In director Jared Cohn’s 2019 feature, Devil’s Revenge, an archaeologist who is thirsting for his next big find accidentally disturbs a cursed relic and opens the gates of Hell. In order to remove the curse on his family and send the demons back where they belong, he then sets out on a quest to destroy the relic for good. Starring Jason Brooks, Jeri Ryan, and William Shatner, Devil’s Revenge tries to add one-part Indiana Jones to one-part Drag Me to Hell, drops the humor that makes those films work, and finds limited success.

Narratively and visually, Devil’s Revenge has the gloss of a middle-of-the-road, mid-range budget film. Overall, the plot points make sense, likely due to the handiwork of Star Trek: Next Generation teleplay veteran Maurice Hurley, and the camerawork is crisp. Just because it looks and reads like a film doesn’t mean it sounds like a film though. In particular, all of the sound mixing made it seem as if every scene was shot inside a playground slide. There’s a shallow echo throughout the movie, even in open spaces, that never seems to dissipate. Despite the less than convincing sound design of Devil’s Revenge, the practical and digital effects are relatively strong. Even though the jump scares in Devil’s Revenge didn’t land with me, the effects team did a solid job of making sure those moments at least looked polished.

At times it’s hard to tell whether Devil’s Revenge suffers from bad acting or poorly written dialogue. Not one actor in the film delivers a line that feels natural to a human being, let alone a screen character. In fact, everyone in this film came off as tense and terse in a way I still can’t place. The two leads, Brooks and Ryan, hardly play off of each other and it often felt like they were talking to a tennis ball on a stick. The other players aside, I think we should be more than thankful that we were gifted a William Shatner vehicle in the year of our lord 2019. Sure, he hams it up and, yeah, his character’s motivations don’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s Shatner, folks. His line delivery foibles are no more or less painful to watch than trying to take in Jeri Ryan’s entire screen presence. Devil’s Revenge isn’t a particularly good film, but in the few scenes Shatner’s on the screen, it’s a rather entertaining one.

Finishing Devil’s Revenge was more of a chore than a treat. There are unintentional laughs to be had along the way and Shatner is, well, Shatner, so it’s worth a peek if you enjoy a somewhat campy horror romp. Keep in mind that the scares don’t have much bite and Shatner’s screen time is proportionally low compared to the other leads. It’s not a total wash, but Devil’s Revenge can probably wait until you get through the rest of your Halloween watchlist.