Something many of you may not know is that the creepy connection between Nazi and the Occult was quite real. For whatever the reason, this part of history appears to be removed from schoolbooks, even though it’s quite relevant to mankind’s history. Games like “Wolfenstein” and various films (like the upcoming Captain America) have taken this untaught history and injected their own personal vision of “what might have actually happened.”
Flying way under the radar is The Devil’s Rock, Paul Campion’s self-contained Nazi-themed horror that tells the story of a group of soldiers invading a top secret Nazi island base. While there are logic gaps leaking throughout, it’s obviously a result of a tiny budget that’s more than made up for in suspense. Featuring little to no action, the slow burn begins when the Nazi General takes the protagonist hostage and begins having off-kilter conversations with him eluding to the evil lurking within the corridors of the base. The film is heavy on exposition and takes its sweet time – and even though the plot twist is transparent as a jellyfish, it finds ways to remain engaging. Some of the mood is created through sound design and having the sole demon screaming horrifically through the base.
While simple in form, the plot does take a few interesting turns such as asking the audience to accept the Nazi as an unlikely hero, while also playing an old school game of cat and mouse. The director also builds the demon’s mythology by having the characters engage in a conversation that asks: “what’s worse than a Nazi?” A demon of course (even if it’s one of the weakest on the demon pyramid of power)!
Although most of the gore comes off screen, and it’s hefty on the exposition, The Devil’s Rock is a satisfying little movie that’s a perfect rental on one of those boring Sunday nights.