Review: The Devil’s Business (18)

And as the tale unfolds so the heightened emotions and tensions of the principals – Billy Clarke and Jack Gordon – build to a devastating conclusion.

Writer/director Sean Hogan’s urban tale of terror boasts a cast of four, a handful of locations within one house… and an altar to the dark arts. It’s the latter that drives the energy of this 69-minute piece, complete with its talky theatricality (not a bad thing) and some effective light and sound effects.

Star of the show is Clarke, the Belfast-born character actor who pulls off the film’s pièce de resistance – a lengthy monologue about the creepiest job he ever had to fulfil, and its aftermath. Resembling Hollywood’s Dean Stockwell, he brings control, discipline and a genuine sense of weary resignation to his killer, Mr Pinner.

Fans of the gangster genre will spot references to the 1980s John Hurt/Tim Roth thriller The Hit. There’s also more than a dash of Harold Pinter in the tight and edgy dialogue.

But it’s that undercurrent of dread that transforms this micro-budget gem into a stand-out entry in the horror genre.

Hogan scatters this featurette with clues to the unexpected nature of the finale.

A pentagram, the mutilated corpse of a newborn baby, 
a Crowley-esque antagonist, and a library of unsettling books. All of it is designed to take the viewer by the hand and head off into uncharted territory.

There are some similarities with Ben Wheatley’s Kill List but in truth there are also sufficient differences to allow The Devil’s Business to occupy its own space.

And just as Kill List had Neil Maskell and Michael Smiley, Clarke is the real discovery here – a phenomenal talent whose portrayal of understanding of life (and death) undergoes a terrifying transformation.

An intelligent and unnerving chiller, The Devil’s Business operates on a wholly satisfactory level.