Kiss the Devil in the Dark is the title of the horror/dark/fantasy short film written and directed by Jonathan Martin (An Evening With My Comatose Mother) together with his sister Rebecca with whom he also collaborated in Creatures of Whitechapel (2016), a gothic horror film that offers an interesting and personal film adaptation of the novel "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley.
Kiss the Devil in the Dark is a short film with a long gestation. The story was conceived by Rebecca Martin many years earlier, when she was only 17 years old. Moreover, the film, shot before Creatures of Whitechapel, was completed only a few months ago after a long post-production process.
In this enchanting, visually dazzling film, we glimpse references to Dracula by Bram Stoker (1992) but also to Legend (1985). Indeed, the love, death, and despair echoing in the opening sequence are reminiscent of Francis Ford Coppola's film while Dagon, the conjured Devil, bears similarities to Tenebra, the creature from Ridley Scott's film. However, Kiss the Devil in the Dark is not a vampire movie but a movie about magic and lies.
In fact, the story, based on diabolical creatures, sorcerers, magical rituals and pacts with the Devil, shines the spotlight on the main character, the powerful sorcerer Marcus (Dameon Clarke) who is desperate to save the life of his beloved. The man will end up making a pact with the demon Dagon (Doug Jones) in order to get her back, but the diabolical creature will not settle for a simple exchange of souls. Marcus will accept the demon's terms and, shrouded in darkness, will know the true meaning of the betrayal.
Kiss the Devil in the Dark is distinguished by the surprisingly refined style that also characterizes Jonathan Martin's other films. The result is a film with a strong personal stamp and elegant direction in which betrayal is dealt with in a magical, surreal and diabolical context. Love, as well as fear of loss and sacrifice, also intersect harmoniously with each other shaping the inner world of the main character (an extraordinary Dameon Clarke) who, in his journey into darkness, becomes a shell in which the most disparate and conflicting emotions lurk. Assembled together, all these themes plunge the story into a limbo of suffering and disappointment, dragging behind it a magical atmosphere with fantasy and horror overtones.
Intense, able to analyze and thoroughly test feelings through deception, Kiss the Devil in the Dark stands out for a direction that pays great attention to detail and image construction. All supported by cinematography (R. Jason Ball) and a soundtrack (Gerrit Wunder) in keeping with the high quality of the short film. In this short film, which mirrors a dimension shaped by magic and dominated by demons, a good overall acting effort emerges, but what catches the eye, in addition to Dameon Clarke (actor who gives the protagonist's face), is certainly the outstanding participation of the celebrated and chameleonic Doug Jones, here at ease in the role of a soul-hungry Devil.
The special effects and makeup of the hellish creatures done by Chris Hanson also crown this fascinating cinematic gem with dignity.
In the cast of Kiss the Devil in the Dark: Dameon Clarke, Doug Jones (The Faun's Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Shape of Water), Amrita Acharia (Dead Snow 2, Game of Thrones), Rick Macy, Gary Reimer, Sonya Macari, Brian Higgins, Johnny Call, Jake Stormoen and Amy Lia.
Jonathan Martin is also the founder of the production company Bohemian Industries.
This short film, just thirty minutes long, is one of the Official Selections of theOptical 2018 ("Best Short Film," "Best Director," "Best Screenplay," "Best Special Effects," "Best Cinematography," and "Best Music"), a festival that honored Doug Jones with the "Horror Icon 2018" award.
