Severin Films has garnered a lot of notice in the last year with the release of one of the latest cult phenomenon’s Birdemic Now company co-founder, John Cregan has unleashed his directorial debut. But, does Cregan have the same eye for filmmaking as he does picking which film promote?
Devolved can be described most simply as a high school co-ed version of Lord of the Flies. While on a whale watching trip in Mexico with their teacher, Coach Papillion (Chris Kattan) a group of high school seniors are left stranded on a deserted island when their boat blows up. While all of the crew aboard the ship are apparently killed, only one student fails to survive the blast. “Next season will be for him.” One of the football jokes proclaims. “We’re seniors, there won’t be a next season!” one of the nerds retorts.
And that is exactly what this film is boiled down to: the jocks and “popular” kids versus the nerds and outcasts. Caught in the middle is Peggy (Lindsey Shaw) she shows signs that she is starting to like the head nerd Flynn (Gary Entin), but she is currently dating The Rog (Robert Adamson) who not only has a stupid nickname, but always refers to himself in the third person.
The power struggle on the island see-saws back and forth with each group being given a chance to lead, however there is one major rift between the two groups. The popular kids have no desire to be rescued thinking they can maintain the high school mentality forever, while the nerds want nothing more than to get the hell out of there. All of this is narrated in a way that completely rips off Anchorman and all major developments in story and character are provided here.
The plot of the film is wafer thin, threatening to break under the gallons of cheese being spread all over it. The characters are completely one dimensional and serve very little purpose other than being a jock or a nerd. The most complex character in the film is one jock who is secretly gay and in love with The Rog. The acting is sub par all around; even Kattan has nothing to offer here.
The film is described at being a comedy and a satire, but I found very little humor in the film and elements of high school that the film attempts to “satirize” has been done before and way better in many other films.
There were two moments that I actually found clever and amusing. The first was when the jocks stuck all the nerds in a giant pit and dubbed it “Douchecatraz.” The second was when there is a boy on girl tag football game and the girls kick the boys’ butts because the cheerleaders know more about football than the jocks do.
Outside these two moments, I found nothing about the film entertaining or enjoyable. Also, I kept wondering if Cregan was intentionally going of a so bad it’s good, or if he really thought he was making a good film. I was never able to come to an answer to that, but I didn’t spend that much time thinking about it either. It wasn’t really worth my time.
The film is presented in 1.77:1 widescreen and Dolby Digital. For a low budget, digital film it doesn’t look terrible.
Commentaries: You get two of these. One with actors Gary Entin, Lindsey Shaw and Robert Adamson. The other with writer/director John Cregan. The actors one is kinda fun cause they’re just having fun reliving the filming experience. In Cregan’s commentary he seems to take himself way to seriously.
Devolved: Behind The Scenes: (19 min.) Apparently the cast and crew had a good time making this film and enjoyed the project. Too bad that doesn’t come across in the film.
Deleted Scenes: (12 min.) This is definitely stuff that should have stayed on the cutting room floor.
Audition Footage: (9 min.) Yup, this is audition footage all right.
Trailer
Short Films: Live Tomorrow Today! (17 min.) Starring Ted Lange from The Love Boat this is a fake infomercial about a program that helps kids mature before they’re supposed to. While not perfect, it’s actually pretty funny. Restive Planet (14 min.) This one follows a young kid checking his Uncle into an old folks home where he learns that there are bullies (Alex Rocco) at every age. Again, a pretty descent short film. Both films Tackle similar subjects to Devolved and do a better job of it.
Music Videos: (8 min.) There are three of these for three songs from the film. Meh.
Severein Trailers: Birdemic, BMX Bandits, Gwendoline
This is the kind of film that makes great fodder for Rifftrax. But even if I found out they’d done one for this film, I’m not sure I’d want to bother sitting through it again. I can’t recommend this film for anyone.
Severin Films presents Devolved. Written and Directed by John Cregan. Starring: Gary Entin, Lindsey Shaw, Robert Samson and Chris Kattan. Running time: 87 minutes. Not Rated. Does contain language, drug use, sexual themes and mild nudity. Released on DVD: March 22, 2011.
