A drunken dad tells his sleep derived son one one hell of an inappropriate whopper and thus begins Devil’s Acid… a drug-fueled journey through our beloved horror biz.
The story proper concerns douchey Johnny (Drew Rin Varick), who invites a group of comely ladies (Ashley Dulaney, Jessica Lynn Parsons, Misty and Kim Ormiston, and Betty Jeune) along with his bro Luke (Eric Gibson) to a derelict jailhouse for a night of debased debauchery; all enhanced by the ingestion of the eponymous Devil’s acid that is rumored to provide one hell of a trip… literally. The gang goes apeshit off that arcane acid and believe they see ol’ Scratch himself (Finch Nissen) which is kinda prosaic given the evil babies, cults, and snogging with deer heads that also surround them.
Given the above sinister synopsis above, you’d imagine you were in for one hell of an off-kilter and bizarre fright flick, and you’d be right… but Devil’s Acid is nothing if not a study in dichotomy. The subject matter is grindhouse fodder through and through, but it is expertly filmed and edited… same thing with the narrative itself, which juggles horror and the surreal with trying to be a comedy. These attempts are not always successful, but the film is mostly enjoyable all the same.
Speaking of comedy, there is a whole lotta improv based yakking that really should have been edited a hair. These moments slow this film down like a zombie stuck in molasses, and with a crazy-ass premise like this you want things to be fast and furious so the audience doesn’t dwell on things too much.
Another negative is that the characters in this film are either horrible or stupid and fail to engage the audience in any real way, which makes their ultimate fate a bit of a “who fuckin’ cares” sitch.
Devil’s Acid has enough craziness and hilarity for me to recommend it to you lot… but that being said, I doubt you’ll return to it anytime soon after your initial viewing.
