The Writer's Life 5/9 - Devil's Hand

Whenever I research a film I’ve viewed, my opinion is pretty much in line with the consensus. Occasionally, I will rate a movie, especially popular fare, a little lower than most viewers. It is rare when my opinion is completely different than the consensus. Such is the case with The Devil’s Hand (2014), which I viewed last night courtesy of Netflix. It is set in an Amish-like community where six girls are born on the sixth day of the sixth month, which the elder believes is a prophecy of doom. He is prevented from killing the girls by one of the fathers. Flash forward to a week prior to their 18^th birthday. Murders occur. Is the prophecy coming true or is a fanatic trying to prevent it from coming true? It is hardly fresh material, but I enjoyed it. The influence of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible are apparent, although the flick does not remotely approach the intellectual level of those classics. It concentrates on suspense and scares. Hollywood veterans Rufus Sewell and Colm Meaney star as the adult adversaries, but the film belongs to young Alycia Debnam Carey, one of the six. I had fun trying to figure out who the killer is. I eliminated Meaney immediately. Has the most obvious suspect ever proven to be the murderer in a popular mystery? My first choice proved wrong. My second was lukewarm. My third was on the money and quite satisfying. Since his days on two Star Trek incarnations, Meaney has lived up to his name, at least in the appearances I’ve seen. Almost 62, he is a hard working man, having amassed 113 credits, not counting his 173 appearances on Deep Space Nine, 52 on Next Generation and 42 on Hell on Wheels, with which I'm unfamiliar. The Devil’s Hand was directed by Christian Christiansen (how appropriate). The screenplay was written by Karl Mueller. I was unfamiliar with their work until now. 1400+ users at IMDb have rated the film, forging to a consensus of only 4.8 of ten. I disagree and say 3.5 on a scale of five. It was a box office dud too. Maybe it caught me at the right time. It comes in at a tidy 86 minutes and features one scare that is particularly outstanding. Despite the mayhem, it is not particularly bloody.


Here are two athletes easy to support, both featured in articles at Yahoo Sports. Pitcher Bruce Chen, 37, has spent 16 seasons in MLB. He was just recalled from the minors by the Cleveland Indians. He has played for eleven teams, compiling a record of 82-80. Talk about stick-to-itiveness. How many veterans who had logged such time would have accepted a minor league assignment?
LB Lorenzo Mauldin of Louisville was selected in third round by the NY Jets. His parents are both in prison and he lived in 16 foster homes before earning a football scholarship. Kudos, young man, and best of luck.


My thanks to the kind folks who bought books today on Bay Parkway. The Danielle Steel Russian translations are still not seeing any love.
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