The Devonsville Terror

1983 "Three hundred years ago they burned her as a witch. Now she's back!"
4.9| 1h22m| NR| en
Details

Dr. Worley investigates a 300-year-old witch's curse in the New England town of Devonsville. Three liberated, assertive women move into town, which angers the bigoted, male-dominated town fathers. One of the women is a reincarnation of the witch, who proceeds to exact revenge on them.

Director

Producted By

New West Films

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Reviews

Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall
Cleveronix A different way of telling a story
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
le_chiffre-1 This movie was nothing but feminist man-bashing from start to finish.Almost every misandric feminist cliché you could think of was in here. Every "independent" woman in the story becomes the target of the hatred of the men of Devonsville because she refuses to sleep with them. Every woman is an innocent lamb, trying to free herself from the shackles of servitude to her patriarchal oppressors in order to live a life of pure elation with her sisters, while nearly every man is a misogynist creep and potential rapist. The men deride the women who turn down their advances as lesbians. God, we are told, was a woman, until those nasty male supremacist monotheists came along and forced Judeo-Christianity on everyone. The witch hunts were carried out by cruel, sadistic men who had had their frail egos wounded by non-conformist women who wouldn't sleep with them.Interestingly, all this didn't stop the director from including several gratuitous shots of his wife's breasts. Before watching this, I had no idea that it was necessary to take one's shirt off to do past life regression. Sex sells everything, I guess, including feminist propaganda films.The movie had a rather different effect on me than what I imagine the writers intended, because I actually found myself cheering when the men tied the feminist radio talk show host to the back of a truck and dragged her to death.Bad acting and bad special effects throughout with an ending ripped-off from Raiders of the Lost Ark.About the only redeeming thing about this movie was that some of the outdoor photography was nice (though it might've been stock footage, for all I know).
lost-in-limbo Weak, ponderous cheap-jack horror by Ulli Lommel that never really gets going and ends up with so many holes, unexplained details that only confuse and make things plod from one disconnected scene to another. So many questions, very little answers. The sloppy execution doesn't fair up any better, but the decent concept was never entirely realised and given minor treatment. Gladly there's an unpleasant side cooking up some hokey low-budget make-up FX with icky and over-the-top side-effects. Add a dash of gratuitous topless nudity too. There's an effectively bloody gore scene or two (and laser eyes?!) at the end, but it's all soon but forgotten with an uninspired ending. Watch as an memorizing Donald Pleasance slums about in a role, which he spends most of the time picking out maggots from his arm (due to a witch's curse) or hypnotizing patients to recall those good old times of witch-burning in Devonsville to hopefully rid him of this curse. The obscure superstitious framework manages to paint all shades of greys and help settle in a disquieting atmospheric tone. The rural country setting oozes organic creepiness and an ominously crawling score is another added addition. The alluring Suzanna Love is nothing more than sound and others such as Robert Walker and Paul Wilson are droningly okay. Far from terrible, just unwarrantably stilted modern-day (although there's reminiscent flashbacks of the past that we learn that there just might be a little more to the new teacher in town) witchcraft nonsense.
b-severson Typically I dislike films about witches (with the exception of Dario Argento's horror classic Suspiria), but The Devonsville Terror is quite amusing. The script is disastrous, the performances are over-acted, and the special effects are anything but special. The plot is devoid of any significant twists or surprises. The audience anticipates the impending events faster than do the characters, and the conclusion is accomplished suddenly and sloppily. However, I can't deny that this film makes me curiously happy when I watch it. Something about the lighting and overall appearance of the film. The soundtrack is also quite good, and gives the film an eerie quality. I particularly like the scene where Walter Gibbs' face melts (the special effects are primitive but cleverly done using wax melting in time-lapse). That scene always gives me the creeps. The storyline, despite its uncreative, allows the characters to really show their true colors. Walter Gibbs' character specifically is quite gross, and almost matches with his looks. A film worth trying, and for those who are skeptical, Donald Pleasence of John Carpenter's Halloween also stars.
Coventry The little town of Devonsville, 1683. Three slightly eccentric, yet innocent women are gruesomely tortured and executed. Devonsville, 1983…around the same time three hundred years later 3 single women come to settle in the town that is still congested by Puritan, superficial villagers. The 20th century-inhabitants of Devonsville simply seem like reincarnations of their forefathers and they quickly begin to suspect the newly arrived ladies of witchery. The gorgeous new teacher (Suzanna Love) in particular.Ulli Lommel's The Devonsville Terror is cheap 80's taking on the gruesome subject of the Inquisition and witchery, a horror sub genre that I personally cherish highly. Obviously, the atmosphere and tension doesn't come near the classic titles in this sub genre, like 'The Witchfinder General' or 'Mark of the Devil' but it does feature some chilling scenery and ingenious horror moments. Veteran horror actor Donald Pleasance stars as the town's doctor who constantly has to pick living worms out of his own flesh (due to a curse placed on his family, centuries ago). The film is overall decent and certainly worth a watch if you're an undemanding horror lover. Too bad about the bad ending, though…Well, it isn't exactly a BAD ending. More like an unsatisfying one. Just when the plot takes a vicious new twist, the end-credits start rolling over the screen and you're left behind with an empty feeling in your stomach.