One of the entries in the ever-popular Frightfest strand at Glasgow Film Festival, Bury The Devil tells the story of a young hospice nurse who must fight to survive the night when she suspects her elderly homebound patient is suffering from more than just dementia…
The film opens on a tracking shot that slowly crosses a lake, revealing a house on fire. Cut to black with a caption reading “75 minutes earlier”. The events of the evening then unfold in real-time, as Julia learns the chilling truth about her ward Evelyn.
When a film is billed as being filmed in “one shot”, it sets a certain level of expectation.
1) That the movie is indeed shot in one single continuous take, and 2) the story you are telling is elevated by the filmmaking method being used.
The answer to both questions, unfortunately, is no. It is actually a series of shots stitched together, to give the impression that it all unfolds in real-time in front of the camera. And while technically competent, when it is shot in this way, there is nowhere to hide. When visual storytelling becomes the dominant aspect of the production, it can draw people out of the film as they become more aware of the cinematography. When this happens, it pulls the other narrative features into sharper focus, and exposes the flaws.
In spite of a lean runtime of 86 minutes, the pacing is sluggish. A lot of time is spent moving back and forth around the house, and it highlights the fact that the screenplay is quite scarce of story, and importantly scares. The filmmakers are clearly trying to build in a mythology behind the possession, however the clues are drip-fed too slowly before trying the cram in too much in the final twenty minutes. By which time, patience and attention-spans have potentially worn thin.
The actors give suitably panicked and/or creepy performances, and do the best with what thin material they have at their disposal.
It is a shame that Bury The Devil doesn’t live up to the promise of its set-up, because it is clear that there is talent and ambition behind the camera. It just needed a tighter, stronger screenplay to flesh out the terror.
Bury the Devil received its world premiere at FrightFest Glasgow on 6 March
Rating: 
Director: Adam O’Brien
Stars: Emmaneulle Lussier Martinez, Dawn Ford, Bill Rowat
Runtime: 86 minutes
Country: USA
