The Devonsville Terror starts 300 years before the movie proper with the persecution of some witches for things like brewing something in a cauldron, reading Tarot cards and seducing men. They are all dispatched while the men folk look on lasciviously. The leader is played by the ugly guy who played "Cousin Billy from the rock shop" in The Giant Spider Invasion along with small roles in other films by Bill Rebane. We get some close ups of his hideous visage as he licks his lips lustfully. The three women are all killed in different ways- one is eaten alive by hogs, another is put on a big wooden wheel and rolled down a hill while it's set ablaze and the third is killed more traditionally by burning at the stake. After about ten minutes the movie continues in the present. The location is a small town in Wisconsin, we learn that it's both very religious and conservative, with the men dominate. This mostly quiet, uneventful town is about to be disrupted by the most destructive force in the entire universe- women. Three women arrive in the town at the same time who may or may not be witches. They bring with them things much more calamitous than any plague or blight- feminism, environmentalism and the most destructive force of all, female sexuality and beauty. This comes in the form of director Ulli Lommel's muse and wife at the time the foxy Suzanne Love. She's a school teacher who despite her conservative dress and demure nature informs her students that God may have been a woman. In this community it would be better to say God didn't even exist than to state such a blasphemy. She catches the eye of many of the town's men including one who has just murdered his wife with a pillow. He's played by the jowly, always dejected looking Paul Willson. He had a decent career both before and especially after this most notably in Office Space a film I find highly overrated despite only having half-watched it on regular TV with all the unnecessary swears cut out. He's very good here coming off as both loathsome and somewhat sympathetically pathetic as he tries to woo the pretty young teacher. These scenes are pure agony as he blathers on and on while she sits/stands there silently while still able to seem compassionate and expertly hiding her contempt for this disgusting (both physically and morally) creature.
The other new arrivals are a young student who wants to test the water for pollutants despite the town having dumped the same stuff in the river for 50 years with seemingly no ill effects. The town really doesn't need nor want someone interfering with what is probably the only industry there. There's also a femme-Marxist female radio DJ spreading women's lib propaganda in a town that is doing just fine with women in their servile place. She's no fun-loving Stevie Wayne but sour and unlikable with bad teeth and an attitude to match. Donald Pleasence shows up in an extended cameo as a doctor infested with worms trying to break the curse put upon his ancestors before he is consumed slowly and painfully by the wriggly little monsters. He may be the towns only hope for true salvation while the rest of the men are about to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers, the execution of these modern day witches. The methods are similar but updated somewhat with one being eaten alive by dogs, another dragged behind a car to her death and the good old reliable burning at the stake saved for Suzanna Love's character. It turns out she is actually all that they fear a woman might be and this leads to an exciting sequence towards the end that completely rips off the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, only the people getting killed here are more loathsome. This is the gruesome highlight of the movie with an axe to the skull, an exploding head and an extended meltdown of Paul Willson's ugly head which isn't very realistic but still awesome. She accomplishes all three of these unique kills while tied to a stake and by shooting lasers out of her eyes. The movie ends with her boarding a bus to presumably travel onto other towns to use her feminine wiles and sexuality to destroy even more lives and communities. While trendy destructive fads like environmentalism (now know as the cult of Climate Change which has been expertly and easily debunked by Tony Heller) and more modern ones like transgenderism will eventually fade and lose their power, female beauty and sexuality will always be a destructive force so long as men are still able to obtain an erection. I'm sure you've read that a nation/kingdom/empire is more likely to be in turmoil and at a war with a woman in charge. For a good 20 to 30 years most women will have an upper hand in the battle of the sexes but once they hit that certain point I hope they didn't buy into the modern lies of feminism and women's liberation and pursued a family instead of wasting their good years on a career that will never bring real fulfillment only ever decreasing in value monetary gain, wasted years and deep regret. I doubt this film was trying to express anything like my interpretation 40! Years later and most likely Lommel just went along with his wife who co-wrote it to give her an ego boost by portraying her as a strong, sexy woman who brutally destroys all the men who have transcended against her kind.
The Devonsville Terror isn't a horror film packed with fright and gore with most of the runtime rather slow paced and building up to the final conflagration. Fortunately it does a solid job of building up a feeling of autumnal horror and looming dread. The location is perfect being made in Gleason, Wisconsin where Bill Rebane set up shop to make most of his regional classics. Rebane is a producer here with a couple of other Rebanes along for the ride. The main cast is pretty solid here and while Suzanna Love isn't a stellar actress she's very good here in a role that requires her to be mostly cold and unemotional. Donald Pleasence is in his typical aloof, eccentric role he would play around this time in his career even getting to pull worms out of his skin. Paul Willson is easily the best actor here playing a character you'll mostly hate but at times feel sorry for. There's also a number of too brief topless scenes from Suzanna and most of the bloody parts are confined to the beginning and ending. Overall I think The Devonsville Terror is a fun, borderline classic of "folk" rural horror being both atmospheric, sexy, bloody and possessing a very fun plot about the eternal battle of the sexes.
The other new arrivals are a young student who wants to test the water for pollutants despite the town having dumped the same stuff in the river for 50 years with seemingly no ill effects. The town really doesn't need nor want someone interfering with what is probably the only industry there. There's also a femme-Marxist female radio DJ spreading women's lib propaganda in a town that is doing just fine with women in their servile place. She's no fun-loving Stevie Wayne but sour and unlikable with bad teeth and an attitude to match. Donald Pleasence shows up in an extended cameo as a doctor infested with worms trying to break the curse put upon his ancestors before he is consumed slowly and painfully by the wriggly little monsters. He may be the towns only hope for true salvation while the rest of the men are about to repeat the mistakes of their forefathers, the execution of these modern day witches. The methods are similar but updated somewhat with one being eaten alive by dogs, another dragged behind a car to her death and the good old reliable burning at the stake saved for Suzanna Love's character. It turns out she is actually all that they fear a woman might be and this leads to an exciting sequence towards the end that completely rips off the ending of Raiders of the Lost Ark, only the people getting killed here are more loathsome. This is the gruesome highlight of the movie with an axe to the skull, an exploding head and an extended meltdown of Paul Willson's ugly head which isn't very realistic but still awesome. She accomplishes all three of these unique kills while tied to a stake and by shooting lasers out of her eyes. The movie ends with her boarding a bus to presumably travel onto other towns to use her feminine wiles and sexuality to destroy even more lives and communities. While trendy destructive fads like environmentalism (now know as the cult of Climate Change which has been expertly and easily debunked by Tony Heller) and more modern ones like transgenderism will eventually fade and lose their power, female beauty and sexuality will always be a destructive force so long as men are still able to obtain an erection. I'm sure you've read that a nation/kingdom/empire is more likely to be in turmoil and at a war with a woman in charge. For a good 20 to 30 years most women will have an upper hand in the battle of the sexes but once they hit that certain point I hope they didn't buy into the modern lies of feminism and women's liberation and pursued a family instead of wasting their good years on a career that will never bring real fulfillment only ever decreasing in value monetary gain, wasted years and deep regret. I doubt this film was trying to express anything like my interpretation 40! Years later and most likely Lommel just went along with his wife who co-wrote it to give her an ego boost by portraying her as a strong, sexy woman who brutally destroys all the men who have transcended against her kind.
The Devonsville Terror isn't a horror film packed with fright and gore with most of the runtime rather slow paced and building up to the final conflagration. Fortunately it does a solid job of building up a feeling of autumnal horror and looming dread. The location is perfect being made in Gleason, Wisconsin where Bill Rebane set up shop to make most of his regional classics. Rebane is a producer here with a couple of other Rebanes along for the ride. The main cast is pretty solid here and while Suzanna Love isn't a stellar actress she's very good here in a role that requires her to be mostly cold and unemotional. Donald Pleasence is in his typical aloof, eccentric role he would play around this time in his career even getting to pull worms out of his skin. Paul Willson is easily the best actor here playing a character you'll mostly hate but at times feel sorry for. There's also a number of too brief topless scenes from Suzanna and most of the bloody parts are confined to the beginning and ending. Overall I think The Devonsville Terror is a fun, borderline classic of "folk" rural horror being both atmospheric, sexy, bloody and possessing a very fun plot about the eternal battle of the sexes.