Dust Devil

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Stanley directs. Steven Chivers behind the camera. Simon Boswell scores. Jamie Macdermott cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 134 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Richard Stanley, shot by Steven Chivers. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Simon Boswell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Jamie Macdermott shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Robert John Burke and Chelsea Field and Marianne Sägebrecht carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "He's not a serial killer. He's much worse.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0104155 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Classified under 16 themes, including "adultery", "fire", "dreams", "wind".

The technical file

Cinematography

Steven Chivers

Original score

Simon Boswell

Editing

Jamie Macdermott

Production design

Joseph Bennett

Costume design

Michele Clapton

Makeup / hair

Lisa Boni

Sound

Aad Wirtz

Stunt coordinator

Roly Jansen

Runtime

103 min · 1h 43m

Status

Released

Budget

$8,000,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Dust Devil (1992) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

50% 🥫 Rotten

IMDB rating

6.2/10 · 6,097 votes

MPAA

R

Also by

Richard Stanley

• 
  Brave

  1994 · ★ 7.5
• 
  Incidents in an Expanding Universe

  1985 · ★ 6.7
• 
  The White Darkness

  2002 · ★ 6.6
• 
  Rites of Passage

  1983 · ★ 6.5
• 
  Voice of the Moon

  1990 · ★ 6.2
• 
  The Otherworld

  2013 · ★ 6.2

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Dust Devil - The Final Cut Richard Stanley

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-10-09
  ★ 8/10

  Poetic Brutality. After a blazing argument with her husband and deciding enough is enough, Wendy Robinson takes off into the African sun. Picking up a hitch-hiker, she finds herself strangely drawn to him, unaware that he is a travelling serial killer. When police detective Ben Mukurob arrives on the scene it becomes apparent that her companion is actually something far worse than a merely a killer, he is a shape shifting demon who steals the souls of his victims. Richard Stanley's "Dust Devil" has a well documented troubled history. Briefly, Stanley's original cut of 120 minutes was trimmed to 110 and US distributor Miramax held the rights to re-edit an American release if they so wished. Stanley still hoped his longer cut would thrive in Europe, however, Palace Pictures in Britain had a 95 minute cut of the film that was test screened just the once before Palace Pictures went bankrupt. Thus this meant the post-production of a "European" version was shut down and Stanley lost control of the film. With Miramax chopping away in the states it now meant that "Dust Devil" was floating around in cuts that ranged from 110 minutes to a staggeringly pointless 68 minutes. In 1993 Stanley managed to buy back the print and the cut material from Miramax, and using his own money, set about restoring the film to something like his original vision. The result is that now a widely available DVD box set has two cuts of the film to view, The Final Cut and the (rough) Work Print. With so many versions of the film around over the years, it's hard to gauge what a true weighted rating the picture has. Personally I feel sure that if judged solely on the "Final Cut" version the film would be better regarded and rated far better than some of its internet scores. That's not to say it's a perfect film, for it's not, some problems exist, and the flow of the film, even by Richard Stanley's own admission, is far from fluent these days. However, it's one hell of a fine movie, technically stunning and with a horror story of deep cranial worth. Starring Robert Burke (Devil), Chelsea Field (Wendy) and Zakes Mokae (Ben), "Dust Devil" has three interwoven character plots dovetailing together towards the apocalyptic finale. Along the way we are treated to much dialogue cloaked in haunting mysticism, with dashes of grim horror that assault the senses. It's a pic that begs revisits to truly appreciate the complexity of it, never mind that the visuals alone are worth seeing time and time again. It will remain a divisive film, of that I don't think there is any doubt, yet I would urge any genre fan who hasn't seen it to at least give it a go. You may not be as impressed with it as myself and its many fans are, but one feels you are unlikely to forget having ever seen it. Mesmerising, haunting and even lyrical, it's hoped that the film in its final form will find a more appreciative audience. 9/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• BR

  British Screen Productions

  GB

• PA

  Palace Pictures

  GB

• SH

  Shadow Theatre Films

  GB

• 

  Channel Four Films

  GB

Key crew

• EditorJamie Macdermott
• Costume DesignMichele Clapton
• EditorDerek Trigg
• Costume DesignRuy Filipe
• ProducerJoAnne Sellar
• CastingCallie Bristow
• EditorPaul Carlin
• CastingJory Weitz
• Art DirectionGraeme Orwin
• Camera OperatorPhilip Alan Waters
• Sound Re-Recording MixerAad Wirtz
• Production DesignJoseph Bennett
• Art DirectionMichael Carlin
• HairstylistLisa Boni
• Sound Re-Recording MixerRobin O'Donoghue
• Sound EditorJonathan Miller
• First Assistant EditorKeith Mason
• Script SupervisorAntoinette van Speyk
• Still PhotographerLiam Daniel
• Production ManagerDaniel Lupi
• Construction CoordinatorJoel Van Bavel
• Supervising Sound EditorRichard Rhys Davies
• Sound EditorKate Hopkins
• Stunt CoordinatorRoly Jansen

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• adultery
• fire
• dreams
• wind
• nightmare
• isolation
• ritual
• sandstorm
• supernatural
• hallucination
• wilderness
• surrealism
• stranded
• hitchhiker
• demon
• desert

Release history · US

When it landed

• Physical1993-10-13R· Video premiere

Also known as

International titles

• Дьявол из пылиRU
• Песчаный дьяволRU
• Пылевой смерчRU