Paura il Diavolo (1992)

 

Paura il Diavolo (1992) - United Kingdom

Directed by: Darren Ward

MY 50TH REVIEW:

Before I get into the film itself I'd like to announce that I'm stunned I've made it to 50 reviews. I mean, technically I've already reviewed more than 50 movies/short films, but this is my 50th consecutive review posted, and I'm excited to share it with those who read what I post. For those of you who've stuck with me this long, thank you so much. If it weren't for you guys, this site wouldn't exist or would be completely dead, and I appreciate you giving my stuff a read. Now, let's get into the review proper. And it's the first British film I've reviewed too!

ABOUT THE FILM:

Darren Ward is a British independent filmmaker from the United Kingdom who first became interested in making movies in the late 1980's. He grew a love for horror and wanted to become a special effects artist, and would test out his skills on his buddies. When Darren was finished with school in 1989, he participated in helping make a local zombie film called Dead Time, and would continue to work on independent action and gangster movies for the next few years. In 1992, Darren Ward finally decided to set out and make films of his own, and Paura il Diavolo was his very first attempt at filmmaking. It was self-financed by Darren himself, with a budget of 30 GBP!

In Paura il Diavolo, Darren pays homage to the Italian horror films of the 80's, with his biggest influence on the project being Lamberto Bava's Demons. This 45 minute short film takes place over one dark, stormy night and follows a young man who returns home. The sky rumbles violently and something lands in the backyard in a fiery crash. The man discovers a bag with a note attached, warning him not to look inside the bag as it holds the spirit of an ancient evil. The recipient is advised to destroy the bag as soon as possible. Unfortunately our lead doesn't heed the warning, and undergoes a transformation into a hideous beast hellbent on killing all in its path!

REVIEW:

Similar to My Lovely Burnt Brother, Paura il Diavolo is one of the first underground films I ever saw and it's one of the films that pulled me deeper into the scene in the first place. So I will always appreciate Paura il Diavolo for introducing me to the scene, but the film is not free from flaws.

You may notice that my screenshots are incredibly dark and blurry. Usually I would blame the poor quality on the copy of the movie that I used for review, but in actuality Paura il Diavolo is just incredibly dark and murky. The lighting, or lack thereof, is by far the film's biggest problem. Sometimes it's so dark that it's impossible to see anything, and the lights that we do see are so oversaturated and bright that they make the film a real eye-strain.

The story is extremely simple, cliché and derivative of other films. Hell, sometimes the influence is blatantly obvious. The entire transformation scene was inspired by Bava's Demons, and there's one scene where a character is watching Argento's Opera on the TV, right as the film reaches the infamous eye scene. Hell, even Paura's title is an homage to the Italian horror films of the 70's and the 80's. But the story itself is so slowly paced, it could have easily been from 20 to 25 minutes long. There's not much to say about the acting because the film has very little dialogue, but what we do hear is hard to make out, mainly because the cast members all have thick British accents and the audio quality is poor too.

Probably the film's biggest strength is the special effects and the make-up. Considering the obviously low-budget, we get some decent gore and blood effects including plenty of stabbings and an exploding chest near the end. The demons inside the bag look pretty silly, but the monster himself actually looks really cool. If I saw that fucking thing in the dark I would probably shit myself and then promptly run for my life. The stand-out effect is the demon's transformation, as it's very well-done with some pretty nasty close-ups on the demon's claws growing from under the man's fingernails.

Paura il Diavolo is a very flawed short film and I can really only recommend it to SOV enthusiasts and underground horror collectors. But in the end I was still able to find some entertainment in it and I appreciate it for piquing my interest in underground gore and horror cinema.

RELEASES:

-Paura il Diavolo was first released on VHS in 1992 by Darren's company Giallo Films, but this tape is extremely rare and near impossible to find. This is the original version that included copyrighted music from the band The Cult.

-A re-edited version of the film with a new score and music was released on the German released Darren Ward's Three Tickets to Hell in 1997 by Incredibly Strange Video. The tape also came with Ward's first feature Blue Fear and his short film Bitter Vengeance. This specific VHS was the source used for this review.