Writer/director Sean Hogan mashes up the crime/satanic panic genres here with this barbed-tale of two hitmen lurking in the home of their intended target, biding their time until his arrival. As things develop, they begin to understand that things are not what they seem, and that the debt they are there to settle for their boss is about a lot more than money. Soon, the two, one no-nonsense a seasoned vet, the other a greenhorn learning the ropes, are drawn into an occult nightmare, when their seemingly un-killable victim arrives.What are those symbols out in the shed, painted on the floor in what looks like blood? And what are those suspicious chunks lying within that mysterious diagram comprised of? And where the hell did the body of their target go after they shot it straight through the eye?
THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS could easily be a stage play, it's two main characters confined to a couple of sets, which are indeed used to great effect, and the dialog that spills from Hogan's pen is cracking and clever. The core cast, featuring Billy Clark (a stalwart of UK television), Jack Gordon (FISH TANK, CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER), Johnathan Hansler (AXED), and Harry Miller (also a UK television regular), help elevate this talk-heavy scary into soemthing that in lesser hands, could have been a little too dry. But with Hogan's sure-handed direction, the man knows how to shoot a dark corridor, let me tell you, and the actors' skill turning a phrase, THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS ranks up with some of the better horror films in recent memory. Factor in an incredibly atmospheric soundtrack from Justin Greaces (CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX) that paints the film with audio accompaniment that drips with minimalist bleakness as well as atmospheric beauty, and it all comes together in a wonderfully creepy package. Not unlike, say, the work of better known UK genre-ish director Ben Wheatley, THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS is an occult film for the thinking person. Hammer Films. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, and hell even something like the old British crime film THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, all come to mind. It also doesn't overstay it's welcome, it moves things right along, and get's the job done with economy and ease. I highly recommend THE DEVIL'S BUSINESS. Another horror film that does the genre proud.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
~Sean Smithson
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