WTF France?!?: Devil Story

So what is this exactly?  Today's Film is Devil Story, a Film about...something...maybe.  French Horror Films are a curious breed, that's for sure.  The Films by the late Jean Rollin have been real hit or miss for me.  Some of them are trashy- like Zombie Lake-, while others are just too drawn out- like Living Dead Girl.  This is not a Jean Rollin Film though.  This is actually one by Bernard Launois, the man behind...a few Films I've never heard of before.  They must be famous ones though, since each one's IMDB Page has pretty much just the bare essentials and that's it.  Nobody has gone in to even bother to write a Plot Summary for them- this Film included!  Should I be the one to right this wrong?  Eh, maybe later.  I'll just do it here.  So a couple goes out to the Woods and stays with some people.  All sorts of crazy stuff, like a masked killer (maybe?) and a weird monster appear...and that's it.  I can't say much more detail than that.  To find out more detail (sort of), read on...

A weird-looking dude shows up and kills a few people in the Woods.  I don't know why.

Here is an example of what this Film loves nearly as much as shots of a black Cat- Blood!

This lady and her boyfriend wander around a bit, she has a dream (maybe) and then end up at a creepy house.

That night, the woman discovers that the creepy story she was told about the wrecked ship and dead men may be true as one part- the monster from earlier- is now walking in the garden...and is the lady of the house's son!

A bit later, a Mummy shows up.

Do...do I need to bother trying to explain this?

Chased all night and into the day, our heroine eventually gets to a car and manages to light the masked monster aflame.

Oh and the boat appears to be real too.  The Mummy is in pursuit, but the only person who can help her- a Farmer with a Shotgun- is too busy shooting at a horse.

Do...do you expect an answer by now?

When things reach a crescendo, she...wakes up safely in the house.  Was this all a dream?

Wandering around, she finds proof of the ship's wreckage and the creature appears again.  So, naturally, she...wakes up in the car on the day before.

Sigh.  So that was all a dream too...but they are going to stay for the night.  The End.

So yeah, this is an odd one!  It is a mix of Surreal Dream Film, Gore Film and Monster Movie.  Who thinks of something like that?  I've got nothing.  There may be a way that this could completely work, but they don't achieve it.  If the Film's monsters were so crazy and bizarre that they couldn't possibly be real, it could have made more sense.  If the dream parts of it were more well-balanced and less of a chat, this could have been more appealing.  Hell, if the gore had been more over-the-top even, it could have made the 'oh, it was a dream' stuff seem more logical.  As it is, the Film's pacing is confusing, its Story is kind of vague and doesn't feel as satisfying as it all should.  If you spliced an Art Film and a Gore Film, this is kind of what you'd get.  It may be more satisfying to others than to me and that's fine.  Just don't go making a mess of yourself while you enjoy it like this guy did...

Next up, a Serbian Film.  Don't worry- it is not the one you think; this one has a mermaid.  Stay tuned...