"War is a bitch" - the grindhouse factor!

The general consensus thus far seems to be that most people have enjoyed THE DEVIL'S ROCK.

You always get one or two who dissent – inevitably there will be someone who deserves to be led out to an icy, wolf-infested wilderness and abandoned naked – but overall most folk who’ve put their views online or in the movie press appear to appreciate the blood and sweat we shed (well … blood mainly, as those who’ve seen the movie will attest) in bringing this wartime horror to the screen.

BRITISH FANTASY SOCIETY reviewer, Mike Chinn, gives us a nice thumbs-up: “Overall, a film that works very well within its limitations. Recommended.”

Cheers for that, Mike.

And FEARNET.COM, who saw the movie at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, were fulsome in their praise: “Overall, a strong first effort from Campion (Paul Campion, the director) and his team, and one wouldn't be surprised to see them do twice as much damage on their next one.”

Nice one, FN.

However, it wouldn’t be true to say there hasn’t been some controversy en route. A recent storm in a teacup has broken over the promotional poster for the New Zealand release of the movie this coming autumn.

The poster is pictured above and shows star Gina Varela in the sort of guise that might have been more appropriate accompanying a 1970s exploitation flick like SS Experiment Camp.

It certainly creates a sleazy ‘grindhouse’ aura, which I don’t think is representative of the actual movie, though it has to be admitted that sex and violence are key components of THE DEVIL'S ROCK and hey, who am I to question the distributors? Clearly in this case they’ve decided to try to appeal to the young male audience, whereas in the UK there seemed to be more of an effort to sell the movie’s occult factor.

I suppose this underlines what is one of the best kept secrets in horror, namely that within the H community there exist many sub-genres, not to mention varying standards of taste; some horror fans - several of whom have been active on Facebook on this matter since the NZ poster appeared - clearly aren't impressed by the grimier, more lurid adventures that have been submitted to celluloid.

But at the end of the day, who can second-guess what people are attracted to? And there's no denying that, like it or not, the NZ poster is pretty damn eye-catching.

We must assume that everyone has researched their own demographic. There's no possibility that these chaps and chappesses employed in movie distribution don't know what they’re doing, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the lucrative business they’re in.