Jersey Devil - DVD

Movie: Actually, Richard Vineyard (Stephen Moyer) just wanted to spend a relaxing camping weekend with his wife Cynthia (Mia Kirshner) and his children Danny (Peter DaCunha) and Sadie (Allie MacDonald) in the Barrens. With his late father, Richard had spent many wonderful summer vacations there as a child. But even as they arrive, a badly mauled animal carcass dampens the mood. And as the mysterious events pile up on the campsite and Richard behaves more and more strangely, it becomes clear that the harmless trip threatens to become a real nightmare. And it all seems to be connected to the legendary figure of the Jersey Devil, about whom Richard knows more than he'd like to admit...

With Jersey Devil, Darren Lynn Bousman again stays true to the horror genre. Although the director of films such as SAW II-IV and Mother`s Day did not have a particularly good experience with his diabolical exorcist horror 11-11-11, he once again devotes himself to a demonic creature. Shot in just 18 days in three different forests, Bousman has delivered a decent horror thriller on a small budget, which only suffers from its low budget when the Jersey Devil appears. After all, the creature, built in just under three weeks, really isn't scary.

What the film does benefit from, however, is the engaging atmosphere that Bousman is able to build right off the bat with his accomplished introduction here. Even if the dialogues are not particularly profound, the characters and the dramaturgy overall remain rather superficial, the dark underlying mood still manages to make this bloody demon story very entertaining on balance. In addition to the eerie atmosphere in the gloomy woods, True Blood star Stephen Moyer as a family man on the brink of insanity also provides the right intensity to give the only moderately original story the necessary spice.

Jersey Devil is neither Bousman's best, nor his most exciting film. But especially in comparison to 11-11-11, the thriller about the legendary monster can clearly improve in terms of tension and atmosphere. If you like decent monster horror and can overlook a few weaknesses in the effects and the dramaturgy, you can safely risk a look at this bloody weekend excursion.

One more tip: be sure to wait for the credits. Because after the credits there is still a nearly three-minute sequence to see, which at the same time lays the foundation for a possible sequel.

Picture + Sound: The slightly exaggerated contrasts, which are detectable here and there, can definitely be seen as a deliberately used stylistic device and thus not as a technical weakness. The same does not apply, however, to the slight image drizzle that can be discerned here and there in darker sequences. Otherwise, the picture quality is convincing with decent overall sharpness and atmospheric colouring. The sound has a few atmospheric and effective surround effects and minor ambient noise to offer, but overall seems rather restrained and unspectacular.

Extras: Except for a few trailers, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Jersey Devil is a fairly atmospheric mystery horror that makes up for its weaknesses in dramaturgy and effects by building an engaging and intense atmosphere, and ends up providing decent genre entertainment. The DVD is technically well done, only the lack of bonus material is a bit of a negative. Genre fans can still safely risk a look!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp