Karen (Zoe Moonshine) just moved to the big city from South Africa and is living with her new roommate, Christine (Ruby Larocca). Things begin to wrong quickly as Christine (who makes her living from bathroom humiliation videos) begins to manipulate Karen for her own financial gain and sadistic pleasure. As she submits and becomes a mere toy for Christine, something inside her begins to change. It isn’t long before people start turning up dead and Christine finds out that Karen will only be pushed so far.

Taking a cue from classic exploitation films of yesteryear, The Devil’s Bloody Playthings delivers on the sleaze big time. The music by Alien Pornography also hearkens back to a trashy era long since past to give the film its own unique soundtrack. The plot’s aspects of domination, malaise, and sexual dysfunction create an impenetrable aura of dread which finally explodes into horror before the very depressing hour and a half running time is up. Director William Hellfire makes none of the missteps that plague many independent productions by keeping the story simple, avoiding the ADD editing, and just letting the actors do their thing.

Ruby Larocca (Lustful Addiction) nails her character, Christine, perfectly. Christine is controlling, manipulative, and dull. For all of her outward strength and hypocritical posturing, she is a weak and wretched character who is her own worst enemy. A truly repulsive yet well-realized character played by a very talented and fearless actress. Watching how Christine functions is just as good as watching her fate play out in loving detail on the screen.

Another fine performance comes from Zoe Moonshine (Flesh For Olivia). Karen is a sweet person who unfortunately falls under Christine’s malignant influence. In order to gain acceptance, she foolishly takes a passive role in a very dangerous situation. Of course, being Christine’s slave (and eventually her whore) isn’t Karen’s entire role in the story. Lurking just below the surface is an aspect of her personality that neither Christine nor even Karen herself could have known about.

There are no redeeming moments in The Devil’s Bloody Playthings nor is there any escape from the vileness permeating every frame of this sick little film. Due to the nastiness of the film’s subject matter, viewers who are easily offended or are unaccustomed to exploitation films will want to tread carefully here. Although it never really comes close to porn, this is still an in-your-face and quite harrowing movie experience. A truly fascinating indie film both well acted and well written comes together with great camerawork, a strong cast, and an excellent seedy music score to make The Devil’s Bloody Playthings a must see for horror and exploitation fans.

DVD Stuff

The Devil’s Bloody Playthings DVD looks very sharp with no digital compression to be found. Audio is fair but the mix is off with loud music versus some quiet dialogue but I never had to strain to hear what anyone was saying. Extras include the film’s trailer and a trailer for Orgasm Torture In Satan’s Rape Clinic as well as a blooper reel from the filming of Bloody Playthings.