Fantastic Fest ’11 Review: ‘THE DEVIL’S BUSINESS’

Earlier this year, Sean Hogan collaborated with Simon Rumley (The Living and the Dead, Red, White and Blue) for the film Little Deaths. Hogan brings a new film to Fantastic Fest called The Devil’s Business. Completely shot on the Canon 5D DSLR, The Devil’s Business tells a story of a couple of hit men that enter their target’s house to carry out the hit. Unfortunately for them, this target is a little different than their typical subjects.

Cully (Jack Gordon), a relatively green hitman, tries to use this job as an opportunity to learn more about his partner, a veteran, Mr. Pinner (Billy Clarke). While Pinner puts Cully in check most of the time, they actually learn more about each other than I think either wants to know. Among this, they discover that the man they are ordered to kill might possibly deal with the occult. When the job gets completed, things get really strange.

Sean Hogan is a relatively new director for me. Actually, this is my first Sean Hogan film. I have been wanting to check out Little Deaths but it hasn’t been released for home release yet. The film is effectively directed and most of its success stems from Billy Clarke. A lot of his work in the film is through his lines. He has a great monologue in where Cully asks him what the weirdest thing he has had happen him in this line of work. Clarke really delivers in making this monologue compelling as the camera pretty much sticks with him the whole time. Hogan also uses a lot of blue lighting which really adds something to these night time scenes as it establishes a lot of mood that could easily be lost. The Devil’s Business relies a lot on the mood and atmosphere that is set by Hogan and Clarke.

The film, as said previously, was shot on Canon 5D cameras. Which, for a film like this, is a benefit as it is shot in night scenes. Granted the film has professional lighting and isn’t totally self reliant on natural light. However, the film is very free moving and doesn’t have a lot of setups outside of the heavy dialogue scenes.

The last act can be a bit polarizing because of some things that are introduced but never explained. While cool in concept, it also seems like a throw away or as just a interesting idea that isn’t explored into the detail that might be deserved. As a result, The Devil’s Business is going to be a movie that you will either dig or not. While there are some gory details in the film, it won’t be for gorehounds. It is more of a character piece than an actual straight up horror film. There is no doubt that The Devil’s Business delivers some creepy moments.