I remember back around 1990 there was a lot of hype from the horror magazines like Fangoria about a film called Hardware. Praise was heaped upon it and a lot of people were saying that the filmmaker, Richard Stanley, was one to watch. Closely. After a series of delays, Hardware was finally released on VHS [...]

I remember back around 1990 there was a lot of hype from the horror magazines like Fangoria about a film called Hardware. Praise was heaped upon it and a lot of people were saying that the filmmaker, Richard Stanley, was one to watch. Closely. After a series of delays, Hardware was finally released on VHS and I rented it as soon as I was able to do so. I didn’t think that it lived up to the hype surrounding it, but I thought it was one hell of a debut that had a whole lot going for it.

A lot of the excitement about Hardware was about Richard Stanley. He was heralded as a genius and a director with a vision far ahead of his time. Stanley came from South Africa and was like some sort of seer or possibly even a shaman of some sort. These were the kind of rumors that were being tossed about. He was compared to everyone from Lynch to Cronenberg to Argento, but I always thought that the filmmaker that he most reminded me of was Alejandro Jodorowski.

Then we heard about Stanley’s upcoming movie: Dust Devil. The early word on Dust Devil led me to believe that the promise of the talent behind Hardware would be fulfilled with this one. Again, the production was plagued with problems and it was released in a badly cut form that was indecipherable to most viewers. What was there was not only good, it was brilliant. Yet were deprived of the full scope of Richard Stanley’s cinematic vision.

Despite an unsatisfactory release for Dust Devil, Stanley was offered a very nice gig in a remake of The Island of Dr. Moreau. After only a brief time on board the production, creative differences abounded and Stanley was removed from the project and John Frankenheimer took over. Bad move on the studio’s part. Not that Frankenheimer is a bad director. Far from it, but the film ended up being a disaster in every way imaginable.

Reportedly disgusted with trying to get a feature made and released his way, Richard Stanley abandoned his quest to get his own ideas made into films, he roamed the world making weird documentaries.

Now, at last, Dust Devil is available to us in the form that Richard Stanley wanted it to be. Subversive Cinema pulled out all the stops with this release. It’s a five disc set, with the director’s cut on one DVD, a longer workprint on another, the documentaries on two more and an audio CD with Simon Boswell’s evocative score as well.

For those that are weary of retreaded horror movies, misconceived retro 70’s misfires, remakes and sequels and prequels, Dust Devil is the film for you. You come to this site (hopefully) because you love horror. Dust Devil is the kind of movie any lover of the genre should embrace. The titular dust devil is a roaming ageless spirit, played by the underrated actor, Robert John Burke. He charms unsuspecting women, seduces them and then slaughters them. Dust Devil is brutal enough to satisfy hardcore horror fans, yet it is also intelligent enough to please more discriminating viewers. Made in Stanley’s native South Africa, Dust Devil is beautifully shot and Subversive’s DVD looks incredible. The entire movie is a wonder to behold, even when terrible things are happening.

I don’t think it’s any exaggeration to call Dust Devil: The Final Cut the horror DVD event of 2006. It’s a limited edition and if there’s any justice in the world, it will sell out quickly and hopefully rekindle Richard Stanley’s career in feature films. Talent like his comes around all too rarely and it’s a shame to see it compromised or ignored.

No comments

Add Comment

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA