FilmArcade.net: "The Devil's Muse" DVD Review

The Devil’s Muse
A.k.a: The Black Dahlia Movie
Year: 2008
Director: Ramzi Abed
Studio: Halo-8 Entertainment
Stars: Kristen Kerr, Lizzy Strain, Gidget Gein
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 104 Mins
Official Website: http://www.blackdahliamovie.com/

The Devil’s Muse goes into the world of one of Hollywood most mysterious and unsolved cases, the Elizabeth Short murder. The film is about a young actress (played very well by Kristen Kerr), who gets the chance to play the tragic victim Elizabeth Short. Soon a dreamworld awakens around her, which makes her want to live the last days of Elizabeth Short. While her dreams and nightmares intersect with one another, a killer is collecting and killing women in celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Black Dahlia murders. Now the actress must find a way to avoid the killer, before she ends up like the character that she’s playing. The Devil’s Muse also features appearances from Trent Hagga (Gimie Skelter, Bonnie and Clyde Vs. Dracula), Mark Borchardt (American Movie, Cabin Fever 2), Julie Strain (Heavy Metal 2000), Masuimi Max, and Lloyd Kaufman (Director of The Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist).

The Devil’s Muse is a neo-noir-ish horror film that brings film to what it’s supposed to be, an artform, not gross-out humor or rehashed material that’s plagued many films. Director Ramzi Abed direction felt like you with seeing a David Lynch or Darren Aronofsky film, where the dark visuals helps bring the story and film to life. I liked how Abed mainly focuses on the visuals with his direction. It helps create the surreal atmosphere that surrounds this film so that you are given the sense that anything happen to the characters at any moment. He also blends in some weird erotic images that help the dementedness of the film. Als, I liked how he places the film’s score, which was done by David J. (Love & Rockets) to the various scenes of the film. It helped added to the film’s strangeness and made it more dark and deranged. The film also was edited very well from Wes Paster. I thought the editing was very good, as it helped keep the film at a pace where the viewer would not get lost, because it can happen in a film like this.

The acting in this film was very good. Abed does a great job in getting the performances just right, as the characters were interesting and he manages to make sure that the performances were lifelike. I say that because I’ve seen visually films, where the characters don’t feel lifelike, which makes the film’s finished product suffer. One of the film’s highlights is the film’s main star, Kristen Kerr and her performance. Her performance helps carry this very surreal-like film. I liked how she makes her character very film innocent and dark with her performance, as she made her character feel nostalgic to the crime film of the forties and fifties.

Abed’s Screenplay was dark and very inventive for this type of horror film. The screenplay does a good job in developing the obsession and state of mind, which his main character has for Elizabeth Short. It helped make that character very dark, which was needed for this type of film. He also does a good job making sure that he doesn’t let the bizarre imagery dominate his screenplay. He does that by spending time on the copycat murders of the Black Dahlia murder case that goes on during the course of the film and the filming of the faux Elizabeth Short movie, which also does a good job tying the main character into the film.

After watching this film, I will be definitely be looking forward to his Ramzi Abed’s project, as he is becoming the underground cinema’s version of David Lynch. The Devil’s Muse is a return to what cinema is supposed to be - an artform.

Review Rating: Five Stars

DVD Extras

An Introduction From Ramzi Abed
Live concert of score composer David J
Making of Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Music Videos:
The Devil’s Muse
Black Dahlia Theme
A Conversation with Mary Pacios
Original Theatrical Trailer
Trailers
CD Soundtrack