Devil's Hand, The

Released by: Lionsgate
Released on: December 16, 2014
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Cast: Rufus Sewell, Alycia Debnam Carey, Thomas McDonell, Adelaide Kane, Leah Pipes, Ric Reitz, Jennifer Carpenter, Colm Meaney
Year: 2014
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

In the town of New Bethlehem, six girls are born on the sixth day of the sixth month. Fearing that they are the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy—that one of the girls will become the Devil's Hand on her 18th birthday—Elder Beacon (Colm Meaney) demands that they be killed, but Jacob Brown (Rufus Sewell) comes to their rescue. One of the mothers kills her daughter and then herself, leaving the remaining five girls to grow to adulthood. Just shy of the feared birthday, the girls go swimming in a pond outside of town when one of them, Mary (Alycia Debnam-Carey), goes into a seizure, which is accompanied by frightening visions. She is rescued by Trevor (Thomas McDonell), who lives in the neighboring village, is the son of a sheriff, and does not belong to New Bethlehem's devout religious group; in other words, he's exactly what she needs to escape her domineering religious roots. Meanwhile, a cloaked killer begins to slaughter the girls one by one.

The Devil's Hand begins, appropriately enough, in sinister terrain, coming off as a modern-day version of Wes Craven's Deadly Blessing (1981), but it quickly devolves into a typical teenage romance. Boy and girl from different worlds meet cute and fall in love, but they are bound to remain apart by constrictions beyond their control. Sound familiar? It should; it's been done to death since the 1950s (only back then, rock and roll was the devil's hand). The biggest problem is that neither Oscar-nominated director Christian E. Christiansen nor writer Karl Mueller have the courage of their convictions. They aim for a '70s-influenced horror film that's equal parts Twins of Evil (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Carrie (1976), The Psychic (1977), The Omen (1976), and Friday the 13th (1980). There's even a subplot involving a wicked stepmother (Jennifer Carpenter). The problem is that, by throwing its horror elements in so many directions and tempering them with cornball romance, it doesn't achieve any affect other than mediocrity. It isn't particularly scary or romantic, and everyone involved behind the scenes is so intent on capturing an audience of 12-year-olds that they eschew gore for “suspense” and steadfastly avoid the nuanced examination of sexual repression that such a story needs to propel its participants forward. The body count may be high but it's bloodless, and the ways in which the scenarist finds to murder off his characters are not so much inventive as they are hackneyed. As for the film's mysterious masked killer, his or her identity is something of a surprise once revealed, but the same cannot be said of the identity of the girl who is to fulfill the prophecy (ask yourself which character is the least likely). Thankfully, while the DVD case lists the film's running time as 101 minutes, it actually clocks in at a mercifully short 86 minutes.

Despite its many problems, The Devil's Hand is not entirely without merit. The performances are mostly excellent, including those from the girls suspected of being Satan's right hand. One expects (and gets) good performances from Colm Meaney and Rufus Sewell, but it's actors in lesser roles who steal the show. Alycia Debnam-Carey, Adelaide Kane, and Leah Pipes as three members of the suspect group are particularly good. If there's a sour performance in the bunch, it's the usually reliable Jennifer Carpenter as Mary's stepmother Rebekah. The wide-eyed angry look never leaves her face, and her every line is delivered with the same ill-conceived conviction. She isn't the film's only dip into unintentional hilarity; at one point, as a robed killer chases young Ruth (Adelaide Kane) across her yard at night, one can't help but to expect her to run slow motion through a water sprinkler a la Scary Movie (2000).

Video/Audio/Extras:

The Devil's Hand comes to DVD courtesy of Lionsgate in anamorphic widescreen at a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. It's a relatively sharp image, with a nice amount of detail and strong, naturalistic colors. In fact, it looks better than the image on some major studio Blu-ray releases. Daytime shots fare better than nighttime shots, especially when those latter shots are external, revealing the limitations of the digital format in which the film was shot. The image does suffer from black crush at times, though there's a nice level of contrast overall.

The English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track serves the film well. The music score is practically nonexistent, though there are the requisite loud shock effects to provide the track with the oomph it needs. And finally, dialogue is always discernible. Subtitles in English and Spanish are also included.

There are few extras: a theatrical trailer that runs approximately two and a half minutes in length, and a handful of trailers for other Lionsgate releases, including The Bay (2012), The Possession (2012), Sinister (2012), The Quiet Ones (2014), and Tusk (2014). There is also the standard Epix promo that frequently accompanies Lionsgate's releases

The Final Word:

The Devil's Hand is not long enough to be a chore, and there's too much thrown into the mix for it to be boring. But that 'everything and the kitchen sink' approach is exactly what makes it so thoroughly average. Neither good performances nor the occasional lapses into unintentional hilarity can save it. It never becomes the sum of its parts in the way that its makers would have liked and its audience would have appreciated.