“Don’t let go of your partner’s hand.”
Opening with a wild séance and (before that) a brief spectral sequence as something enters the house, The Devil’s Left Hand establishes its intentions early as a horror film: the dead wish to communicate - even if you don’t believe it!
And communicate they do, as Director/Writer Harley Wallen takes the audience on a journey through the dark side of séances; setting free a demonic entity as it breaks on through from the other side during a housewarming party for Richie (Kris Reilly) and Cassidy (Kaiti Wallen).
Some party!
For the people involved in the séance, what happens during this attempt to contact the dead confirms that the afterlife is real and they want to know who or what came through and why did it target Richie?! But Richie clams up, putting up a wall between what happened at the party and himself.
This is the story of how he begins to process what happened when he was younger. And it is pretty harrowing. While the pacing is a bit off, The Devil’s Left Hand knows the territory it is wanting to haunt. The atmosphere is good and the cinematography from Michael Kettenbeil works to create just the right amount of tension as a demon works like mad to possess someone; anyone!
The Devil’s Left Hand builds its suspense through creaks in the house, noises from the basement, and whispering voices, especially in moments where Richie, armed with just a baseball bat. There’s pounding from the kitchen as cupboards are slammed repeatedly, and there’s the constant sound of windchimes, becoming increasingly violent in their intensity. 
All of this atmosphere establishes the fact that there is something not quite right in Richie’s past and doubling down on this fact is a bizarre set of circumstances - reaching all of them, including - which caps when Richie goes to visit his mother, Sharon (Laurene Landon), who blames him for the death of his father.
Richie doesn’t talk about the night things went south in his childhood, but it seems, as one character puts it, that his father (played by Yan Birch) went all Amityville on the family one night, and poor Richie has to put an end to it. And he doesn’t talk about it much.
Yet, when he starts chasing ghosts and shadows from the past, things go south really quickly because after the party, the demonic entity begins stalking the guests, including Vesna (Aphrodite Nikolovski) and Zeb (Harley Wallen).
While they attempt to fight back, little can be done as this demonic ghoul has a mind of its own. As a result of this spectral chaos, they don't know who they can trust, as the demon can shape-shift and appear to be anyone. The stakes grow higher when the demon begins killing them, one by one.
From the creators of Ash and Bone comes The Devil’s Left Hand, a thrilling supernatural mystery written and directed by Harley Wallen, and starring Kaiti Wallen, Joseph Kelbie Williamson, Yan Birch, Nancy Oeswein, and Annette Cama. It is now streaming on digital platforms.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 98 mins
Director: Harley Wallen
Writer: Harley Wallen
Cast: Laurene Landon; Yan Birch; Kaiti Wallen
Genre: Horror
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Painted Creek Productions
Official Site:
Release Date: Now streaming
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: A Demonic entity breaches a Medium at a young couple's housewarming party, wreaking havoc and terrifying the attendees. After the party, the entity begins stalking the guests. They attempt to fight back, but don't know who they can trust as the Demon can shape-shift and appear to be anyone. The stakes grow higher when the Demon begins killing them, one by one.
