horrorgasm Dust Devil certainly has an ambitious premise with a lot of potential, but the director and the budget very clearly were not enough to meet the demands of the plot. The pacing is just awful. I don't know what atmosphere and suspense people are talking about because we're shown the intentions and methods of the killer within the first five minutes, yet the movie fills up most of its minutes with the painfully slow faux-romance plot as if we weren't shown exactly what the killer was planning to do to the female lead from the beginning.The cop's dream sequences are kind of interesting, but the character himself is so bland that they don't really end up adding anything to the experience.I just don't see the appeal at all. It felt like someone was trying to make an incredibly self-serious, darker version of Warlock, but just didn't have the budget and directing talent to back it up. I guess if you like staring at empty desert roads a lot then you might love Dust Devil...

Leofwine_draca Richard Stanley's second film after his android-on-the-loose debut HARDWARE is a disturbing, over-long tale of a magical serial killer on the loose in Namibia. To be fair, it's an original concept, and Africa isn't exactly the place you think of when it comes to horror films. The use of the isolated desert landscapes (just like in WALKABOUT) is good, and the artistic nature of the film is also a major plus.However, once again Stanley gives us a bunch of uninteresting, unlikable characters, and we don't really have too many feelings about them. The film is also far too long, and there's not a lot going on to retain interest, apart from repeated artistic scenes and images, which to be fair are nice to look at but there's not much depth. There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo involving witch doctors and the like. Robert Burke brings a certain level of complexity to his character, but the final revelation is somewhat disappointing. Chelsea Field is a tough heroine but never makes us feel for her character, while Zakes Mokae is rather good as the policeman investigating.There are a number of gory shocks along the way, such as a dream where the policeman has his internal organs pulled out by a burnt skeleton, or the severed fingers, or the moment where the hitch-hiker's head literally explodes, in a scene worthy of Cronenberg's SCANNERS. If you're into arty films like this then you'll probably enjoy DUST DEVIL, but I'm afraid they're not really my cup of tea. There can be no understating the disturbing nature of the film, however, and it played on my mind afterwards.

Scott LeBrun "Dust Devil" is an intriguing, moody little genre film, marked by very fine acting and the kind of atmosphere one can only get in practical locations. In this case, the setting is the Namibian desert, and that adds a lot to the story and presentation. The ambiance is practically overwhelming; writer / director Richard Stanley ("Hardware") nicely captures on film a world that not that many of us get to see. Aided by a truly haunting music score by Simon Boswell, he does an excellent job at keeping the viewer uneasy yet interested in everything that happens on screen. The surrealism is top notch, and Stanley keeps the special effects work at a minimum. Overall, this is actually a better film than "Hardware", if not entirely satisfying; the script is indeed somewhat muddled. The characters are worth watching, with likable protagonists and a creepy antagonist.The under-rated Robert John Burke stars as the title character, a spirit trapped in a human body who must kill in order to gain access to another realm. He makes the acquaintance of Wendy (Chelsea Field), who was unhappy in her marriage and has run away. Tracking Wendy is her concerned husband Mark (Rufus Swart), while The Dust Devil is pursued by haunted cop Ben Mukurob (the late, great South African actor Zakes Mokae, whom you may recognize as the villain from Wes Cravens' "The Serpent and the Rainbow".Adding even more intrigue to Stanley's tale is the fact that he based it on the case of a real- life serial killer in the area who was never caught, or even identified, leading to speculations about a possible supernatural origin. The director blends African mythology with the serial killer and otherworldly elements, not to mention a love for the Western genre, to great effect. The fact that Wendy and Ben are such sad people adds much pathos; if Ben can be considered a hero, then he's definitely a tragic one. It's easy for the viewer to feel sympathy towards this character. Field and Mokae beautifully perform their parts, and Burke is deliciously sinister. Adding solid support is another departed great character actor William Hootkins, who'd acted in "Hardware" and appears here as Bens' superior. Delivering the exposition in an entertaining way is John Matshikiza, who's magnetic as Joe.The heavily edited American release of "Dust Devil" really did it no favours; the subsequent reviews then motivated American distributor Miramax to put little effort into promoting it, which further prevented this film from reaching the audience that it deserved. If you are able, track down the multi disc Subversive DVD release (which also includes a few Stanley documentaries, the work print of the film, and the soundtrack on CD); you can then see this offbeat effort the way it was intended.Seven out of 10.

Ben Larson South Africa's all-time horror classic Dust Devil (1992) spins a genuinely chilling tale of a supernatural shape-shifter roaming the Capetown area in the form of a particularly vicious serial murderer (played by Robert John Burke). With police in pursuit of the phantom slayer, the bodies pile up in this atmospheric genre bender (thriller and western) and Chelsea Field peels down most pleasingly, as does Terry Norton.Conflict between the production company and the director (Richard Stanley) resulted in several cuts to the film, and, as a result, it seems a bit disjointed.