Movie Review - Devil's Path

This is the feature debut of writer-director Matthew Montgomery who has been acting in gay films for the past 15 years. It's not surprising that the work he did in front of the camera would now inform his work behind the camera. A decade and a half ago, Montgomery made a name for himself when he was the lead actor in Gone, But Not Forgotten (2003), which became a hit within the independent, gay cinema market. That movie by Michael D. Akers was filmed in a forest, near mountains, and had a very naturalistic and pastoral quality. It was somewhat rustic and serene, almost arcadian, not provincial but made in a way that appreciates the outdoors and bucolic living.

Montgomery's next role as lead actor was Long-Term Relationship (2006), which was a romantic comedy. He would do a couple more rom-coms, but his most successful work would seem to be the thrillers, the mostly quiet thrillers or horrors, which he's done a bit more frequently. The first was Socket (2007), a film about a gay man driven to deadly extremes because of an obsession or addiction. One of his most recent was Flight of the Cardinal (2010), which focused on a gay man on the edge of sanity and his relationship with another man of questionable sexuality who tries to manipulate and ultimately destroy the gay man.

When Montgomery sat down to write this feature, those previous works had to be still swirling in his head, as a lot of those same elements have made it to this movie. Like Gone, But Not Forgotten, this movie is set mostly in a forested area. That 2003 flick had scenes partially in the wilderness. Here, Montgomery takes it even further and has the whole film set entirely in the great outdoors. Also like Gone, But Not Forgotten, this movie involves mental illness. Like Socket, this movie has men being driven to murder, sometimes out of survival. Like Flight of the Cardinal, this movie possesses men being devious for reasons of opportunism and also revenge.

Stephen Twardokus (Confessions and An American Ghost Story) stars as Noah Summers, a hiker from Michigan. He's tall and skinny. He's a bit anxious but not in a way that makes him seem overly nervous. He's more methodical and controlled. He's determined but not in an obvious way. He almost comes off as naive or free-and-easy. There's an innocence to him that later comes across as a mask. He's like a boy in a man's body. In more subtle moments, his performance is akin to Ellen Page's role in Hard Candy (2005).

The movie occurs all in one day and it's the day that Noah visits a nature trail through a densely wooded area known as "Devil's Path." Apparently, the Devil's Path is the name of an actual place in the Catskill Mountains in New York. However, Montgomery shot this movie in the same place as Redwoods (2009) in northern California. Redwoods was a romantic drama in which Montgomery acted. It was again another bucolic look at arrested souls but in the vein of a same-sex, love triangle. The conceit here appears to be yet another bucolic romance between white men that somewhat forms a triangle but unknowingly so for the audience.

JD Scalzo (Jaded and The Gay Husbands of San Francisco) co-stars as Patrick, an EMT with asthma who comes to the trail because in addition to being an attraction for hikers, it's also a cruising spot for gay men looking to have anonymous sex in the woods. Patrick is one such gay man who wants to have anonymous sex in the woods. He likes the thrill of it. When Noah approaches him, he thinks that it's a chance to have such a thrill.

It becomes apparent though that Noah isn't interested in anonymous or casual sex. He's way more romantic. He's looking for love or a love. He's certainly not as cynical as Patrick. Noah's conversations always go back to that of soul mates and monogamy, whereas Patrick is more atheistic and promiscuous. It's clear to Patrick that he should separate from Noah because of their almost extreme differences, but a dangerous circumstance thrusts them together unwillingly.

The majority of the film then becomes the two of them running and hiding in the woods to try to escape that danger. From how things are set up, one thinks that this movie will be a queer version of Deliverance (1972). Yet, what we get is actually perhaps more akin to The Blair Witch Project (1999) in form but not in substance. Montgomery's steady and observant camera-shots devolve into frenetic, shaky cam by the end. What seems like an obvious threat of homophobia and aggressive expressions of masculinity soon fall prey to not a supernatural threat but a preternatural one, a slight existential crisis in fact.

Scalzo's performance goes from seductive and enticing to distrusting and suspicious. His mood from sexy to scared is a quick swing but works in the context of a film that isn't trying to do what William Friedkin's Cruising (1980) was trying to do. This movie is not trying to use homophobia as a force for terror. It's not trying to use same-sex attraction as an object of horror. Without spoiling too much, being gay is actually not the source of tension here. I appreciate that, even though it later creates logic gaps and plot-holes.

Montgomery effectively maintains a very ominous tone from beginning to end. It's off kilter enough to keep audiences second-guessing and never quite sure where it's all going. It sufficiently keeps one on edge. As such, it works for gay film-goers lacking in genre that caters to them.



Not Rated but contains language and violence, sexual situations and brief nudity.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 28 mins.

Plays in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Glendale on March 1.
Available on DVD and VOD on March 5.