Dust Devil is set in Namibia where after a row with her husband Marco (Rufus Swart) a woman named Wendy (Chelsea Field) finds herself driving through, not going anywhere in particular she is just trying to escape her unhappy marriage. While driving along the desolate Namibian desert highways she comes across a hitchhiker (Robert John Burke) & decides to stop & give him a lift. It's a decision Wendy will regret as it turns out the hitchhiker is in fact an ancient evil spirit known as a Dust Devil who survives by killing people & Wendy is as good a victim as anyone else. The Dust Devil's murderous activities aren't going unnoticed however & local cop Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae) is on his trial but will he make it in time to save Wendy?
This British South African co-production was written & directed by Richard Stanley & is an unusual supernatural horror thriller. I have to say at this point that Dust Devil annoyingly exists in several different versions including a studio cut which is the one I saw, a director's cut & a workprint cut so while I might praise the 90 odd minute studio version I saw that doesn't automatically mean you'll watch the same one. In fact you could end up watching a version which is significantly different in both tone & content than the one I will be basing my comment on which will make make my comment completely pointless & irrelevant to you. Anyway, the script takes itself very seriously unlike a lot of horror from the 90's & while that gives it a certain gravity it does try to be a little too straight faced at times. The story is actually very interesting & absorbing with good character's, dialogue & thoughtful situations but I didn't like some of it's more supernatural overtones like the way the hitchhiker just vanished from inside Wendy's car & who was that other hitchhiker by the side of the road during the same scene anyway? Some of the black magic witchcraft mumbo jumbo was a bit heavy handed somewhat off putting at times & came across as silly as well. It's not a fast moving film, even this the shorter 90 odd minute studio cut, but it entertains & it's engaging & quite thought provoking so overall I didn't mind that it was a little slow going at times.
Director Stanley does a great job here & Dust Devil has to be one of the most visually stylish horror flicks of the 90's, the colours, the frame compositions, from aerial shots to long camera tracking shots this is a visually rich film. The bright orange & red Namibian desert adds a lot to the look of the film & the ghost town at the end is cool with most of the buildings half full of sand. I wouldn't say Dust Devil is scary but it's sort of eerie at times, since most of it takes place during the bright sunlight of daytime there isn't a whole lot of atmosphere. Gore wise things are sparse, there's an autopsy scene with various body parts, some severed fingers, a quick shot of a dead body with the upper skin on it's face pulled back & probably the best 'head blown off with a shotgun' scene ever. There's some sex & nudity as well if that sort of thing interests you.
With a supposed budget of about £4,300,000 this actually had a lot of money spent on it, in fact if you were to convert that into dollars we're talking about a $8 million flick which is pretty big budget even now yet alone 15 years ago. Shot on location in Namibia this is well made with good special effects, production values, stylish cinematography & atmospheric music. The acting is good from all involved although some of the South African accents can take a bit of getting used to.
Dust Devil is a good horror film, it's something with more intelligence & style than a lot of sequel driven franchise 90's horror, had this been a bit clearer on a few plot points & had a bit more gore in it then this could have been a classic, as it is it's still very good but not brilliant.
This British South African co-production was written & directed by Richard Stanley & is an unusual supernatural horror thriller. I have to say at this point that Dust Devil annoyingly exists in several different versions including a studio cut which is the one I saw, a director's cut & a workprint cut so while I might praise the 90 odd minute studio version I saw that doesn't automatically mean you'll watch the same one. In fact you could end up watching a version which is significantly different in both tone & content than the one I will be basing my comment on which will make make my comment completely pointless & irrelevant to you. Anyway, the script takes itself very seriously unlike a lot of horror from the 90's & while that gives it a certain gravity it does try to be a little too straight faced at times. The story is actually very interesting & absorbing with good character's, dialogue & thoughtful situations but I didn't like some of it's more supernatural overtones like the way the hitchhiker just vanished from inside Wendy's car & who was that other hitchhiker by the side of the road during the same scene anyway? Some of the black magic witchcraft mumbo jumbo was a bit heavy handed somewhat off putting at times & came across as silly as well. It's not a fast moving film, even this the shorter 90 odd minute studio cut, but it entertains & it's engaging & quite thought provoking so overall I didn't mind that it was a little slow going at times.
Director Stanley does a great job here & Dust Devil has to be one of the most visually stylish horror flicks of the 90's, the colours, the frame compositions, from aerial shots to long camera tracking shots this is a visually rich film. The bright orange & red Namibian desert adds a lot to the look of the film & the ghost town at the end is cool with most of the buildings half full of sand. I wouldn't say Dust Devil is scary but it's sort of eerie at times, since most of it takes place during the bright sunlight of daytime there isn't a whole lot of atmosphere. Gore wise things are sparse, there's an autopsy scene with various body parts, some severed fingers, a quick shot of a dead body with the upper skin on it's face pulled back & probably the best 'head blown off with a shotgun' scene ever. There's some sex & nudity as well if that sort of thing interests you.
With a supposed budget of about £4,300,000 this actually had a lot of money spent on it, in fact if you were to convert that into dollars we're talking about a $8 million flick which is pretty big budget even now yet alone 15 years ago. Shot on location in Namibia this is well made with good special effects, production values, stylish cinematography & atmospheric music. The acting is good from all involved although some of the South African accents can take a bit of getting used to.
Dust Devil is a good horror film, it's something with more intelligence & style than a lot of sequel driven franchise 90's horror, had this been a bit clearer on a few plot points & had a bit more gore in it then this could have been a classic, as it is it's still very good but not brilliant.