A deputy named Jase (Dave Cass, who also wrote the script) heads into the desert looking for a missing person. He eventually turns up inside a burned-up car. The coroner says his wounds suggest he was crucified before he was set on fire. Since it’s an election year, the sheriff (John Martin) wants it all swept under the rug. Jase and a sexy doctor (Irene Kelley) do more digging, and soon, the bodies start piling up.
Enter the Devil is a low-budget horror flick from Texas. I’m not saying it’s great, but these kinds of regional horror movies have a look and feel that can’t be replicated no matter how hard you try. Before what we now know as “independent cinema” came along, this is what a true indie used to look like. It’s rough around the edges, features a no-name cast doing their darnedest, contains some unique location work, and has a handmade quality that is undeniable.
It’s far from perfect. I could make a laundry list about what’s “wrong” with Enter the Devil. It suffers from too much padding. The cinematography is often muddy. It definitely could’ve used some gore or skin to spice things up. However, I’m going to accentuate the positive here. In doing so, I have to spoil the movie, so if your curiosity is piqued from this review so far, stop reading and go check it out.
Okay, so if you can make it past some of the pokey passages and lackadaisical pacing, the end of the film is actually pretty interesting. Our hero Jase gets Janet Leighed in the beginning of the third act, and his best friend is revealed to be part of the devil cult. Just as the cultists are about to sacrifice the heroine, the sheriff, who has been dragging his feet the whole movie, bursts in with a bunch of deputies toting machine guns and blow the crimson robed worshippers away! He also gets a badass line when he lights his cigar from a burning torch and says, “Maybe dynamite will put an end to all this foolishness!”
This is the equivalent of Mayor Vaughn saying, “Smile you son of a bitch!” and blowing up the Great White as he rescues Chief Brody. The ineffectual sheriff gets his redemption. I sort of loved it for that.
So yeah, Enter the Devil is sure to frustrate viewers looking for something along the lines of The Devil’s Rain or Race with the Devil. If instead you have an appetite for a quirky ‘70s oddity it should fit the bill. Oh, and the theme song, “Green, Green, Green” is a certified banger.
AKA: Disciples of Death.
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