Directed by Adam Mason
Review based upon the UK DVD release
Adam Mason is a virtual unknown talent in the UK. This is a pity, as his work has been consistently improving since his first effort was released ten years ago. Since then he has been consistently busy with low-budget British horror movies that have always gone direct to DVD such as “The 13th Sign” and “Dust” (the latter of which is interestingly shot but very badly executed and therefore to be avoided).
Last year his third directorial effort “Broken” was released to much acclaim within horror circles, and was undoubtedly a step up for Mason. With this picture he finally found a writing partner in Simon Boyes, and the two of them created a gritty survival-horror that is incredibly well written and shot. Immediately after completing “Broken”, the two of them started work on “The Devil’s Chair”, and the film therefore contains similar strengths in terms of dialogue and visuals. It is, however, a completely different film altogether, and one that proves just how much talent they both possess.
Put simply, “The Devil’s Chair” is an incredibly vicious piece that combines aspects of psychological, survival, slasher and creature horror to give the audience an intriguing and unique experience. As the movie opens, Ray (Andrew Howard) takes his girlfriend Sammy (Polly Brown) to an abandoned building where under the influence of drugs the two of them fool around and find a mysterious chair in the basement. Sammy decides to sit, accidentally setting off the mechanisms in the contraption while Ray is powerless to do anything bu
t watch. No body is found at the scene of the crime, but due to the fantastic nature of his story Ray is sent to a mental hospital and accused of Sammy’s murder.Flash-forward four years where a rehabilitated Ray is released on the behest of Doctor Willard (David Gant), who needs Ray to help him research his thesis on the abandoned Blackwater Asylum where Sammy disappeared. He plans to take a small team back to the scene of the crime, including student Rachel (Elize Du Toit), aspiring filmmaker Brett (Matt Berry) and his nurse Melissa (Louise Griffiths) to discover what really happened. But how much does Willard really know, what experiments were taking place at the asylum, and does the chair really hold the secrets to another dimension?
With similar themes, the closest companion piece to Mason’s movie is Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser”, and this comparison could be seen as either a blessing or a curse. “The Devil’s Chair” is undoubtedly an even lower budget film than Barker’s was, but the things that shine through here are the ideas and the dialogue. The special effects and photography are exceptional, and the imagery (particularly in the alternate dimension sequences) is not only striking but also brilliantly realised considering the cost of the whole production.
The story structure works very well, with a great deal of the story being told through a voice over from Ray’s point of view, a narrative tool that can become an annoyance but actually works very well here. It’s only at the very end of the film when things start getting very off-kilter indeed that it becomes clear why such a device was used, and it is a stroke of genius that ultimately causes the audience to feel very uncomfortable indeed.
“The Devil’s Chair” does however possess several big faults. The most obvious are the performances, which range from competent to ham-fisted and prove to be distracting occasionally. If, like me, you grew up on dubbed European horror however, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. What is perhaps more irritating is Andrew Howard as Ray. He really does come across as a Jason Statham wannabe, from his overall look to line delivery. If you can put this aside however, he does actually do a good job with the material.
The ending of this picture is bound to divide people, as like a variety of recent films “The Devil’s Chair” starts off as on
e kind of horror staple and then throws in an interesting twist in the final 20 minutes or so to metamorposise into something else entirely, which either enhances the impact or completely undermines it depending upon your point of view. Personally, I felt the ending was perfect, and although a little confusing it does suggest that Mason and Boyes were going for both cerebral and visceral impact, which is to be applauded.At it’s heart, “The Devil’s Chair” is not to be compared to flicks like “Mirrors”, “The Strangers” or the slew of recent remakes which are all slick and over produced. This is very much a British indie-horror, and as such delivers some truly astonishing gore effects along with a great story premise to take the viewer on an original and shocking ride containing obvious low budget traits.
Whilst not going for the obvious jump-scares contained within some of the more developed genre pieces of the past 12 months, “The Devil’s Chair” is a disturbing and very well-written movie which deserves to make both Adam Mason and Simon Boyes key genre filmmakers to watch in the future. Indeed, if their output continues to improve at this rate, their next project “Blood River” will make them the big names that they deserve to be. If they were given a proper budget, who knows what they might be capable of? Hopefully we’ll all be able to find out sometime soon.
8 out of 10
A brave and visionary film, which deserves your attention... if you can stomach the visceral content!
