Customer Reviews

Dust Devil [VHS]

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Drawing inspiration from the legend of Nhadeip--which grew out of the unsolved blood ritual murders that took place in Bethany, Namibia, in the early 1980's--South African-born director Richard Stanley has created a strangely beautiful, haunting and highly atmospheric horror tale. According to African folklore, a "Num" is a Dust Devil or shape-shifting demon who is drawn to suffering and self-destructive souls unconsciously seeking release from the pain of their lives. The demon is basically a sorcerer, trapped in the physical world, where he occupies the body of a human host. By tracking his prey and dismembering them in the "ritual ecstasy of murder," he accumulates the power to enable his return to the spirit world. Robert Burke plays a handsome and enigmatic hitchhiker who is the physical incarnation of such a creature.

The film primarily revolves around the Dust Devil and three other characters: Wendy Robinson (Chelsea Fields) is a depressed and suicidal Johannesburg housewife on the run from her abusive husband. Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae) is the police officer who is tracking what appears to be a terrifying serial killer. Mukurob is hampered in his investigations by both a dark personal history and a natural resistance to believing the murders are connected to the supernatural world. John Matshikiza rounds out the piece as "Joe Niemand," a shaman who is aware of what is really committing the murders and who is trying to assist Mukurob in stopping the Dust Devil.

The Namibian Desert--with its desolate scrubland and the vast emptiness of its endless sand dunes--is the perfect backdrop for a story rooted in mysticism--where the local population has one foot in the postcolonial, modern world and the other rooted in tribal culture and belief.

There is a languid pacing to the film. A voiceover narrative, provided by Joe Niemand at the beginning and end of the film, supplies many of the details and back-story that would not be apparent otherwise. The dreams and memories of the characters sometime bleed over into their waking state, and the audience is frequently pulled into a half-twilight world where reality and memory are interchangeable.

Sadly, Richard Stanley's feature film career has been beset by problems. His first film "Hardware" suffered from unfair comparisons with "The Terminator." Civil war erupted in South Africa during the filming of "Dust Devil" and postproduction distributorship troubles left a chopped up version of the movie--with only scattershot and straight-to-video release. Creative differences left Stanley unemployed only a few days into his third movie "The Island of Doctor Moreau," followed by the bizarre rumors of Stanley returning to the film set in disguise. I am glad that Stanley did not let these obstacles and setbacks completely defeat him, and I eagerly await the next film from this talented and interesting filmmaker.

This is a visually gorgeous film. I watched it expecting a horror movie but ended up enthralled by its sheer visual splendour; both in its stunning photography and its breathtaking landscape. As a horror film, I doubt if it would attract the mass of today's horror fans. It's obvious why the studio quietly dumped it onto video without a theatrical release. It would not have sold as a horror movie. There are not enough shocks, gore or horror to satiate today's audience. The predominant feeling I got was not so much of fear, but of despair, desolation and spiritual isolation, made all the more stark when set amidst all that beauty. I would agree with director Richard Stanley, when he says that it is closer to an "art film" than a horror movie.

Stanley grew up in South Africa and learned the folklore of the natives at the feet of his mother, an anthropologist who collected stories and folktales of the African tribes. This story revolves around a shape-shifting spirit, variously called a Soupwah, a Num or in Afrikaans, a Nagtloper (literally Night-Runner). The Nagtloper (Robert John Burke) feeds off the life-force of the damned - people who have lost the will to live. Into his orbit float two lost souls, Wendy (Chelsea Field) a South African woman fleeing from a failed marriage and Ben Mukurob (Zakes Mokae), a Zulu policeman whose life came to an end years ago with the death of his wife. Who will attain deliverance? The white woman, the black policeman or the Nagtloper, whose own aim is to return to the spirit world from where it came. The desolate emptiness of the Namib is beautifully captured. Scenes are exquisitely choreographed, almost like a ballet. I don't know if I would recommend it to the usual horror film fan, but it is definitely one for cinephiles. The DVD is superbly produced with crystal clear image quality, no dirt, no damage and with exceptionally good sound. It is presented in its original 1.85:1 widescreen. Strangely there are no subtitles. The main feature is anamorphic (enhanced for widescreen TV) as are all of Stanley's interview segments. Sadly none of the other Extras are anamorphic. Even the workprint is letterboxed.

This Special Edition comes with a host of Extras spread over 5 discs. Personally I felt that devoting an entire disc to the "Workprint" was overkill. But I'm not complaining. You can watch the workprint in its entirety or just use the 46 chapter-stops to get directly to the various deleted segments, which are sadly all taken from a VHS source; some having no sound, some looking really terrible, and most having the video-counter running above or below the print. I would recommend the workprint only to ardent admirers of the Final Cut. The other Extras have nothing to do with the main film itself but are Stanley's TV documentaries on other subjects. Nonetheless, they are definitely worth viewing.

The most substantial Extra is "The Secret Glory of SS Obersturmfuhrer Otto Rahn" made for Britain's Channel Four TV. This is a 97min documentary on the life of the Nazi poet and writer Otto Rahn who was obsessed with the search for the "Holy Grail". This is not the Grail of Christ which we usually associate with the legendary quest but a more obscure "Grail" supposedly made from the crown of Lucifer, variously described as a stone, a gem or a diadem. Stanley contends that Rahn and the Nazis did find the Grail in southern France but gives no source for his claim. To be fair, the documentary is not about the search for the Grail itself but is an account of Rahn's tragic life. The sad irony of his life is that this Nazi stalwart, who wrote so many vile tracts condemning the Jews, was in the end, himself revealed to be a Jew. The documentary is very dense, and expects the viewer to be fully conversant with Grail legend, 13th Century Crusader history (specifically of the Albigensian or Cathar Crusade) and German history circa WWII. Like Rahn, Stanley doesn't make clear when he conflates fact and fiction. The Lucifer Grail is referred to in Wolfram von Eschenbach's medieval poem Parzival (the source of Wagner's Parsifal). This is by almost all accounts an invention based on the old Arthurian legends. Rahn ties that in to historical fact by assuming that the Grail mountain, the fictional Montsalvat of the poem, is the same as Montsegur, the last retreat of the Cathars in southern France. The Cathars were Gnostic Christians, declared heretics by the Vatican, which sent in Crusaders to annihilate them in what became known as the Albigensian Crusade. The hilltop fortress of Montsegur was where the Cathars made their last stand. At Montsegur Rahn searches and apparently finds the Grail he is looking for. In fact, the Cathars never claimed to possess the Holy Grail. The documentary is packed with so much information, both historical fact and literary fantasy, that it requires more than one viewing for full assimilation and it is not easy to sit through. Picture quality is mediocre but tolerable for a documentary extra. It is in 1.85:1 widescreen, letterboxed into a 4x3 fullframe. Sound quality is very poor. Dialogue is recorded at fluctuating volume levels, is frequently inaudible and in many instances drowned out by extremely boomy bass. Worse, the sound and picture for the interviews are never in sync. The film's temp-track sounds terrible (like a bad B-grade horror flick) but the accompanying Wagnerian music is grand and transcendent. The exerpts come from Wagner's Parsifal and Tannhauser. The documentary interviews are in equal parts German, French and English. The entire documentary comes with obligatory English subtitles. To be fair, Stanley admits that this is just a preview of a work in progress which he hopes to release in proper form one day.

My favourite of the documentaries is the 36min long "Voice of the Moon". It is a visual record of Stanley's visit to Afghanistan towards the end of the Soviet occupation (1989). As Stanley points out in the interview, it is more akin to poetry than a documentary; a visual tone-poem if you will. The sparse narration, in verse form, occurs only at the beginning and end and is given wholly in Pashto (Pashtun language). English subtitles are burnt onto the print. This was made for Britain's BSB channel. As a traditional factual documentary it falls flat, but as a visual poem it is beautiful. And this is evident despite the poor quality of the 16mm film footage. It was shot on a mechanical (spring driven/hand-cranked) Bolex camera, with no sync-audio. The reason was because they were travelling with the mujahideen and shooting for months in places where there was no electricity; mostly around the Afghan/Pakistan border region in the majestic Hindu Kush mountains. Stanley's 1/2-hour long interview accompanying this film is a must-see. He describes the Afghan expedition, his meetings with the Afghan mujahideen, his deep admiration for them and his sadness at seeing them bombed into oblivion post-9/11. The film itself ends with the mujahideen victorious in the final battle for Jalalabad. The music score is lyrical and evocative and is easily the loveliest score written by Simon Boswell on these discs. It is inspired by Eastern European folk music (not native Afghan music) and the documentary also features the Trio Bulgarka singing "Oi Yano Yanke" from their "The Forest is Crying" album.

"The White Darkness" is a documentary Stanley made for the BBC as part of a series on world religions. Its focus is on the practise of Voodoo on the island of Haiti. Coincidentally, while the documentary was being shot, America invaded the island. The documentary ends up being an examination of Voodoo practise on the one hand, and a record of the American invasion on the other. Thanks to a particularly obnoxious US Army Colonel, it also becomes a story about superior American Evangelical Christianity coming in to trounce the devil-worshipping heathens of the island. The Colonel is so boastfully arrogant and self-righteous that one could only sigh with relief to learn that he was eventually "removed from command". Visually this film looks the best of the three and is presented in its original 1.33:1 fullscreen with good audio quality. Most of the documentary is in English with the French and Creole segments suitably subtitled. It also comes with a 17min long interview where, amongst other things, Stanley describes the American invasion and the surreal image of US Marines and "Armed Baptists" coming to evangelise the heathens.

The last disc of this 5-disc set is an audio-CD containing the soundtrack of "Dust Devil". I wish they had included the soundtrack of "Voice of the Moon" as well. It is probably the best thing Simon Boswell has written. The set is accompanied by three separate 12-page booklets, the first being a very detailed and informative production diary on "Dust Devil", the second containing equally detailed discussions on the 3 documentaries, and the third being a comic-book version of the film. The "Dust Devil" feature alone is worth the asking price for this release. Coupled with all the extras, this DVD is self-recommending.

Note: As we are reminded on every disc here, Richard Stanley is the Great-Grandson of the legendary explorer and adventurer, Sir Henry Stanley, who gave his name to the Stanley Falls (now Boyoma Falls, DRC), and the city of Stanleyville (present day Kisangani, DRC), searched for and rescued his even more famous fellow-explorer, David Livingston and is credited with the iconic line, "Dr. Livingston, I presume?"

I remember seeing this when it first came out on video,and wondering what all the hoopla was about (various coverage in Fangoria and other assorted magazines at the time)- the film didn't do much for me,but I had a sense that I wasn't getting the "whole picture".Well,this dvd proves that this is indeed an incredible film.The previous video incarnations lost all the scope cinematography,which this release more than adequately compensates - a gorgeous film that is a treat to the eyes.One can now follow the story as well,previous edits being quite confusing.Seeing this restored release makes me long to see another film from this obviously very talented director!

I've been waiting for this movie to hit DVD for a long time. I endured the butchered VHS release. Then I bought the uncut bootleg on VHS, but the quality was so bad, it was hard to sit through. Finally, DUST DEVIL is here on DVD, in Richard Stanley's approved cut, and in gorgeous picture quality. The movie was made 20 years ago and it is only now getting a proper release. YES, it was worth the wait!

The film is 16x9 and perfectly encoded for this DVD release. The colors are vibrant and the sound is amazing.

This has got to be one of the most underrated films in horror movie history. Smart, stylish, and inventive, DUST DEVIL is an amazing accomplishment. It's even more impressive that director Richard Stanley was only 24 years old when he directed this classic!

THANK YOU Subversive Cinema, for giving this movie a spectacular release. The movie looks excellent and the bonus features are very informative. Going way above and beyond, Subversive has unleashed DUST DEVIL in a FIVE DISC package!

It is only in the bonus discs that I see anything negative about this release. One of the DVD's is the entire "workprint" of DUST DEVIL. This is supposed to give us some added layers, bits, and pieces that are not in the "Final Cut" (Richard Stanley's approved version, on the first disc). Personally, I did not find this workprint DVD all that interesting. There was not much additional on this workprint version compared to the Final Cut on disc one. I would have been content with a brief "deleted scenes" bonus feature on the main disc, instead of a whole DVD devoted to this longer, unfinished version.

Another bonus disc is a feature length Richard Stanley documentary about a member of the SS who searched for the Holy Grail. This is a fascinating topic, and the details in the documentary are very interesting. But the documentary is so poorly put together, it is actually hard to sit through. Stanley himself admits the doc is a "work in progress" ...but the post-production of this film is so amateur and flawed, it should have never been released to the public.

Another bonus disc contains two short Stanley documentaries. Voice Of The Moon is, again, interesting ... and very well shot... but the post-production technical flaws render this doc equally unwatchable. On the same disc is a second short documentary called White Darkness. This is the only one of the three documentaries in this set that was properly and professionally completed. However, Subversive Cinema did a very poor job on the encoding of this program, somewhat ruining an otherwise welcome bonus program in the set.

The fifth disc is not a DVD at all. It is an audio CD - the excellent music score to DUST DEVIL. This soundtrack CD is a very nice addition to this release.

In short, when it comes to the bonus features, I would have preferred to simply have three discs... One with the movie, one with the soundtrack, and one with the White Darkness documentary (properly encoded). While the other bonus features are lacking, we don't seem to be paying anything extra for them, so I won't deduct stars for them.

DUST DEVIL is a fantastic film, and its proper release is long overdue. I highly recommend this DVD.

This is the most incredible value for money I have ever seen on DVD, and to be honest, I'm in awe. Is Subversive selling these sets at a loss? Five DVDs, two cuts of Dust Devil and three other Stanley documentaries, including the one for which I would have paid five times the price on its own: The Secret Glory, the incredible true story of SS Officer Otto Rahn's quest to locate the Holy Grail for the Nazis. As I understand it, The Secret Glory is the best source of information about this fascinating but neglected historical figure who, if he had lived, would be in a position to sue both Dan Brown AND the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail for intellectual property theft. They're safe, however, as Rahn either committed suicide or was executed by the Nazis after writing a letter asking to be released from the SS. "I am very worried about my country," he said in another letter, "...It is impossible for a tolerant, generous man like myself to live in a country such as what my beautiful fatherland has become."

If Criterion were selling this it would cost in the neighbourhood of [...]. Subversive report that every copy of the set has sold out, and the only ones still circulating are in the hands of retailers.

Set in the forboding, yet beautiful, landscape of South Africa, DUST DEVIL deserves praise for trying to do something different---even though the final result is a little enigmatic and perplexing. Robert Burke stars as the Dust Devil, a wandering soul who maintains his existence by extinguishing the lives of those he feels no longer have anything to live for. Unfortunately, the script doesn't give us any background on most of his victims, so their existence remains a mystery to us. Chelsea Field plays Wendy, the Dust Devil's latest quest. She has a somewhat abusive husband (Rufus Swart), but her departure leads her only into more danger. Character actor Zakes Mokae plays a police inspector who gets in on the chase, only to meet a doomed fate as well. Much of the film's mystic background is relayed by some character played with flourish by John Matshizika, but even his background isn't clearly delineated.
The movie is beautifully filmed by Richard Stanley, and there are some chilling images. However, its enigmatic ending leaves the viewer questioning what he's spent 90 minutes with, and all the atmosphere in the world doesn't satisfy this particular viewer in that regard. But still, DUST DEVIL is original and different.

I can't believe nobody else has written up a review for this movie. Dust Devil ranks as one of my favorite movies, if not THE fave horror movie. Dust Devil has some absolutely stunning cinematography, and the choice of camera angles and music accompanyment to many scenes is oustanding. Robert Burke plays the current incarnation of a shape shifting devil (of sorts) which is capable of jumping body to body, ala "Fallen". This aspect plays a very small part of the movie however, and it largely revolves around Burke's attempts to gain power/strength to return to the spirit domain by killing those he comes across that are 'destined to die at his hands'. It is a very neat twist on your typical horror fare, and I for one would rank this as one of the best horror movies, and indeed, almost any genre, ever made. It has been a favorite of mine for YEARS, and I still watch it occasionally. Do yourself a favour, and try it. If nothing else, you'll see some absolutely gorgeous scenery that will likely make you want to visit parts of South Africa, and Namibia. I can't recommend this one enough.

_Dust Devil_ is unique in its ability to build up an entire mythos in the space of ninety minutes; it manages the task creatively and effectively.

The film takes place in South Africa and Namibia, and concerns the relationship, if you will, between a woman and a truly vicious serial killer who has been slaughtering his way across the countryside, killing his victims as he has sex with them and taking their fingers as souvenirs. This is no ordinary Jack the Ripper: this is an evil spirit, "trapped in flesh" and collecting souls in order to escape its imprisonment in our world. Hot on its trail is a South African policeman assisted by a native shaman. The action is well-paced and the gradually building atmosphere of otherworldliness in the midst of ordinary surroundings is masterful.

This is a graphic film, definitely not for the squeamish. Stanley does a terrific job of both telling the tale and throwing in some beautifully off-beat touches, visual and otherwise (keep an ear out for Hank Williams singing _Travelin' Man_). One of the big surprises of this film, for me, was how little I would have suspected that Stanley had this in him on the basis of his previous film, _Hardware_, a competent but by no means outstanding piece of sci-fi/horror.

This is, no kidding, one of the best horror films ever made. If you like the genre, you need to see this movie.

I wanted to see this movie but never got the chance to see it in the theaters. I was very glad to see it released out on DVD that I had to purchase it for myself. All I heard when it was released was you have to see this movie to believe it. I was very happy that I did purchase it. I have no "experience" with the director or his other movies. I am the type of person that doesn't really care who directs it or wrote the movie's story. If it a good story, I like it. What I will say about the movie is that it does start out very strange and the story unfolds very odd, but I did like it and it made sense when the movie was finished. It was a very good story I thought and being an "odd movie", made it all the more interesting. I am very glad that I did add it to my DVD horror collection. I do highly recommend this movie all to horror fans.

This release says a lot about the amazing times we live in with regard to the huge variety of re-releases of movies, music, what have you, that have been unfairly buried and never got a chance back in the day to reach the audiences they deserved. It's heartening that this film is getting a second chance and has received this level of care and treatment. I enjoyed Stanley's earlier Hardware but didn't think it particularly great and so I never really sought out the earlier versions of Dust Devil; not having seen the truncated previously released edit, I can't directly compare with this new version but I have absolutely no trouble imagining that it was badly butchered. (By the way, this is a much much better movie than Hardware.)

Dust Devil is not in any way a perfectly realized film and Stanley describes himself in a DVD interview various ways where censorship, the budget, shooting schedule problems, and other factors, kept this from being quite what he originally intended, even now with this newly reconstructed 2006 version. But I give this 5 stars anyway because, for all its shortcomings, this film looks and feels like very few others and such a strong personality goes a long way for me in a time where most films feel completely test marketed to death and bled of all difference and idiosyncracies. Stanley mentions that he was trying to recreate in the dust devil figure imagery from a dream he had, and I admit to being a sucker personally for any movie that tries obsessively to replicate dream or nightmare logic or feel. The film studio types who looked at this material and saw a movie that was just not going to connect with the audience they were after and who wound up hacking it to pieces were probably right (unfortunately) about the limited number of people who will appreciate this. This is not going to appeal broadly to the masses of mainstream horror fans: it is too leisurely paced, too lyrical in tone, too interested in the cultural background of the Namibian/South African location, too interested in exploring the emotional quandry of loneliness and despair that the devil finds in his victims. And, bluntly put, there's just not enough violent death here to keep the average bloodthirsty genre fan happy I expect, and some of the horror make up/effects are also a bit substandard. But for any horror devotees who gravitate to more personal and unusual films without needing a high body count (and who understand how a slower pace can work in your favor), you should absolutely watch this (especially if you are also an italian western fan, the aesthetic of which informs this film). Stanley has a fantastic eye and the film is a real visual stunner with many shots that stay in your head long after: genre fans who truly appreciate attention to framing, lighting, and camera moves should respond to Stanley's great work here.

Hopefully, the rediscovery of this film will help to give Stanley a shot at another big narrative film soon and hopefully, he gets the chance to do it as he wants this time.