Then, the cartoon cannon starts rapid-blasting all over the place in the final story of Debbie and the Devil. Creepy cartoons are crawling all over everybody, and it is oh-so trippy. This brings a sense of underground comic book anarchy to the bloodhose waltz and brings a lunatic sophistication to the production. It seems the secret ingredient to turning a low-budget horror film into a splatterpunk cult picture is animated sequences in the style of 1990s alternative albums. It works like a charm here, thanks to Red’s infectious style. Like Waking Nightmare, there is a lot of punk commentary on society, using humor and horror to digest real-life terrors.
Even though Debbie and the Devil is an anthology, continuity runs through each one, making them the acts of a single show. It is the format that allows the filmmaker to recreate different cinema styles for each Debbie installment. The first section plays like a Porky’s movie stepping on an ultra-gory bear trap. The handheld filming is very raw and left me wishing for a tripod. Then the Giallo tribute began, and I had all the tripod I could handle. I had wholly underestimated Red. He had taken me in with his shaky-cam horror homage.
“I had wholly underestimated Red.”
The filming during the second story is high-shelf stuff. There’s even a Tenebre reference with the blood spray against a white wall. The final act has Red give us his version of the social media stream, which, as mentioned, is highly animated. Helping connect the muscles to the bones, here are the smash performances by the two female leads. Galabova pulls off the cutesy in a totally sinister way while doing the emotional heavy lifting needed. Red was wise to cast Rode in the title role. She has that killer attitude that makes you want to right around in her back pocket throughout the stories. She is stunning brutality with a surprising depth of feeling. She plays this way above your expectations, just like Red does overall.
Debbie and the Devil is full of surprises. It is surprisingly engaging, has surprising emotional depth, and keeps the floor ripping up from under you.
"…brings a sense of underground comic book anarchy..."
