Today is the 1st of October, meaning it’s once again time for my annual “31 Days of Horror” movie marathon. I’ve been doing this for more than a decade now, having originally started the yearly tradition as a way to trim down my movie watch list and to get caught up on more recent films I missed in the theater. This year, however, I have another purpose for this banquet of cinematic delights: I need to get back on the writing horse. The day job has me doing far more management than creating and it’s beginning to take its toll. What better way to ensure I’m putting words down daily for my own betterment and enjoyment than to pair it with spooky movies and folklore.
My 31 Days of Horror festival has two rules:
- I must watch 31 movies before 11:59 PM on Halloween.
- They can’t be movies I’ve seen before.
I don’t specifically set out with a particular theme or horror subgenre in mind, but often enough, one materializes by the end of the month. It turned out to be “Dead women in water” last year, for example, so we’ll see what manifests this year.
Day 1 begins with The Sudbury Devil, an independent horror film from 2023. The movie is set in 17th century Massachusetts as a pair of magistrates from Boston travel to investigate possible infernal occurrences in the village of Sudbury. Their inquiry takes the duo, along with a witness to these devilish events, into the woods outside the village. The three men soon find themselves in a place where reality is fluid as they confront witchcraft and devil worship.
I knew within the first few minutes that this was going to be a film with an extremely subjective entertainment factor. The dialogue is period, first off. If you winced at The VVitch, you’re going to find The Sudbury Devil equally grating. Those of us weirdos who love a good period horror movie, however, will find themselves right at home.
As an indie horror, the film faces the usual obstacles such movies must overcome: low budget, small cast, and a limited number of shooting locations. The movie doesn’t quite triumph over those difficulties, but does better than many low-budget films do. Regardless, these factors might inhibit the enjoyment of the film to some.
Further complicating things is the movie’s disinterest in telling a straightforward story. Events occur that are left to the audience to interpret and reality, as noted above, becomes malleable the longer our protagonists (and antagonists) remain in the woods. This element was one of the things I enjoyed most about the film. At times, what might be considered a “folk horror” film strays into cosmic horror. This path invited me to ponder if the supernatural events were truly Satanic in nature or are they cosmic horror viewed through the religious framework of 17th century New England? The filmmaker might not have had that in mind, but art often makes us ask questions or derive interpretations that the artist never intended.
If asked to sum up the film, I’d call The Sudbury Devil the American equivalent of A Field in England, perhaps not as well done. Let that comparison be another warning to those of you with little tolerance for the non-lineal narrative. At one point, The Sudbury Devil even laps itself, repeating previous events with different characters assuming new roles.
Overall, The Sudbury Devil is a solid start for this year’s film extravaganza. It’s not perfect, but much like A Field in England, it deserves a future rewatch to further untangle its skein-like plot.
Rating: 2 skulls out of 5 for the average film-goer, but add half a skull if you’re a period horror weirdo like me.
