[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Devil's Business (2011)

After discussing composer Justin Greaves with our own Justin101 yesterday on the Extreme Metal thread i thought i'd give this a rewatch with Greaves doing the soundtrack.

At the country house of their target, two hit men lay in wait. However it soon becomes apparent all is not as it should be and they might be the ones about to die.

The film is well made belying it's limited budget and thanks to it's devilishly good storytelling, atmosphere by the bucket load and it being laced with influence from the likes of Bava and Dennis Wheatley. It's a film that's at times glacier paced and yes there's a lot of talk especially in the first twenty minutes as the senior killer tells his younger partner of a murder at their bosses strip club, however you have to pay attention as it all becomes relevant by the end and isn't just the throw away story it seems at the time.

Despite it being grounded in reality the film has a whiff of otherworldly weirdness to it, the scenes of occult ritual aftermath are grim in the extreme yet come the final scenes this grimness has dissipated and it almost becomes Lovecraftian in it's madness. Thanks to a Tom Baker Doctor Who story i knew what to expect in the final scenes so the gory death of one of the protagonists came as no surprise. I won't go into detail as it may spoil it for anyone who wishes to see the film.

Finally returning to Greaves, there's a twenty minute interview with him on the disc where he discusses scoring the film as well as a commentary by director Sean Hogan.

Recommended.