As the notable birthday approaches, one of the group, Jacob’s daughter Mary (Debnam Carey), begins to experience seizures and visions, and when two girls go missing under suspicious circumstances the community begins to believe the prophecy may actually be coming true. Elder Deacon (Meaney) truly believes in all this but is thwarted in his attempts at mass infanticide by the father of one of the girls, Jacob (Sewell). Then only one will remain and she will become the right hand of the devil himself, condemning the world to darkness. Said prophecy declares the commencement of a countdown to biblical levels of destruction if 6 girls are born on the 6th day of the 6th month the conclusion of which comes on the eve of their 18th birthdays.

Initially focussing on the supernatural, the story begins in an isolated, and non-specific, religious community (we’ll get to that later) and the warning of a soon to be realised prophecy. Christiansen’s film jumps awkwardly between various genres and borrows unsuccessfully from numerous cinematic sources. cinemas very briefly under the title The Devil’s Hand some two years ago, Christian E. Where the Devil Hides, on the other hand, launches a wholly unpleasant sensory assault on any viewer unlucky enough to have unwittingly pressed play. Others carry a barely recognisable scent of embarrassed resignation that slowly emanates from within your DVD player, as if the filmmakers know they have something deeply terrible on their hands but had to do something. There are some films that arrive with a noticeable hint of dejected failure about them.

CHRISTIANSEN / SCREENPLAY: KARL MUELLER / STARRING: RUFUS SEWELL, ALYCIA DEBNAM CAREY, ADELAIDE KANE, THOMAS MCDONELL, COLM MEANEY / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 26TH DVD REVIEW: WHERE THE DEVIL HIDES / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN E.

Where the devil hides