One Will Emerge

The Devil's Hand Review

The Devil's Hand

Anyone who has followed my original Horror Facebook page since I started it two years ago knows that I go through phases. I will go a period of time only watching werewolf flicks then completely forget about those and go another period of time watching only found footage films. One phase that I have not re-visited in quite some time has been the one where I watch nothing but supernatural/possession movies. Coincidentally, however, quite a few of the recent films I’ve had for review have dealt with just that. The majority of them have been disappointments, but I must say that the newest one has turned that around for me and really is a good watch. The film I’m speaking of is Christian E. Christiansen’s The Devil’s Hand.

In a small religious community, six girls are born on the sixth day of the sixth month, seemingly bringing forth an old evil prophecy that the elders of the community have been fearing for years. Fast forward to present day and the girls’ 18th birthday is merely days away. As time draws closer, the girls begin to go missing. Will there be only one remaining… will the prophecy become true after all?

I have to admit, the original reason I had any interest in this film was because of the fact that Jennifer Carpenter’s name was attached to it. I’ve loved the actor ever since I saw here in great films like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Quarantine, but it wasn’t until I watched her as Debra Morgan for eight seasons on Dexter that I became a true fan. I was excited to see her return to the horror genre once again, but sadly, she just didn’t do it for me this time around. The setting for The Devil’s Hand is a small Holy town reminiscent of a modern-day Amish community, and Carpenter, although dressed the part, just didn’t fit in at all. All was not lost, however, because a cast full of other great performers more than made up for my initial disappointment.

Lead by Alycia Debnam Carey (Into the Storm), the group of young girls portraying the [five] prophetic teens all did wonderfully. Each actor brought their skills to the table and made sure to differentiate themselves from the pack. No two girls were alike and each had their own individual personality. Carey was fun to watch throughout the entire film and her slowly-but-surely transformation was entertaining to behold, culminating in an unexpectedly awesome ending. I did not see the ‘twist’ coming, even as it approached nearer and nearer and with only a few minutes left, the reveal was the perfect icing on this already tasty cake.

The Devil’s Hand stays very close to its PG-13 limitations, but still manages to be very effective. For a supernatural film that relies heavily on slasher elements, there aren’t very many on-screen deaths. Even with that being the case, director Christiansen and his team of editors did the perfect job at keeping the studio happy, while still catering to the horror fans and giving them what they really want — murder and mayhem. It is not a total gorefest, but you will still be happy with what you get and everything else that is done extremely well will distract you from this lack of carnage any way.

If you are in the mood for a well put together supernatural film, you should definitely give this one a watch. The Devil’s Hand is available now from Lionsgate on DVD and Digital.

I give this movie 3.5 babies born on the same day out of 5.

One Response to One Will Emerge

  1. Mathijs Pluijmen says:

    If Jennifer Carpenter is in it, I must see this. Even thought you said she was disappointing in this film, I still want to see it just because she’s in it.

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