If other multiverses and realities exist, would you want to step through them? Would you right a wrong? Seek justice? A group of scientists attempt to open the mysterious door in writer-director Larry Wade Carrell’s The Quantum Devil.
Our tale opens with Luke (Tyler Tackett), a brilliant scientist, trying to redeem his reputation after the recent murder of his girlfriend. In a dream sequence, we find out that Luke inadvertently killed her during a kinky sexual encounter. Luke is unexpectedly invited to an ominous estate somewhere in Eastern Europe. His host is the lord of the mansion, Dr. Richard Cernovich (Neil Dickson), or Cerno for short. The scientist is not the only one on the guest list. First, there’s psychic Sophie (Tamara Radovanović), who was recently dismissed from her university residency. Then Brad (Edward Apeagyei) is a pharmaceutical scientist with an impressive stash of weed. Lastly, Argentinian physicist Ivanna (Ariadna Cabrol) turned to a wild and reckless lifestyle.
Cerno brought this team of scientists together because he believed their varied backgrounds will work perfectly together to assemble the final pieces of this doorway to the Quantum Realm. But like Luke, each team member has a dark past they are running from, and opening said door would bring them back to prominence in the scientific world. Suffice it to say that, like any good fantasy/horror, our team eventually opens the door, and each character is forced to confront their dark past if they hope to escape.
The Quantum Devil is part two of Larry Wade Carrell’s Quantum Quartet. The first film, Girl Next, is about a girl trafficked by a cult and drugged for mind control. Like that entry, this blends the psychological with the mythical in Twilight Zone fashion, as this world exists as a way to judge our humanity and how we live our lives on Earth.
“…their varied backgrounds will work perfectly together to assemble the final pieces of this doorway to the Quantum Realm.”
Of course, our alliances with our heroes shift constantly from start to finish. The spiritual side of the story comes in the appearance of the demi-god Barada (Robert Englund). What I love about the film is that it’s building a world bigger than our protagonists. Dr. Richard Cernovich is a Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island, replete with a diminutive companion in Klatuu (Mehmet Cerrahoglu) and a pair of geishas. He becomes the less-than-willing conduit between realms at the bidding of Barada.
With the world firmly established, filmmaker Carrell transitions from sci-fi fantasy to full horror. As secrets are revealed, the “dreams” get sexual in nature before shifting to body horror through a Nightmare on Elm Street twist midway through the narrative. Ironically, Englund, as Barada, is the overlord of this realm.
I enjoy the originality Carrell brings to this world, and he has an ending that I didn’t expect regarding those who make it that far. The Quantum Devil is loads of creepy fun, like an elevated B-movie, and the cheese is exquisite.
For more information about The Quantum Devil, visit the Crazed House Productions website.
"…creepy fun, like an elevated B-movie, and the cheese is exquisite."
