Ahí Va el Diablo
Mexico/USA | 2013 | Directed by Adrián García Bogliano
Logline: Whilst on a family trip two adolescent children vanish after exploring the nearby rocky hills, are later found and returned, but they are not the same beings.
I’ve seen several of Bogliano’s features and he’s a great stylist of low-budget atmospherics. In fact “atmosphere” is one of the key elements of his movies that makes them so memorable. Not surprisingly he cites Roman Polanski as one of key influences, and certainly Bogliano knows a thing or two about suspense, and about the darker undercurrents of humanity.
Whereas Bogliano’s early features traded on the grindhouse vibe of giallo and rape-revenge, his latest is like a cross between Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956); it’s a supernatural thriller with strong horror overtones. Here Comes the Devil creeps like the boogeyman and stings like an alien wasp.
Felix (Francisco Barriero) and Sol (Laura Caro) are being put through the wringer. The emotional trauma of losing their children, then have them returned, only to discover a local sex predator may have molested them is almost too much to bear. So they become vigilantes (in the movie’s most graphic horror sequence), but there is something much darker at work, something beyond the pale.
What Here Comes the Devil is possessed with scenes that are crafted with a genuine eye and ear for nightmarish authenticity; those terrifying visions that float with normality, yet are horribly, horribly wrong. There is a tenebrous shroud of the macabre that inexorably engulfs this tale of doppelganger dread. I’ll Never Die Alone (2007) is Bogliano’s most confronting movie, but Here Comes the Devil is his most affecting; the fragility of parental security, alienated offspring, darkened sexuality.
There is a dangerous sensuality that permeates Bogliano’s movies, and it is in Here Comes the Devil that it is most delicate and elusive. Laura Caro gives an excellent performance as wife and mother in angst most deep. Also notable are the two pubescent children, Michele Garcia as older Sara and Alan Martinex as young Adolfo, while Julio Pillado’s spooky ambient soundtrack sharpens the atmospheric edge of the movie.
I feel Bogliano is steadily moving toward an English-language movie, which I suspect is next. I am both excited by the prospect of a sizeable budget, especially as I trust Bogliano would utilize practical effects over CGI, but I fear he will lose some of that oh so effective intimacy and, well, that nightmarish je ne sais quoi! So before that happens grab this Devil by the horns!
Here Comes the Devil screens as part of Melbourne’s Monster Fest, Saturday, November 30th, 3pm, at Cinema Nova.