(Obligatory Disclaimer: I have worked on prior films with some of the individuals involved in this one, and found the experience generally pleasant)
In a pitch black room, a young man named Justin (Ward Roberts) sits in a sacred circle, lighting candles, reciting from a Necronomicon-like tome, and drawing blood with a knife. He’s looking to summon a demon.
Lo…and behold. The demon Lo (Jeremiah Birkett) probably isn’t quite what was expected. Sure, he LOOKS freaky enough, like some cross between a Roswell alien and Star Trek’s Mugatu that’s missing a lower body. But he’s also something of a wise-ass, instantly demanding that Justin “clean the shit from your pants and tell me what you want.” When Justin tells him he’s looking for a girl that was taken by another demon, Lo tries to claim that Justin is racist for tarring all demons with the same brush. Then he pulls out a cigarette, because demons “do anything we want to do…it’s cool!”
Before helping, Lo demands that Justin reveal a bit more of himself and the girl he’s looking for, and so we get some flashbacks, but not just any kind. Making a virtue of his low budget rather than trying to cheaply steal actual locations, writer-director Travis Betz chooses to re-stage the scenes from Justin’s life on painted wooden sets, flanked by real-live, gold-painted tragedy and comedy faces.
We learn that Justin fell for the unusual April (Sarah Lassez) when she came up to him in a diner and started enthusiastically eating his salad. As they got to know each other, her charming naivete won him over further. But of course, she has a dark secret involving a book…it’s pretty obvious upfront that it’s gonna turn out to be the very same book Justin used to summon Lo.
And Lo isn’t the only bizarre character lurking in the darkness: there’s also a green rodent-girl, a frightening bartender, and a reptilian demon named Jeez (Devin Barry) who dresses like a naval admiral…with a swastika armband. Also, when he feels like it, he can command a doo-wop band of zombies for some sing-song exposition.
Needless to say, love it or hate it — and I’m guessing some of you may find my love for it suspect — this is one unique flick.
It’s a very tricky balance of tone that’s being attempted here. Horror-comedy is tough at the best of times, and horror-comedy on a shoestring with believably frightening demons has got to be a handful. Mostly, though, it works. Some bits are strained: a sequence in which Lo conjures up two of his victims from Hell to say things like “It really sucks here!” doesn’t pack the power it should, and isn’t particularly funny either, even when it goes for a cheap sex joke. And there’s a late-stage disorientation on Justin’s part that feels like it’s there for the sake of being there.
The overall concept, though, holds strong. Though the viewer knows instinctively that the surreal staging of events is partly a budgetary call, the execution is creative, and it’s easy to believe demons like these might play with your head in exactly this fashion. Tom Devlin’s creature makeups are inventive and different…I truly thought Lo was being played by an amputee or a little person, and am not sure how he hid his legs so well. Only quibble is that Jeez has some bare human skin around his eyes, and I would think a bout with the green airbrush could have fixed that. (Devlin did my zombie makeup on SNZN)
Also, Jeez is a dumb name for a demon, considering it’s generally considered to be short for Jesus.
Roberts and Birkett are the ones required to carry the whole story, though, and they do. Birkett manages to emote through thick layers of whatever the hell it is that makes him a demon, while Roberts gets a couple of scenes where he literally has to “talk to the hand,” giving voice to both it and himself.
And then there’s Sarah as April, the object of adoration. If you’ve seen the movies I’ve been in with her (UNTIL THE NIGHT and MAD COWGIRL), you’ll have no problem believing she can embody that. However, I’ve never seen her actually do comedy prior to this. Turns out she’s a natural at playing sweetly ignorant, something of a 180 from prior roles.
And if you’re reading this, Sarah, Tom told me you were even harder to get the contacts into than I was. Thanks to you, he had the patience for me!
LO comes out on DVD today. Whether or not I be blinded by biases, I hope I’ve given you enough to decide if it’s worth a look for you.
