After a blazing argument with her husband and deciding enough is enough, Wendy Robinson takes off into the African sun. Picking up a hitch-hiker, she finds herself strangely drawn to him, unaware that he is a travelling serial killer. When police detective Ben Mukurob arrives on the scene it becomes apparent that her companion is actually something far worse than a merely a killer, he is a shape shifting demon who steals the souls of his victims.

Richard Stanley's "Dust Devil" has a well documented troubled history. Briefly, Stanley's original cut of 120 minutes was trimmed to 110 and US distributor Miramax held the rights to re-edit an American release if they so wished. Stanley still hoped his longer cut would thrive in Europe, however, Palace Pictures in Britain had a 95 minute cut of the film that was test screened just the once before Palace Pictures went bankrupt. Thus this meant the post-production of a "European" version was shut down and Stanley lost control of the film. With Miramax chopping away in the states it now meant that "Dust Devil" was floating around in cuts that ranged from 110 minutes to a staggeringly pointless 68 minutes. In 1993 Stanley managed to buy back the print and the cut material from Miramax, and using his own money, set about restoring the film to something like his original vision. The result is that now a widely available DVD box set has two cuts of the film to view, The Final Cut and the (rough) Work Print.

With so many versions of the film around over the years, it's hard to gauge what a true weighted rating the picture has. Personally I feel sure that if judged solely on the "Final Cut" version the film would be better regarded and rated far better than some of its internet scores. That's not to say it's a perfect film, for it's not, some problems exist, and the flow of the film, even by Richard Stanley's own admission, is far from fluent these days. However, it's one hell of a fine movie, technically stunning and with a horror story of deep cranial worth. Starring Robert Burke (Devil),Chelsea Field (Wendy) and Zakes Mokae (Ben),"Dust Devil" has three interwoven character plots dovetailing together towards the apocalyptic finale. Along the way we are treated to much dialogue cloaked in haunting mysticism, with dashes of grim horror that assault the senses. It's a pic that begs revisits to truly appreciate the complexity of it, never mind that the visuals alone are worth seeing time and time again. It will remain a divisive film, of that I don't think there is any doubt, yet I would urge any genre fan who hasn't seen it to at least give it a go. You may not be as impressed with it as myself and its many fans are, but one feels you are unlikely to forget having ever seen it. Mesmerising, haunting and even lyrical, it's hoped that the film in its final form will find a more appreciative audience. 9/10

Richard Stanley's second film after his android-on-the-loose debut HARDWARE is a disturbing, over-long tale of a magical serial killer on the loose in Namibia. To be fair, it's an original concept, and Africa isn't exactly the place you think of when it comes to horror films. The use of the isolated desert landscapes (just like in WALKABOUT) is good, and the artistic nature of the film is also a major plus.

However, once again Stanley gives us a bunch of uninteresting, unlikable characters, and we don't really have too many feelings about them. The film is also far too long, and there's not a lot going on to retain interest, apart from repeated artistic scenes and images, which to be fair are nice to look at but there's not much depth. There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo involving witch doctors and the like. Robert Burke brings a certain level of complexity to his character, but the final revelation is somewhat disappointing. Chelsea Field is a tough heroine but never makes us feel for her character, while Zakes Mokae is rather good as the policeman investigating.

There are a number of gory shocks along the way, such as a dream where the policeman has his internal organs pulled out by a burnt skeleton, or the severed fingers, or the moment where the hitch-hiker's head literally explodes, in a scene worthy of Cronenberg's SCANNERS. If you're into arty films like this then you'll probably enjoy DUST DEVIL, but I'm afraid they're not really my cup of tea. There can be no understating the disturbing nature of the film, however, and it played on my mind afterwards.

The film combines old South African legend of the dust devil and a modern slasher film. The spirit of the Dust Devil (Robert Burke) takes human form with the "passions of a man." It needs to gather souls "to return to the realm of the spirit." After killing once, he goes after Wendy (Chelsea Field). He kills people who want to die, unfortunately Wendy desires to die less than the Dust Devil needs to kill her.

Meanwhile in a subplot the police are attempting to solve a string of gruesome murders and Wendy's husband (Rufus Swart) has made the mistake of taking looking for her after she has left him.

It was an interesting film, although you wonder why a guy who can whoosh anywhere he wants to, has certain human mobility issues. The ancient symbolism was very good and realistic.

Guide; F-bomb, sex, nudity.