Sometimes a film just comes along that just makes you feel dirty.
From the first bass-heavy scenes of Where The Devil Roams, you are instantly transported to a different world.
This is a society stripped of colour, with its pale colour palette, where the blood is extra red and hope is fleeting.
John and Zelda Adams are known in horror circles for the brooding Hellbender and descend deeper into the darkness with this twisted tale of murderous travelling carnival folk.
An extra facet is added to proceedings, as we see this unconventional family being kept alive by a connection to a supernatural entity or demon. Is it the devil itself or something else? This is deliberately ambiguous and adds to the intrigue of Where The Devil Roams.
There is a commentary about going to the well too many times, as our family starts to rot, from the inside, after perhaps one magic trick too much.
While the gore is gratuitous, it feels earned here and it would feel a disservice if we didn’t see any of the aftermath of the attack sequences. Where the Devil Roams is also beautifully shot, and really gets under the soil of the desolate lands the carnival travels through, you can feel and smell the rot of this film.
There is something slightly tragic about these people who are effectively flogging a dead horse, as the carnival circuit dies around them and in turn, they start to rot themselves. Everything dies, but in some cases, it can come back, but not always the same.
Where the Devil Roams is imbued with a death metal spirit, which recalls the darker edge of horror, such as Lords of Chaos. When required it goes in hard but we shouldn’t expect any less; the devil makes work for idle hands after all.
Where the Devil Roams is available now on VOD platforms.
Bloody Flicks 