The Black Mass, the true crime thriller/drama from director Devanny Pinn is now on DVD, Bluray and Digital

I first heard about Black Mass on Devanny’s social media pages and having seen her onscreen in a long list of films (such as Frost, Manson, Battle for Saipan, and The Flood) and having very much enjoyed them all I was very much looking forward to seeing what Director Devanny Pinn would bring to the screen (Devanny also appears in Black Mass) and from reading a whole host of reviews that were made after festival screenings. Devanny had crafted a wonderfully dark and great film and I couldn’t wait to see it. Well now I have. What are my thoughts?

A true-crime thriller inspired by real events, The Black Mass is set over a 24-hour period in Florida in January 1978, and follows an unnamed serial killer (credited as ‘Me’ in the end titles and very unnervingly played by British actor Andrew Sykes) but who we quickly work out is in fact Ted Bundy.

The Black Mass certainly isn’t the first film to take on the story of Ted Bundy but for me it is one of the best. The Black Mass isn’t told or filmed in the way most serial killer films are told or filmed, The Black Mass spends the majority of the film being told from Bundy’s point of view. We see him stalk his prey, become frustrated when things aren’t working the way he wants them to. We see him approach his possible victims, how he chats to them how he watches them and its really damn creepy!  If i describe the film as slow burn, then some might take that as a negative, and its certainly not. What Devanny Pinn does is build up the pressure, and the atmosphere as we follow Bundy over this 24 hour time period and we see his frustration at not being able to do what he wants to do, we see the build up before the pressure gets to Bundy and he …….well I wont spoil the film. Its perhaps one of the best films I’ve seen that gets you inside the head of a serial killer from a film point of view anyway. Other than a few minutes within the film, we don’t see the police hunting Bundy, we don’t see any crime scene investigators, there’s no cops v killer type chase going on. This is a film about a killer and his victims & potential victims. For those wondering what the title of the film means, The Black Mass is how a witness to one of the attacks described Bundy ‘a black mass’ rushed by her.

Devanny Pinn has crafted a genuinely creepy, tense, pot boiler of a film which also looks and feels like you are in 1978. With the use of old style transitions, and a great period musical soundtrack by Fernando Perdomo it helps the audience stay grounded in the late 70s and delivers a film that is different to most films in this true crime genre and it works all the better for it.  With this being Devanny’s directorial debut. I cant wait to see more of her work. 

The Black Mass also stars Lew Temple (The Walking Dead), Jeremy London (Party of Five, 7th Heaven), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5), Kathleen Kinmont (Halloween 4), and Eileen Dietz (The Exorcist), among others.  Brian Perera, Yvonne Perera, Brandon Slagle, Gigi Jankowski and Miranda Mariposa are executive producers. Tim Yasui is co-producer, and Anjanette Miller and Susan Lanier are associate producers. Pinn directs from a script written by Eric Pereira and Brandon Slagle.

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