Devil’s Punchbowl Aftermath begins moments after the events of the first film. Emily (Alice Sharpe) and her police officer father Keith (Jonathan Abbott) are collecting themselves following a horrible slew of murders in their small town of Devil’s Punchbowl. It seems that protocol was compromised in order to resolve a crime and Keith is more than a little nervous. SPOILER ALERT for those who haven’t seen the first film, Charley (Richard Lloyd-Knight) has been brought to justice and innocent loner Dale (Adam Starks) is once again on the run. I have to give writer, director, and star Starks props for an inventive plot. But, what could have been an exciting evolution of the slasher genre becomes a bloated and agonizingly slow “thriller.”
Hours after the events of the first film, police officer Keith has his daughter, Emily, dropped at home. Emily has a thing for runaway loner Dale and hopes to stop him from telling everyone how her father mishandled tracking down a killer in the first movie. Confiding in nosey neighbor Amanda, (Lucy Appleton,) Emily talks about how poorly her father handled things. While Emily hopes to find runaway Dale to clear her father’s name, Amanda reaches out to the local news reporter who moonlights as a pizza delivery person. Then, as luck would have it, more murders begin happening. Was the original killer, Charley, innocent? Did he have help? Or, worse still, were there two killers? Again, I have to give kudos to Starks for his resourceful plot that keeps the story going. Yet for all of the action, not a lot happens.
For those keeping score, we have Emily chasing Dale, we then have Keith and his deputy following a trail of clues in search of Emily, next we have Amanda and the pizza reporter guy knocking about for a story, then we have more murders. This could have worked if things moved at a clip. But no, most scenes are played with an unbearably slow pace that holds for every laugh, every chuckle.
There is good though. Abbott’s Keith is giving full-on Dr. Loomis. So much so that his speech, his rhythms, all seemed to pay homage to Donald Pleasance in the best way. The work from cinematographers Kieran Donnelly, Lauren Massey, and Megan O’Loughlin is mostly colorful and well composed. There are some great shots with stunning color contrast that reminded me of John Hora‘s work in Explorers. I even enjoyed the story by Starks for its ability to mine for conflict and further intrigue. But when a film has 5 separate music montages to move things along, there is a problem.
Devil’s Punchbowl Aftermath is an inventive slasher pic/buddy movie that would have benefited from a healthy edit and a few less threads in the story. The bones are there, the story is fun, the characters are even a hoot on occasion. It’s just too bad that the film knows one speed; Slow. Starks has talent for story, no question. Let’s hope that the next Punchbowl isn’t spiked as hard.
