Dust Devil 4K 1992 Final Cut

A mystical horror film from director Richard Stanley, previously known for his work on ‘Hardware’. In 1993, this film was nominated for the grand prize at the Arrizoa festival, as well as for best film at the Fantasporto festival.

This film has a very complicated history. Stanley dreamed of making this film while still a student at film school in Cape Town. However, at that time, he did not have the money to produce it. Then, in 1991, Stanley realized his dream by shooting the original 120-minute version of the film. But Miramax, the studio that distributed the film, drastically cut it down to 87 minutes, presenting the film from a different angle. As a result, it was not popular in the West. Stanley hoped that the British company Palace Pictures would cut the film by no more than 10 minutes for European distribution. A test screening in the spring of 1992 proved unsuccessful, and the film was cut to 95 minutes, and then the studio went bankrupt! After that, this version was lost, and Stanley was unable to obtain it. After a year of painstaking searching, the director finally found the negatives of his film and restored it to 108 minutes at his own expense.
Despite its simple plot, the film has a number of merits, in particular, the gorgeous cinematography, where almost every frame is worthy of a poster. Like an artist, the director presents us with fantastic landscapes of a desert area - beautiful and frightening at the same time (the film was shot in Namibia). The abundance of scenes shot in red tones, as well as the monotonous soundtrack, immerse the viewer in the film's disturbing atmosphere.

The action of the film unfolds gradually, immersing the viewer in the mysterious world of the occult and ancient legends, a world where Good and Evil are in conflict. The film is completely saturated with allegories and symbols. Many moments remain unanswered. This is Stanley's whole idea, this is how he sees his film - a nightmare with no end...

Unfortunately, this film did not gain much popularity or fame, but on the other hand, this works in its favor, because it is truly a spectacle for connoisseurs!