The Devil's Ground (2008)

★ 4.7 1h 29m IMDb

Horror Thriller

While traveling from California to Bangor through a lonely road, Carrie Mitchel is advised by the gas station attendant Jimmy to rest in a hotel; however, she decides to continue driving through the night and almost hits a wounded teenage girl with blood on her face. She gives a lift to the girl and listens to the tale of her passenger and her friends.

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Cast

Daryl Hannah as Carrie Mitchel Age 65 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Daryl Hannah was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She attend the University of Southern California (USC) and made her film debut in the Brian De Palma film The Fury (1978). She starred in such fi...

Leah Gibson as Amy Singer Age 41 · Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Luke Camilleri as Mike

Lee Tomaschefski as Lisa

Jeb Beach as Greg Jeb Beach is an actor and director, known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) and Fringe (2008)..

Twan Holliday as Hog/Tobey/Jimmy

Director Michael Bafaro

Cast Daryl Hannah, Leah Gibson, Luke Camilleri, Lee Tomaschefski, Maria Gruending, Jeb Beach, Daniel Probert, Twan Holliday, Olivia Blaha-McGillick, Jason Chin

Wuchak 5/10 Aug 25, 2023

**_College youths take a wrong turn in the sticks of northwest PA_**

A woman from California traveling through the back roads of Pennsylvania (Daryl Hannah) picks up a traumatized female, who was part of a student archeological team from Boston. The youths were interested in the local Indian burial grounds whereupon they discover some of the remains are quite recent. What’s going on?

Released in 2009, “The Devil’s Ground”, aka “The Cycle,” is a backwoods slasher in the “Wrong Turn” mold with some nods to the “Friday the 13th” flicks, i.e. a hulking masked assailant in the woods with a machete.

Without giving away vital revelations in the last act, the story comes down to a toxic waste, bitter yokels and some mysterious crows. The Indian burial ground functions simply to attract the out-of-state college students and isn't related to the other stuff, unless you view the grounds as sacred land that curses anyone who desecrates it. Let's be generous to writer/director Micheal Bafaro and go with that.

The striking Lee Tomaschefski stands out on the female front as Lisa, although she doesn’t do much for me personally. Meanwhile Maria Gruending is worth a mention as Tammy and I like protagonist Leah Gibson’s doe-eyed look.

The filmmaking is professional so this is worth checking out for those who appreciate backwaters horror, particularly of the slasher variety. Despite some eye-rolling script flaws, like the map contrivance and the youths constantly referring to the killer as “the monster,” I’d watch this over “Wrong Turn.” But it’s not as entertaining as any of the “Friday the 13th” movies. For a similar Canadian flick that’s more effective, see "Butchers" (2020).

The flick runs 1 hour, 28 minutes. It’s a Canadian/Czech production, but I can’t find specific info on filming locations; the credits list the British Columbia Film Commission, so I’m assuming that’s where it was shot (thankfully they don’t show the Cascades or Rockies in the background since the story is set in northwestern Pennsylvania).

GRADE: C+