After leaving her abusive, purple-track-suit-wearing husband, Wendy (Chelsea Field) encounters a mysterious hitchhiker (Robert Burke). She invites him along for the ride, but realizes her mistake when strange things begin to occur after he joins her. Meanwhile, a police officer (Zakes Mokae) asks the help of a local shaman to find the hitchhiker, who is more than he appears to be.
Review: The film was not at all what I expected. Reading the synopsis and hearing nothing of it beforehand, I had assumed something like a supernatural version of 'The Hitcher'. . . with that same tone to it. While I do prefer 'The Hitcher' to this film, 'Dust Devil' does not deserve to be entirely passed up. It's beautifully shot with a strange, but interesting, story about the myths in the real world. It is rather slow-moving for quite some time, but during the times it picks up, it's rather frightening and gory. The performances are fantastic, as is the written dialogue. My major gripe would have to be, again, with the pace. Not so much that it's slow, but that its spikes are so high and brutal that when it reaches its lulls, it feels boring in comparison. However, if you're one simply for the visuals, for the landscapes, for the cinematography. . . you will very much appreciate the beauty of the film. Who knows. . . it might've been great in one of the sliced-up editions. But the 'final cut' edition I viewed was, simply, just good.
Final verdict: 7.25/10.
Review: The film was not at all what I expected. Reading the synopsis and hearing nothing of it beforehand, I had assumed something like a supernatural version of 'The Hitcher'. . . with that same tone to it. While I do prefer 'The Hitcher' to this film, 'Dust Devil' does not deserve to be entirely passed up. It's beautifully shot with a strange, but interesting, story about the myths in the real world. It is rather slow-moving for quite some time, but during the times it picks up, it's rather frightening and gory. The performances are fantastic, as is the written dialogue. My major gripe would have to be, again, with the pace. Not so much that it's slow, but that its spikes are so high and brutal that when it reaches its lulls, it feels boring in comparison. However, if you're one simply for the visuals, for the landscapes, for the cinematography. . . you will very much appreciate the beauty of the film. Who knows. . . it might've been great in one of the sliced-up editions. But the 'final cut' edition I viewed was, simply, just good.
Final verdict: 7.25/10.