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Directed and written by Nick Barrett
Starring Johnny Vivash, Eilania Alminas and Matthew Hebden
Short Film Review by Rachel Pullen
Estate agents you either hate them or you are one, and for the majority of the population who don't resided themselves to such a career, seeing a smug middle class, London based estate agent get his comeuppance is certainly an enjoyable experience.
So wait no longer, Nick Barrett's horror short Devil Town, serves up just that.
Set in London we see our lead role, estate agent Patrick, played by Matthew Hebden, doing what rich estate agents do best, chatting on the phone about important deals, being ignorant to the needs of the poor and getting over prices coffee.
But during his daily caffeine splurge he is confronted by a scruffy homeless looking man called Driscoll, played by Johnny Vivash, who starts to inform him of the end of the world, what follows next is an intense and dark conversation full of twists and revelations that will keep the viewing on the edge of their seats.
Devil Town is a sharp and visual juxtaposition, we see these two characters, both so different in appearance as well as personality, both so eager in getting their point across, be it to listen or to leave that we, as an audience feel like we are watching the final at Wimbledon.
But that's not a bad thing, the script in this piece is compelling and intriguing, it gives enough information for you to piece together the purpose of the short, but also does not spoon feed you the answers, like Patrick you must make sense of the information being told to you and decide whether you believe it or not.
This piece builds up and crescendos in beautiful manner, taking timing, music [which was all scored by Nick Barrett himself] and suspense into consideration, Barrett makes Devil Town a refreshing addition to the idea of the body snatcher genre, something that I feel has not been tackled for sometime within the horror community, as well as the idea that a good horror can simply come from a chilling tale, much like the ones we were told as children.
So if you looking for suspense, fear, intellect and poor people sticking it to the arrogant and the rich, or a something where you can relate your unrelenting hatred of estate agents to, then Devil Town is a must watch for you.
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