Customer Reviews

Better the Devil You Know (Two-Disc Special Edition)

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This review may contain spoilers.

The Four Horsemen Movie - as me and my friends like to call it. I saw Better the Devil You Know during its original theatrical run this past summer and I must say I'm happy for the experience. My ears were still ringing from Transformers 2 when I went back to see this and this was playing on the entirely opposite side of the theater next to Drag me to hell (another good film this year). I never heard of Greg Augustine before, so I opted to see Transformers 2 before going to this. I didn't know anything about the Four Horsemen at all, but the movie doesn't try and give a lesson about them, it just uses them as symbols for the inner struggles that the main characters are going through. WHich is why I thought it felt so new and brilliant. Despite being under the radar this year, Better the devil you know was funny and imaginative, it definitely surprised me with its imaginative scope for being an indie. I can't really compare this one to anything I've ever seen before, kinda like Twin Peaks meets Clerks, if I had to take a stab. But it definitely was effective and memorable. My friends and I left satisfied and we're all Augment Image devotees now. We've been through the initiation and we want more. Truly great afternoon at the movies.

Try this one if you like comedy, fantasy, or indie movies. This was on my top 5 favorite films of 2009! Buy it.

I also recommend the short films from this director for something fun to watch The Bench. - The short films of Greg Augustine

I love low budget cinema. When they are good, their energy and passion often overshadow the productions lack of resources, making you scratch your head as to why huge budgets are necessary at all. When they are bad however, these films are unfocused, ugly, and just plain hard to watch. This film falls into the later category.

There is nothing funny or remotely engaging about this film. Regardless of the film's arty ambitions as a surrealist comedy with something to say about growing up and moving on with your life, it falls flat on it's face right out of the gate and never recovers. Why? Because everything about it is just so boring and ugly. Cheap graphics, a horrible sound mix that could fight with Birdemic as being one of the worst sounding films of last year, dialogue that produces more face palms than smiles, a plot that makes no sense at all, no likable characters whatsoever, unattractive cinematography, blah blah blah. There is really little to recommend here other than for the potential viewer to avoid this film if they regard their time on this earth highly.

I am all for homegrown cinema, but low budget comedies that aren't funny are just about the worst kind of films in existence. Mr. Augustine, good luck as a filmmaker. Hopefully you make something better than this in the future.

This movie was so cool. Loved the concept. Loved the characters. Saw it in the theater last year and wondered when it would be out on DVD. This is my type of movie. Although, it may not be for everyone. If you want something cool and totally new, this is it. I could really identify with the characters situations. This movie is unexpected, but so good. FUNNY and Creative. My boyfriend made me watch it and we still quote the lines. We saw it twice in theaters. Highly recommended!