Sell It To The Devil

Tastyland Pictures

R1 DVD

Writer / Director David Gaz has put this film together based on an unusual premise – that there are people out there who want something badly enough to make a pact with the Devil to get it. This rather Faustian idea has a basis in medieval history and sorcery, but how will it go in modern-day Hollywood? Very well, apparently. At the audition call a long line of aspiring soul-sellers discuss their reasons on camera. Generally they want fame, fortune and respect. They mostly understand the negative side of the pact. They may become something they don’t want to be if the Devil can find a loophole in the pact. After all, Adolf Hitler was certainly famous, well off and respected if disliked for his dangerous power.

The successful “winner” of the audition is young Kai Blackwood, a heavy metal musician who just hasn’t yet had the breakthrough into fame that he wants. Kai doesn’t come across as a fool. He is thoughtful, serious and expresses himself well. Whether he takes it seriously or not – well, watch the DVD and decide for yourself. He is made well aware of the risks. A lady at the Philosophical Research Foundation, a free library with an extensive collection of relevant books, points out that selling your soul is really just a way to avoid responsibility by transferring the responsibility elsewhere – the devil made me do it. She also points out that if he goes on with the ritual it will be dangerous. If something goes out of the ritual circle (the pact) then something will come in (a demon?). There is no escape clause such as finding Jesus and expecting him to forgive you so everything will be all right in the end.

“There are unforgivable sins in this world. I do believe there are things that you do ….Giving up your mortal soul to the Devil for all eternity for a couple of pieces of silver and a nice car – you’ve trivialised everything that God gave you. What are you saying to God that your soul is worth?… I do think Jesus has the power to redeem Kai but I don’t think he will.” – Father Mike, Theologian

The ritual is set out in an old book “Le Grande Grimoire”. The range of props and accessories for the ceremony is surprisingly easy to obtain. It includes a new blade (a knife), virgin parchment (never written on), a bloodstone, vine twigs and so on. Most of these are available in any good supernatural shop at a shopping centre near you. The ritual must take place in a once-living but now-dead place. Kai picks an old castle in the desert.

Kai must then spend thirty days purifying himself for the ceremony. This will involve preparing a potion that will help him contact the Devil. He also uses this time to write the pact with the Devil on the virgin parchment. Getting the wording of the pact exactly right is critically important. The Devil is treacherous so there can be no loopholes in the Pact that can be exploited. Kai intends to ask for fame, fortune and the ability to fly, since if he flies he will then know the Pact is valid. Flying is something humans are not really designed for, so his advisors convince him to go for levitation instead. He signs the Pact in his blood. Then they go out to perform the ritual.

Serious supernatural investigation or just a bunch of loonies coming out from under their rocks? Some seem to be a few brain cells short but mercifully they don’t spout the new age nonsense about earth forces and the supernatural. They all seem to genuinely believe in the concept of the pact and they help Kai to the best of their ability. Right through the documentary we learn far more about the subject than we really need to know. And what of Kai? Did the Devil accept the pact? Watch the DVD and find out.

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