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Movies featuring the Jersey Devil seem to be strangely sparse. Out of all the tales of cryptids and terrifying monsters lurking around, the story of the Leeds Devil really does seem to step far out of the limelight. Every now and again, a movie appears featuring Bigfoot, or some giant sea creature, or a regular animal but they always seem to masquerade as a wildlife documentary. Those stories are often about a creature attempting to go on with its life, and upending being attacked by a group of idiots or a local poacher resort. And even though these tales usually revolve around wildlife, rarely would there be any intelligent presence behind the chaos hoping to achieve greater evil.
And this is exactly what begs the question of why there seem to be no Jersey Devil movies. Here we have a creature of pure evil. The Jersey Devil is not simply some sorely misidentified monstrosity that terrorizes people. Not some savage beast overstepping his bounds and attacking civilization. No, the Jersey Devil is a beast that has emerged from the depths of hell, hiding in the outskirts of New Jersey, and proceeds to spread terror and destruction to all those unaware of the lurking danger. With a premise myriads of horror and gore tales could be created around, it remains surprisingly neglected.
In director Dale Fabrigar’s latest feature, Saw II, high school graduates Sarah and Kelsey set out for a vacation with Kelsey’s father. The girls are unhappy to learn that prior to the trip starting, Kelsey’s Father has some business meetings concerning land in Reed’s Point. Once it gets dark, the tired RV driver drives straight into the forest and crashes in the New Jersey backwoods.
Sarah wakes up in the woods in a wreck and is being pulled out of the van by the driver who mentions something to her. She then stumbles upon the driver’s dead body while Kelsey is unconscious on the ground. Something then drags Kelsey away and the driver gets killed leaving Sarah the only one alive in the woods.
One year after, Sarah along with Kelsey’s boyfriend Alex, who also survived, comes back to Reed’s Point trying to find out how their friend died that night.
The Jersey Devil can have plenty of back story but the most challenging part of using the monster is that there is plenty of history of the beast but the plot is quite shallow.
There is the option of going the route of the animal, or the route of the supernatural. In the end, the basic idea still revolves around people stuck in the woods getting picked off one by one. However, Reed’s Point skilfully avoids this particular mistake by embedding the legend in a dreaded tale of conspiracy and paranoia.
At Reed’s Point, Sarah and Alex encounter multiple people with unclear intentions. During their visit, they encounter their town’s conspiracy theorist, Steve, who warns them of the Jersey Devil, much to the annoyance of Joe Estevez.
They have a chance to make an arrangement with the town’s handyman, Hank (Anthony Jensen), who agrees to take them into the woods to search for the site of the deadly accident, not without mentioning he requires compensation first.
As the night progresses, they come across Eric (Joseph Almani), a so-called expert of the Jersey Devil who, shockingly, lives deep in the woods and opens his front door with a loaded gun.
Reeds Point seeks to highlight the balance between trust and distrust regarding the locals Sarah and Alex meet, who might be concealing crucial information. The script also flirts with the monstrous being’s actual identity. Does it even exist or is it a byproduct of an overactive mind? Or is there a much deeper-rooted, soulless evil that harvests the woods? Answers to these questions are left deliberately vague until the very end of the story.
The pacing in the film is rapid, perhaps, too rapid. The story captures mystery as its most interesting element however, the mystery, like all other parts of the film is rushed. The dialogue captures unsettling shady land deals and unsatisfied property owners, but these lines seem to be forgotten almost instantly for the other fast-paced turns the story takes. With a little more time to develop, the plot would appear more substantial.
This isn’t to say that the movie is bad, however, a few of the twists and turns do stir some form of interest throughout the seasoned runtime. Arguably the best performance comes from Hank, the grifter handyman cum reluctant savior. His role provides the most range and spectrum of shifts and feelings over the course of the movie. He presents himself as approachable and realistic at all times and the film excels when trying to draw out the more overarching issues regarding what side he is exactly on.
As a monster flick, it is slightly wanting on the more nasty side of things. Not completely devoid of carnage by any means, but when it comes into play it does not quite land as much of an impact as it perhaps could. After the RV crash, there are some interesting gory details but they leave so much more to the imagination. Like a magician’s trick where the build-up looks great, but the big reveal leaves much to be desired. A handful of main characters do meet unpleasant conclusions, but not nearly as much as, or with the severity I would have liked. Admittedly, I am some sort of a gorehound so I must admit that I will have blood will leave me rather underwhelmed. To each his petard I suppose.
Reed’s Point is an interesting watch overall, although there are some flaws. The blend of Monster-Movie and Thriller works very well. There’s very little downtime, and a few genuinely startling plot twists maintain interest from start to finish. If for no other reason, Reed’s Point is worth a watch just to see the Jersey Devil in a movie. He puts in an appearance with about the same frequency as he does in real life, and you really do not want to miss your latest chance.
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