666: The Beast (2007) (V)

Director:

Nick Everhart

Writer:

Nick Everhart (writer)

Release Date:

16 October 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Donald Lawson, the devil child from "666: The Child", is now an adult and is determined to fulfill his destiny as the Antichrist. |

Plot Keywords:

666

Cast

Chad Mathews	...	Donald Lawson
Makinna Ridgway	...	Kate / Sarah
Alma Saraci	...	Sydonai
Collin Brock	...	Father Deacon Cain
Amol Shah	...	Ashmed Chammadai
Stephen Blackehart	...	Tom
Doug Burch	...	Detective Jackson
Giovanni Bejarano	...	Detective Ellison
Terry G. Reed	...	Mr. Angleman
Damien Puckler	...	Father Michaels
Junie Hoang	...	Receptionist
Trish Cook	...	Mrs. Cook
Justin Jones	...	Bishop Thomas Aquinas
Monique La Barr	...	Nurse Jones
Domiziano Arcangeli	...	Monk

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:18 | Australia:MA (2009)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Asylum, The

Movie Connections:

Features 666: The Child (2006) (V)

Good Actors + Sub-Par Story = Average Movie

Basic setup: The devil turns out to be a CEO bent on world domination. This is an average film, that's a good thing, and here's why.

Asylum has decided to back away from making terrible films. Films with choppy acting, terrible sound, and god awful plots, such as Universal Soldiers (Emphasis on the plural). Most of these films were so bad, that tons of pointless (though nice to watch) nudity had to be tossed in to give viewers an excuse to rent (See Invasion of the Pod People). 666: The Beast is a shocking departure from the terrible - It's not great, nor good, but compared to what's they've done (Snakes on a Train, anyone?), it's a heck of an improvement.

The Good: First off, the sound design is, shockingly, good. Gone is the camcorder audio of films past; if they didn't get it right the first time, they went to ADR, like you're supposed to. God bless that.

Second, 666: The Beast was shot in 10 days, but at no time does it look it. Dolly shots abound, with proper lighting. How they achieved those types of setups with that limited time frame is beyond me. Up until that point, I thought only Michael Feifer could pull that off professionally. Very good.

Third, the acting. Asylum is known for crappy acting. It's their hallmark of recent years, and I can't put a better spin on it beyond what I've said. Somehow, that's changed in this 666 sequel. The scenes between the two leads, Donald Lawson and Ashmed Chammadai, at times, work very well. Some scene shooting was rushed, one scene was done in 90 minutes for example - in a normal Asylum film, that would be tantamount to embarrassing performances by the actors. Not here, the leads pull it together the best they could given the conditions. Ashmed in particular, who has come a long way since his "911 Commission Report" days; he's now showing he has the chops to handle a real film. Even Alma Saraci catches the eye with her looks and screen class.

Fourth Directing: Nick Everhart can direct, and direct well. He fights for his scenes, knows where the camera should be, and did a very good job.

The Bad:The script. Nick is a good director, but as a writer, apparently not so much.

The story sinks what could have been a very modest religious thriller. Some of the corniest dialog gets tossed into what seems to be, just horrible writing. Good actors, with talent, are directed to say/do retarded things. Examples: why is a priest mysteriously, suddenly, and conveniently allowed to be in the middle of a crime scene! Or, why is this multimillion dollar corporation look everything like a small company with only 4 employees, total? Or why does the devil have only 5 followers in robes (Actually, this part is explained in the commentary - answer, money + time). So why is the script so bad that an entry level screenwriter could have done better? In my opinion, it needed at least 1, possibly 2 scrub overs. I really get the feeling Asylum gives their writers a week to toss out a script before they shoot. If that's the case, I can see why 666: The Beast fails as a story.

Set Design: A hospital emergency room that looks like someone's cubicle? Yes Nick, to his credit, tries to hide with quick camera cuts and tight shots, but there's no escaping it - the ER looks like the office cubicle they filmed it in.

Editing: Not so much a complaint, but Kristen Quintrall's style, which had been one of the few positives that Asylum had prior to this film, is noticeably missing. Rumor has it she's moved on to doing work for Nickelodeon, which might explain her absence. Who knows.

Conclusion: It's average, but for Asylum, that's a positive trend. The DVD includes a trailer for "I am Omega." Unlike the trailer for 666: The Beast, this one looks hot. Has Asylum turned over a new leaf? We'll find out for sure next month.