Movies
The Devil Within Her
“Even when taking Collins’ performance, a random tap dancing scene at a strip club, and Ron Grainer’s ill-advised score into account, The Devil Within Her isn’t campy enough to make it tolerable past all of the nothing going on and dry debates, but it is about a killer baby possessed by a midget. So… there’s that.”
Helmed by Hammer veteran Peter Sasdy, The Devil Within Her is an early entry in the long line of Exorcist rip-offs that are still being churned out to this day. It’s as bland as expected, despite carrying the appearance of being put together by people who actually know their way around a set and editing bay, but has the added pleasure of being completely ludicrous in a “so bad that it’s still bad but I laughed a few times and hate myself for it” kind of way.
Joan Collins (Dynasty, Tales From The Crypt) stars as Lucy Carlesi, an ex-stripper who believes her newborn son, Nicholas, is possessed or just plain evil. No one believes her, including her husband Gino (Ralph Bates) and Dr. Finch (Donald Pleasence), but it doesn’t stop her from being absolutely terrified of her son’s unnatural strength and violent outbursts.
Lucy’s sister-in-law Sister Albana (Eileen Atkins) shows up just in time for people to start dying and prompts many unnecessary, boring, and poorly written scenes of science vs. religion debates with Dr. Finch, who has observed some of the child’s behavior and has no rational explanation. But none of the expected cliché explanations even hold a candle to what’s really going on : Lucy was cursed by a midget, Hercules (George Claydon), whose advances she turned down, and now he’s possessing the kid and killing people. The revelation is so dumb that it’s amusing, more so because there’s a few scenes where Hercules is dressed up in toddler clothes while giggling like a madman – it’s even somewhat creepy if, like me, you can’t get The Sinful Dwarf out of your head (also, I’m sorry).
The Devil Within Her is no doubt poorly conceived, but that doesn’t stop Joan Collins from overacting and making dumb faces through the whole film to save it from being a complete waste. Pleasence and Atkins give the only straight, sincere performances and the rest of the cast, including Bates (with a really terrible Italian accent), Caroline Munro (Maniac), and John Steiner (Tenebrae) aren’t given enough to do to really make an impression.
Even when taking Collins’ performance, a random tap dancing scene at a strip club, and Ron Grainer’s ill-advised score into account, The Devil Within Her isn’t campy enough to make it tolerable past all of the nothing going on and dry debates, but it is about a killer baby possessed by a midget. So… there’s that.
Fangoria Studios and Panick Studios are turning horror comic Black Diamond into a film, and Variety reports that Ernest Dickerson (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight) will direct.
Black Diamond comic book creator Brendan Columbus will write the screenplay.
Black Diamond follows Owen and Victoria Welch on a family ski trip that spirals into a nightmare. When their son is abducted by a mysterious cult, the couple is pushed to the brink and faced with a soul-crushing ultimatum: sacrifice another child or lose their own forever.
The comic book series from Panick Entertainment is described as a “chilling folk horror thriller blending Hitchcockian psychological tension with the dread of The Wicker Man.”
“Black Diamond was my attempt to put everything I love about thrillers on the page,” Columbus tells Variety. “I want to make sure it feels like you physically can’t leave the theater or else you’ll miss the next twist or turn. With his masterful cinematic eye and his great story sense, Ernest is going to scare the hell out of everyone with this one.”
“Black Diamond immediately grabbed me because its horror is rooted in impossible human choices,” says Dickerson. “It taps into parental fear, morality, isolation, and survival in a way that is so unsettling and emotionally real. That combination will make for a very suspenseful and exciting cinematic experience.”
Ernest Dickerson is directing and executive producing the feature film. Black Diamond will notably be Ernest Dickerson’s first feature film as director since Double Play in 2017, though he has in more recent years been directing for an impressive string of television shows including “The Man in the High Castle,” “The Purge,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Bosch,” and “DMZ.”
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