The Devil’s Muse

Deluxe 2 Disc Set

Halo Eight

R0 ALL REGION DVD

Web: http://www.blackdahliamovie.com

The Devil’s Muse is an unusually creative film which is both surreal and erotic, violent and brazen. It has a strong art-house feel and while on some level offers a linear plot at the same time seems primarily concerned with telling a story via images, symbols and music. The film uses the historical story of the death of the Black Dahlia to explore the decaying effect Hollywood has on women as they try and gain the success they so desire.

The film opens on January 15, 1947, with a compelling portrayal of the discovery of Elizabeth Short’s (known as the Black Dahlia) mutilated body. The film has been made to look old and damaged and the voice over is of the Black Dahlia describing the scene in the third person. We then cut to the present with a highly erotically charged scene which ends in bloodshed and a police investigation. This first murder which is played out to the song “Pulling Your Insides Out” by Jill Tracy is a superbly edgy mix of eroticism and violence.

The film then focuses in on a beautiful young actress Lisa Small (Kristen Kerr of David Lynch's Inland Empire) who is cast as The Black Dahlia in a film about Hollywood's most famous unsolved murder. She is also obsessed with the Black Dahlia killing and has turned her room into a shrine to Elizabeth Short.

However, things begin to unravel as she finds herself experiencing a dream world around her which starts to envelop her life. As the same time as the 60^th anniversary of the original killing comes near, a copycat killer is murdering local women. As her dream like world becomes more and more disturbed, she cannot tell reality from nightmare and the killer is coming close. It seems that as these worlds intersect she is starting to live out the last days of the life of the Black Dahlia.

The Devil’s Muse has various levels of plot and these intersect in strange and unusual ways, it is a not a film to try and fathom cognitively, it is a film layered with symbols, images and motifs which must be experienced, in many ways on an emotional level. On one level we have the story of the historical Black Dahlia, on another the tale of a filmmaker making a film about the murder, on another we have the inner dream world of the actress who is playing the Black Dahlia role and is maybe even Elizabeth Short’s reincarnation. At the same time we have a detective tale about a copycat killer and a symbolic exploration of the effect Hollywood has on young actresses are they are driven to do anything to survive. It is quite a complex plot and has been rather masterfully written and the editing of the film actually works to bring these all together at the climax of the film !

The acting in the Devil’s Muse varies in quality with Kristen Kerr (playing Lisa Small) being especially impressive. It also features appearances from Trent Hagga (Gimie Skelter, Bonnie and Clyde Vs. Dracula), Mark Borchardt (American Movie, Cabin Fever 2), Julie Strain (Heavy Metal 2000), Masuimi Max, and Lloyd Kaufman (Director of The Toxic Avenger, Poultrygeist).

The cinematography of the Devil’s Muse is dark and evocative; with a lot of its expression via images and symbols and it has some very moving as well as savage moments.

One of the most outstanding aspects of the film is the music, ranging from superb songs through to ambient and moody electronic to jazz. It is quite superb and it is marvellous to note that the soundtrack is included on disc two of the package and what a package this is.

On the first Disc we get the unrated directors cut of the film David J (Bauhaus. Love and Rockets) live concert of music from the film, "Black Dahlia: The Making of The Devil's Muse" featurette, trailers, Interview with Mary Pacios (childhood friend of The Black Dahlia who went on to write a definitive investigative book on the murder), Deleted scenes, Music videos and a "Message from Ramzi Abed" featurette.

The second disc is the original motion picture soundtrack of 11 songs composed by David J and Ego Plum with special guests Nora Keyes, Abby Travis, Johnny Dowd, Mr. Uncertain, Creekbird, and Joyce Rooks (Sound Engineer/Co-Producer John Neff on title song).

The Devil’s Muse is an impressive art-film which has a strong film noir feel mixed with a surreal cinematography and a startling and times even beautiful soundtrack. It takes the death of the Black Dahlia as a jumping off point to explore all manner of ideas and is a film you will want to watch a number of times to get the most from it.