Ursula Dabrowsky's "The Devil's Work" is a horror masterpiece, well filmed and well written. Performances by Cassandra Kane and Mark Fantasia are noteworthy, not only making us truly believe a couple is being stalked at a vacation home in the country, but employing facial expressions, blocking, and line-delivery, all of which rings true. The dialogue between them is not forced, and it establishes the plot with authenticity, especially during the most difficult scene to sell: the proposal.
In terms of camera shots and composition, Dabrowsky is masterful. In the aforementioned scene (and others) the camera floats between subjects, lending a stark sort of "reality" that keeps the viewer in suspense. Additionally, the movie is filled with gorgeous camera shots that are no less than aesthetic portraits of poetic violence to come. When Lindy is framed in her introduction shot, in a grove outlined by an arch of trees, the viewer is mesmerized and scared to death. Another interesting technique Dabrowsky unveils for us is her own take on the off-composition shots made famous by John Carpenter. There is a shot from outside the dwelling for example, and the antagonist-sister Lindy, who is stalking the place, moves into the shot on the left side, only showing a shoulder. Then, she moves across the shot to the right, turning and exposing a frontal mid-shot showing clearly the blood spattered all over her face and chest. I have never seen that particular camera movement before, and it is clear that Dabrowsky is not only well aware of the rich history of horror on film, but remains unafraid to forge new iron for us so to speak. The intriguing thing is that it doesn't look like Dabrowsky is merely "chopping new wood." She seems comfortable reinventing the genre and delivering polished product so smooth it suggests that this was the way to unpack the lexicon all along.
The film explodes with glorious shots that don't only tell the story of the film, but give the impression of dazzling, precious paintings uncovered in majestic halls, royal ballrooms, and galleries. One example of this would be the frame that Dabrowsky creates with Charlie in the kitchen crumpling down in a catty-corner of the cabinets, shot from above making her appear vulnerable and mirrored later by Lindy doing the same thing, Another of these gems would be the whispered conversations between the sisters through a screen, with the flashlight coming up between leaving them both ironically and simultaneously shadowed and stark, the best combination in a horror film if you can pull it off, like hard guitars and thundering drums in the best heavy metal.
My favorite shot; however, comes when the Mother Ghost, played by long time Dabrowsky star Kerry Reid, stands outside the semi see-through the door still as a statue, then making the door slide open by itself. For me, this was as much an instant classic moment for horror, as the shot of Michael Meyers in the first Halloween, standing outside the laundry shed, seen through the sheer curtains as the door creaks open.
It terms of the writing, this film breaks new ground, as Dabrowsky trades off who is the antagonist and the protagonist. For the most part, we have Charlie to follow as if on her shoulder, but in a rather bold move, Dabrowsky sometimes puts us in Lindy's point of view, making it especially delicious when our sympathetic victim Charlie, becomes the fiend with the axe.
Altogether, this is a must watch. Ursula Dabrowsky makes gritty, beautiful horror here, that touches the soul as much as the spine.
Michael Aronovitz
Author of The Sculptor and its sequel The Winslow Sisters, to be released January, 2024 from Cemetery Dance Publications.
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