Devil Times 5
- Css Darth-Sheol
- Jan 31, 2015
- 3 min read
Devil Times 5 is also strangely (and strangely fittingly) known as “Peopletoys.” It's a disturbing movie, but then demonic children movies often are. I have some problems with it, but it ultimately accomplishes what it wants to do: create an atmosphere of sickening tension.
A van carrying 5 kids to a mental institution crashes which unleashes the young prisoners. They make their way to a secluded mountain resort where a group of people are enjoying (or “enduring” depending on the perspective) a sort of work vacation. The pleasant, harmless little kids begin playing with the minds of the adults murdering them one by one in more and more gruesome ways.
The concept itself is a blow to the average sensibility since we generally think of kids as innocent or at least not fully aware of the capacity of mankind to do evil deeds. These youngsters are more like demonic imps – so deranged that murder and playing with corpses is their idea of fun.
I didn't expect much out of the performances of the kids. While they aren't perfect by any means they are better than I thought they would be. I found the girl pretending to be a nun particularly chilling. She has a stoicism mixed with an angelic beauty that masks the evil within. However, all of the kids do commendable jobs with their roles. Actors in other low-budget slashers could learn a thing or two here.
The adults aren't bad, either. Some are better than others ranging from quite good to merely OK. They are more than adequate for carrying the terrifying plot and offset the kids nicely.
The characters cover a number of distinct and contrasting personas. We've got a happy couple against an unhappy one. There's one with an overabundance of self-confidence and one with none at all. We've got the faithful spouse and the unfaithful, the drunkard and the more self-controlled. The interactions between all the different types work well, and their various reactions to the kids are played out in believable fashion.
While there are a lot of well done things in the movie, not everything is top-notch (or even mid-notch, for that matter). Various enhancements have been added to the violent scenes, and a lot of them drag the scenes down rather than make them more terrifying. In particular, many of them are too dark to really make out what's going on, and low motion is way overused.
The first murder is the best-suited example. It drags on and on in dark slow-mo. It might not be so bad if the audio hadn't been slowed down to the point of not sounding like anything distinct. Any number of changes might have helped this scene: more reaction shots, clearer picture, mixing of full speed with the slow-mo. The product, though, is a scene that really seemed to justify my low expectations of the movie initially.
Some of the music in the soundtrack is stereotypical 70's. It's dated, but I find it kind of fun. It's appropriately used at least. There's no disco when people are being strangled.
I've recently learned that this film was at least part of the inspiration for one of my 2013 horror favorites, Sinister. Devil Times 5 came to mind as I watched it even before knowing that so the link is evident. If you like the Scott Derrickson chiller you'll probably enjoy this one.
MORALITY:
This is not a movie for the weak of stomach. I wouldn't call it a gore fest by any means, in fact, there seems to be an unrealistic lack of blood at times, but it's still violent. Any number of scenes will make you cringe with sympathy pains, and most of it is inflicted by the kids.
There are a few scenes that include bare breasts (some sexual, some violent) though they are mostly quick and partially obscured. Another longer and less obscure scene involves a guy's bare butt. There's some sex and sexual dialogue.
Strong language is frequent.
Alcohol abuse is the theme of one character, and others treat getting drunk as a positive thing.
SPIRITUALITY:
As I mentioned earlier, one of the killer kids presents herself as a nun which makes her all the creepier. The idea is that she is someone who presents herself as good and trustworthy, but has the vilest of intentions percolating beneath the surface.
I find this to be a good illustration of how I feel about church leaders who bring harm to others. There's a difference between being imperfect and having the kind of evil beneath the skin that this killer kid does. It strikes me as especially dark to use ministry as a path to prey on innocent victims.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Devil Times 5 is a good, disturbing, B movie thriller if you can deal with the creepy kids. It's campy and imperfect but effective in its own way.
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