Writer/Director Pat Higgins fourth feature film (which he also edited) is a mockumentary about the rise and fall of Goth singer Erika Spawn and the part a young fan, Stef Regan played in the mysterious circumstances, which shocked a nation and led to the eventual disappearance of Erika.
The film in aesthetic qualities alone far surpasses Higgins’ debut effort TrashHouse, so I was pleased to see that the writer/director is obviously going from strength to strength. It was also good to see that the acting, costumes, props, locations and editing were all better too.
The film does have an interesting story at its core and works for the majority of it’s run time, although it does falter on a few occasions due to accents slipping, the odd moment of overacting and not that much actually happening. That being said, the unknown cast makes for engaging viewing, especially Jess-Luisa Flynn. There’s also only really one mildly frightening sequence and another with any hint of real suspense.
Although there is no blood and gore, the film is filled with striking visual imagery and credit must also go to the team for creating a number of catchy songs (namely Body of a Whore) for their leading lady.
OVERALL SUMMARY
In the end, The Devil’s Music was quite refreshing. Like Spinal Tap for Horror Fans, it demonstrates that Pat Higgins has already learned a lot about filmmaking and that he will hopefully continue to put his new skill set to use on further interesting features such as this.
