Richard Stanley’s artsploitation horror film Dust Devil comes to 4K UHD fully restored and in its Director’s Cut form from Kino Lorber.
The Film
Richard Stanley’s Dust Devil is the kind of horror film that you will either delight in or be frustrated by. More of a meditation on Apartheid South Africa than demonic serial killer film that it first appears to be. Somewhere in between those extremes lies Stanley’s film, much like most of the director’s work, never truly being an art film nor an exploitative genre B-movie.
A stranger (Robert Burke) brutally murders the woman who picks him up on the side of the road. This atrocious act between parallel stories of the South African Police Officer (Zakes Mokae) chasing him and a woman (Chelsea Field) on the run from her husband (Rufus Swart), who encounters the stranger. Along the way, both the Officer and the Woman find that the stranger is more than he appears, both very real and vapor in the desert air. Can they stop him before the woman becomes his next victim?
Dust Devil, to be clear, is not the type of film that ends with the sort of resolve that many genre fans love or want from these types of films. It truly is a rumination on a land (South Africa) and the effect it has on its people. Burke’s stranger is the Dust Devil of the title in both literal and figurative senses. There is no real definitive answer, though, if he is a spirit, or a man, or something in between.
The film goes for long sections without any action. People attempting to exist in the harsh landscape of the barren deserts that make up South Africa. When people do find themselves with another human, there is a sense of tension that fills the air. That violence could erupt at any second, or their thought is that the threat of violence.
Stanley has not made a simple film or an easily digestible one. Though he has made a thought-provoking one. A film that finds itself using its genre to make salient points not just about the director’s homeland but humans themselves. If anything, the film’s critiques of humanity have only gotten more pointed in the four decades since its first release.
The Transfer
The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Masters – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative approved by Director Richard Stanley is a revelation. The image is clean of any scratches or dirt. The transfer is sharp, retaining the grain structure, keeping the look of a 35mm print. Having seen the other home video iterations of the film, Kino has brought the film to life in a way that prior editions never have. The Dolby Vision encoding has allowed for a more subtle contrast, detail, and color reproduction. Kino continues to show how wonderfully astute they are with the time and care they put into their work to bring even the most esoteric films to home video in the best format/version they possibly can.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC 1 (4KUHD):
- Includes Both the Director’s and Theatrical Cuts
- NEW Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Richard Stanley (Director’s Cut)
DISC 2 (BLU-RAY):
- Includes Both the Director’s and Theatrical Cuts
- NEW Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Richard Stanley (Director’s Cut)
- Richard Stanley – Dust Devil and Other Misadventures: 2006 Interview with Contributions by Composer Simon Boswell
- Original Storyboards
- Original Polaroids
- Original 16mm Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer (Newly Remastered)
The all-new Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Richard Stanley (hosted by Norman Hill) on the Director’s Cut begins with Stanley’s history of many versions of the film, including a 16mm short film, and the multiple versions of the feature-length 35mm version. Some of the other details include Stanley’s discussion of the origins of the story, including a discussion of the man in the long coat through songs, novels, and other films; the importance of spirals in the film; Dust Devil is a prequel to Hardware, and a discussion of what connects them to Stanley; the similarities to The Hitcher and Stanley’s thoughts on the matter; shooting Namibia for South Africa because of Apartheid; the collaboration with composer Simon Boswell; the work of cinematographer Steven Chivers; Jon Geta’s contribution to the VFX work – and a truly scary anecdote about the producers leaving him and the entire second unit out in the middle of the desert; the contribution of future music video and ads director Chris Cunningham to the production; the collaboration with Robert Burke, including how they used his twin during the production; an account of the production schedule and production itself – including some truly strange and wild anecdotes from being on location; a larger discussion throughout about the various actors and how they came to be in the project; a larger discussion of the various sets and locations they used throughout Africa to make the film; a detailed discussion throughout of the various cultural touchstones that go unexplained or uncommented on, which are many; and much more.
Richard Stanley – Dust Devil and Other Misadventures: 2006 Interview with Contributions by Composer Simon Boswell (35:28) – this archival interview begins with Stanley discussing his childhood, first in South Africa, then moving around the world with his parents, who were true eccentrics, giving context for his career as an artist. Stanley goes on to discuss his first film; the reasons why he fled South Africa to Germany, then eventually to England; his career in music videos; the short (and prequel to Hardware) Incidents in an Expanding Universe; the first Dust Devil – 16mm version / short which was 45 minutes long and the story it told which was different than the 35mm version, and what they took from the short for the feature length version; how Hardware came to be a feature film and the strange occurrences that it was made and his thoughts; Voices of the Moon – that was filmed in Afghanistan; Dust Devil the feature film and how much of it was culled from dreams, his obsession with Westerns and Clint Eastwood figures in The Man with No Name; the casting what if of Nic Cage in the Robert Burke role in Dust Devil and how Burke came to be cast; the music of Simon Boswell; Boswell discussing Stanley’s unique approach to music and composition; and much more.
Original Storyboards (10:41) – the gallery consists of the various key scenes as storyboarded by Richard Stanley. The gallery runs over ten minutes and features Composer Simon Boswell’s score throughout.
Original Polaroids (1:46) – the gallery consists of the various polaroids that the stranger takes that are featured prominently in the film. The gallery cannot be navigated.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for Dust Devil [Original 16mm Trailer] (2:01); Dust Devil[Theatrical/Newly Remastered] (1:37); Hardware (2:08); Rampage (1:04); The Silence of the Lambs (1:52)
The Final Thought
Kino Lorber has given Richard Stanley’s cult artsploitation film a new lease on life, restoring it in 4K.. Recommended!!