She Demons of the Black Sun
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Popular culture has taught me some valuable lessons in my life. Never feed a mogwai after midnight, don’t tug on Superman’s cape or spit in the wind, and certainly don’t mess around with Slim. Another truism came my way this weekend from director SV Bell – never, ever gang-rape a girl familiar with the black arts. The legal and moral issues that arise are the least of your worries.

Here’s the skinny; four male friends from The Black Sun bar spend their weekends hanging out and sucking down beers. No big deal, right? Their hobby takes a dark turn late in the evening however when they spike the drink of an unsuspecting young lady, wait for the drugs to kick in, then pass her around like an inflatable sheep at a shepherd’s convention.

As great plans oft times do however, this one turns to crap when they rape Isabelle (the great Isabelle Stephen). The next day, she pieces together the events of the night before, and is none too pleased when she realizes these four dirtbags had their way with her.

Like so many ex-pagans before, she calls on her black arts to conjure up a wicked female devil (a heavily made-up, but still oddly alluring Melantha Blackthorne, me-ow!). For the low, low price of the guilty souls, the devil offers Isabelle some much needed revenge, giving her some badass occult powers and some She-Demons to do the leg-work.

I wasn’t familiar with she-demons before this film, but if they’re all hot bisexual killing machines, I say we need more of them!

What ensues is some sexy, gory fun! Isabelle and her demonic lusty assistants carve up and bludgeon the rapists in some seriously vile, yet somewhat arousing ways, saving the most gruesome for the bar owner, who is introduced to the horrible world of the “grudge f*ck”.

I learned of the grudge f*ck in 1986 from a friend of a friend named Geoff. While claiming to never have participated, he did know of someone who had. Essentially, the guy with a grudge against a woman screws her six ways to Sunday, then to top it off, slashes her abdomen and has sex with the wound. Yes, it’s gross, I’m not claiming to have invented it for Pete’s sake!

Isabelle takes it to the extreme though, magically turning her arm into a giant man-stick and humping a huge gut-wound until the brink of death. I warned you it was gross!

“She-Demons” was a fun watch, and addressed some of our previous gripes about Bell’s work. The pacing issues were gone, now scenes that previously turned into 4 minute music videos were still gory, just a lot shorter. Kudos! There’s also a nice twist at the end that I never would have predicted, adding to the appeal of the film.

I was impressed with Isabelle Stephen’s work in the film especially. There were a couple of scenes where she was alone, with no lines, but was still able to show emotion and communicate with the viewer. Bravo my devil lovin’ vigilante, bravo.

Another high point for me was the sound. Normally a hindrance in low budget movies, the sound effects and score were absolutely top notch. The overall story and CGI work were above par as well. Well…let me expound on the effects a bit actually…

There’s a line where too many effects are not a good thing, and “She-Demons” crossed it twice in my opinion. Early in the film, when the soon-to-be molesters are at the bar, the amount of people walking by their table (and about every third one “wipes” the scene to a different camera angle) was a bit much. The crowded dance floor clued me in that the bar was busy – I get it.

Then, later in the film, there’s an effects serpent that made me cringe, and not because of the realism. I think this snake was a backup singer for “The Rainbow Connection” in one of the Muppets’ Christmas specials. It got a groan out of me, and luckily the scene was so fast that I was back to digging the film in mere seconds.

The actresses were all hot, Bell certainly has an eye for this, but with makeup effects, they were also gruesome…which I commend him for. All too often someone sticks some horns on a good looking model and leaves it up to the viewer to make believe they’re evil. Not here buddy, no matter how hot the actress is (even Suzi Lorraine hot) without makeup, they were definitely most unholy here.

Can I recommend “She-Demons”? Absolutely, if you’re a gore fan. This is no Lifetime movie about empowerment. It’s rough, violent, sexually charged, bloody and twisted, kind of like my ex-girlfriend. If you’re a sick bastard like me, go pick it up. Despite the minor flaws, and for having a generous amount of girl-on-girl action, it’s a solid 3 ½ cans out of 5.

Added:  Monday, May 22, 2006

Related Link:  Official page on SV Bell's site
Language: eng[ Did you find this review helpful?  Yes  No ]
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