the two main female characters. The story itself is a loop, which starts and ends with the same scene, and within it there are enough twists, revisions and reveals to keep the interest, especially as the film speeds along for its short 84 minute running time, scarcely drawing breath.

     Devil’s Mile has had some indifferent reviews, rating 3.6/10 on the IMDb, but it is far better than that rating suggests. Indeed, Devil’s Mile is a crime / supernatural horror film that is relentlessly paced and intense right from the start, with good acting from the female leads, the required scares and shocks, decent demon effects and a fractured, circular timeline that will keep you guessing.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Devil’s Mile is presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     Devil’s Mile is a film where basically every scene, except one near the end, has been manipulated and colour corrected. The daylight scenes are overbright and the colours have been pretty much removed, giving a brown and white effect while the flashbacks involving Mr Arkadi have a green tinge. Night sequences are also almost colourless, except where red lights are used for effect, and the blacks have a grainy look which could be manipulation or noise reduction, or a bit of both. Shadow detail was also sometimes indistinct, skin tones very light.

     Otherwise there were no obvious marks or artefacts.

    There are no subtitles available, although white English subtitles automatically translated the sections of Japanese dialogue.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps and English DTS 5.1 at 754 Kbps are the audio options.

     I listened to the DTS track. The dialogue was mostly clear although in one important scene between the two women in the van it was very difficult to hear, even when I turned my audio up. Elsewhere the surrounds and rears were used as a horror film requires; demonic voices filled the room, the crashes and bangs on the outside of the van reverberated, demon growls were sharp and the shock effects loud. The sub-woofer added depth to the crashes and shock effects.

     The music is by Chris Alexander, who is a bit of a specialist in horror scores with films such as Am I Evil (2007), Queen of Blood (2014) and Female Werewolf (2015) on his CV. Perhaps surprisingly, the music is subtle, not signalling scares too obviously so is quite effective.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Trailers (9:42)

     Trailers for Goodnight Mommy, Amnesiac, We Are Still Here, Nasty Baby and Late Phases play on start-up. A total of 30 Accent Entertainment trailers including Devil’s Mile, and those above, can also be accessed from the menu.

Audio Commentary

    This good, chatty commentary featuring writer / director Joe O’Brien, producers Mark Opausky and Motek Sherman and cast member David Hayter is light on technical detail (such as the look of the film) but is interesting with details about the cast, locations, the evolving of the story, the sound design, continuity errors, pick-ups and scenes that were not shot. Certainly worth a listen.

VFX Featurette (6:03)

    Although short, this is an interesting featurette showing how practical and digital effects were combined in the film. After an explanatory text screen there are sections where prosthetics and digital enhancement, rotoscoping or matte painting were used, with before and after vision.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     There is a Region 1 US and a Region 2 Greek release of Devil’s Mile but I cannot find any reviews so I cannot say if they have the same extras. I cannot imagine they would have more. Buy local.

Summary

     Devil’s Mile is a film that is much better than the sum of its parts. The camera tricks are overdone but the circular storytelling, the fast pace, good demon effects, decent acting and required scares results in an intense, interesting and fun watch. Despite the poor rating on the IMDb there are far worse supernatural / crime / horror films out there than Devil’s Mile.

     The video is over-manipulated, the audio fine. The extras are genuine and worthwhile.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Monday, May 16, 2016
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE