The
  Devil's
    Hand

USA, 2014  

FORGIVE ME FATHER FOR I AM SIN

*** 1/2

aka THE OCCULT / THE DEVIL'S RAPTURE / THE HAUNTING OF NEW BETHLEHEM / WHERE THE DEVIL HIDES

Directed by: Christian E. Christiansen  

Starring:  Alycia Debnam-Carey, Rufus Sewell, Thomas McDonell, Adelaide Kane, Leah Pipes, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Meaney

Choice dialogue:  “The fiend craves young flesh.”  

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review: JA Kerswell

At times, THE DEVIL’S HAND feels like horror subgenres battling with each other to see which will emerge supreme. This works both for and against the film, as it pulls the rug out from under its audience's expectations. It managed to surprise me with the identity of its killer (plus their satisfying motivation) and its ultimate revelations. Whilst its setting is not especially convincing—New Bethlehem is too picture-box perfect, and the five teenagers look like they just came from a Ford Models casting call—the film benefits from a semblance of gravitas heavy-weight actors such as Meaney bring. Debnam-Carey is also excellent in the multi-faceted role of the main teenage protagonist. Although the usually reliable Sewell and Jennifer Carpenter, his new wife, seem uncharacteristically subdued. Also, Sewell’s absence from the film’s climactic scenes hints that the film went through some reshoots or other post-production tinkering.
 
In many ways, THE DEVIL’S HAND shares some DNA with Wes Craven’s earlier, slasher-adjacent DEADLY BLESSING (1981), which also features mysterious murders plaguing a religious community. Admittedly, the film occasionally lets its horror elements take the backseat, but the slasher angle is well-handled enough when it appears—although the reliance on candlelight can sometimes make it a little difficult to see what is happening.
 
THE DEVIL’S HAND originated as a quasi-sequel to the hit 2008 film THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY as far back as the beginning of 2012—and was originally due to co-star Anne Heche. Shot as THE OCCULT in North Carolina in the spring of 2012, the film’s 2.35 : 1 ratio and polished looks—not to mention its reported $7 million budget—suggest that it was destined for wider theatrical distribution than it belatedly received with its very limited release in 2014. It did, however, get some theatrical distribution overseas. The fact that it sat on the shelf for a couple of years (after missing several mooted 2013 release dates) and went through numerous title changes suggests it suffered a troubled post-production and uncertainty about how to market the picture that ultimately left it adrift in the straight-to-video market.
 
Danish director Christian E. Christiansen had some form with teen thrillers with his earlier THE ROOMMATE (2011). Alycia Debnam-Carey went from this to a long-running lead role in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD (2015-2023). Leah Pipes, who plays one of the five teenage girls, also appeared in slasher movies FINGERPRINTS (2006) and SORORITY ROW (2009).
 
Whilst THE DEVIL’S HAND ultimately doesn’t quite hold together, its genre-blending approach delivers its share of devilish treats.  

BODY COUNT 17: 
Female 8 / Male 9

  1. Female is smothered
  2. Female stabs herself in the neck
  3. Female is stabbed in the neck with a hand scythe
  4. Female is stabbed with a hand scythe
  5. Male is stabbed with a hand scythe
  6. Male breaks his neck
  7. Female throws herself onto a spike
  8. Male has his throat slashed
  9. Female is pushed through a window
  10. Female is stabbed to death
  11. Female i seen with a hand scythe in her back
  12. Male has his neck broken
  13. Male is killed
  14. Male is killed
  15. Male has his neck broken
  16. Male is killed
  17. Male is killed



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THE DEVIL'S HAND trailer

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