Directed by Jeff Burr. Starring Kelly Hu, Devon Sawa, Ken Foree, Karen Maxwell. Horror, Action, Drama.
SYNOPSIS: A young man looking to experiment with his gimmick aphrodisiac goes into a strip club filled with beautiful employees who turn out to be flesh eating werewolves.
This one was a nice little treat for me. Knew nothing about, hadn't heard a thing, but picked it up because I'm a sucker for low budget horror movies and this one had Ken Foree (The Devils Rejects, Dawn of The Dead) , so I decided to check it out.
The story cuts right to the chase, two young friends driving back to their SoCal home after a weekend of checking out the legendary shows just across the border in Mexico. One of them, Quinn (Devon Sawa) is a likeable ne'er do well with an eye for the ladies and determined to get rich quick. His latest version is a cheaper version of the legendary "Spanish Fly" aphrodisiac. To prove it to his skeptical buddy, they pull into a desolate looking strip club named, as you might guess, Devil's Den.
Now, anyone who has seen From Dusk Till Dawn will quickly recognize the setup: a strip club in a lonely location where the female employees just seem too good (and beautiful) to be true.
Our friends are introduced to a gregarious waitress (Karen Maxwell) enjoying her first night on the job and set off to try the wonder drug on one of the unsuspecting exotic dancers. Also in the club is an inquisitive looking guy with an oxygen tank (Ken Foree) and another young woman who displays more than a little bit of attitude (Kelly Hu)
When Quinn eagerly accepts the advance of the feature dancer to go out to the alley, the prospective night of ecstasy turns bad real quickly when the blonde beauty transforms into an ugly, flesh eating creature. Lucky for Quinn, Caitlin (Kelly Hu) was following them out there and, it just so happens, she has a gun.
As these things tend to happen, its not just our feature dancer who displays the habit but, suddenly, all of the dancers and most of the all-female staff. As you might guess, the extras in the bar are quickly offed by the she-wolves and we are soon left with a small group of heroes who have no idea what is going on. Well, that is not entirely accurate. It turns out that the eccentric guy with the oxygen tank, Leonard (Ken Foree) kind of knew the deal. See, he is part of a secretive organization that tracks down and kills werewoves. (I wanted to point out that its "secretive" so you won't get it confused with all of those very public werewolf killing organizations that are always running infomercials on network TV). And, tonight, Leonard has come to kill just one in particular, The Queen. Trouble is, he doesn't know which one she is.
So, our four survivors (Quin's buddy got chowed down by a werewolf babe) quickly band together after surviving the initial feast and try to figure out how to get out of there. Now, it may seem like this flick is pretty formulaic, and it might be, but don't let that fool you into thinking this isn't substantially above average for a low budget horror flick. And, what makes it so is the interplay between the four main characters. Since this movie was not ever going to rely on effects, it had to make you care about the main characters, and we do. Sawa is probably the star here, though Foree certainly doesn't disappoint and if you have a pulse you will respond well to Kelly Hu.
I'm being intentionally skimp on the plot synopsis here because there are two very big plot twists that I don't want to give away for those who have not seen it. One you will be able to see coming a mile away (I know this because I saw it and, as many have said, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer) and the other, in addition to being unique, is going to be a surprise.
Look, Devil's Den is not going to rank at the top of anyone's list of all time horror movies, but most horror movies don't. And, if you're looking for gore or to be legitimately scared, keep looking. But, if you like low budget horror flicks that don't take themselves too seriously and make you chuckle (with the flick, not at it) then my call is this is a good one to check out, especially if you like Ken Foree. And, who knows, you just might end putting it in the permanent collection.
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