Red Billabong, which Sparke shot in 2016, was edited down from an hour and fifty-three minutes to an hour and a half and given a new score to create Devil Beneath. Despite my disappointment that it wasn't a brand-new movie, I had been meaning to watch Red Billabong again ever since the Occupation movies came out but never got around to it. And even though I recalled liking it, I also recalled that it was a little bit longer than it should have been, so this seemed like the ideal chance to cut it down.
Two brothers, Tristan (played by Tim Pocock of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Lemon Tree Passage) and Nick (Dan Ewing of Power Rangers R.P), are at the center of the narrative. M. Love Among Monsters). While Nick abandoned the family farm years ago without giving much of an explanation, Tristan has stayed and worked there. A developer recently made a very generous offer to Tristan for the farm's land, despite the fact that their grandfather had wanted to give it back to the local Aboriginal people. He hoped that his long-absent brother, who owned the property, would approve the sale. He suggests that we do as the old man says, instead.Tristan has been working for the neighborhood dealer BJ (Ben Chisholm, The Legend of Ben Hall, The ), and he shows up with some friends who are looking to party, as if this hasn't already caused tension between the brothers. These friends just so happen to be Anya, Nick's ex-girlfriend (Sophie Don, Yesterday Is History, San Andreas).
In order to make a simple movie about sibling rivalry, Sparke overstuffs Devil Beneath with characters and drama. It only turns into a creature feature once those characters begin to vanish and discover why the local tribespeople and enigmatic developer John Richards (Felix Williamson, Devil Beneath, Gods Of Egypt) desire the land.It's been a while since I watched Red Billabong, but I do recall that there was a lot—and I do mean a lot—of talk between BJ and his crew before they arrived to become potential monster food and things really took off. In Devil Beneath, a lot of that has been condensed or removed, which is good because all of the who is hot for who, old rivalries, etc. is largely unrelated to the movie's central plot.
With that out of the way, the movie moves on to the monster mayhem much more quickly and is better for it. However, most of the talking is used to explain what the creature, a bunyip, is and its significance in Aboriginal mythology. There is still a lot of talking.
All of it culminates in a climactic act that includes information about the missing stepfather of the brothers (John Reynolds, Aquaman, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales), the bunyip battling Richards and his band of mercenaries, and everyone who has managed to survive up to this point.The only issue with this is that while the CGI creature looks better than some of the things I've seen in much more recent films, it still suffers from being rendered with 2016 technology, and several scenes, especially those involving a green screen, are noticeably rough.
Red Billabong is finally receiving a US release, even though a part of me would prefer to see the film in its entirety once more. Additionally, it has benefitted from the reediting in many ways. Devil Beneath is the more entertaining of the two versions and has a better pace without the added scenes. Devil Beneath is accessible via digital platforms.
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