A California motorist (Daryl Hannah, in the film for name recognition value) is on her way to Bangor passing through a stretch of Pennsylvania where the road leads through forest on both sides, when she comes across a frightened young woman (Leah Gibson) who seems to have been through an emotional roller coaster (and has blood on her). This shaken woman reveals her name to be Amy Singer and forewarns that something evil is lurking in the woods out to get them. Amy will provide a narrative for how all her friends wound up deceased to Carrie (Hannah) on their way to the next nearest town. The film opened with an ominous figure, dark and not easily recognizable, carrying a bloody machete, pursuing Amy, so immediately established is the Lurking Evil certain to pop up before the fade to black.Backstory: Amy and fellow Boston U students, majoring in Environmental Studies, can get an A if they collect soil samples and study an ancient Indian Burial Ground known as Arrowhead where coal miners (over 200) died in a mining disaster. What they encounter could be something monstrous, chained and hidden inside the barn of a sullen, greasy, rather creepy gas station attendant named Billy (Daniel Probert) who claims that many of the locals consider Arrowhead the "Devil's Playground". Amy doesn't forget this and is the only one of her group who treats him with a modicum of decency (the others toss around insults about him behind his back). The rest of the film follows the basic "city kids fall prey to backwoods psycho beast" plot.Disorienting camera-work, an editing style that doesn't allow for characters to be positioned in frame for more than a manner of seconds, and way too much time where the camera is right in the face of the actors (not to mention, too many shots of the sky and crows squawking) instead of following the action, "The Devil's Ground" doesn't have the technical merits to surpass the generic, "we've seen it all before" story-line. It is hard to react to a menace that is never established in a way that causes us to dread his presence, and the film fails to generate any creep factor whatsoever.Cheap and ugly, with few redeeming qualities at all, this film would remain buried in obscurity if not for Hannah's name in the credits. I hope you like Leah Gibson's face because we get plenty of it in close up throughout the movie. Even worse is the fact that this film has one too many endings (including a couple twists regarding Billy's family members revealed), none of them exactly worthwhile. Amy Singer's fate seems like an interesting twist if the film had ended with Hannah's discovering something peculiar about her passenger during the movie (the film goes back and forth between Singer's story and in the car with Hannah telling it), but the screenplay just doesn't know when to quit. Probert's scowl, worn on Billy's face exclusively, seems as if he were sucking on a sour lemon throughout his time on screen.

I want to agree with the reviewer Jon Doe. They did a great job with what they had. Yes the acting could have been better, yes the script could have been better. But the music was great, the outdoor scenes were good, and if you are a hardcore horror fan, you should check out this movie - it is a good popcorn movie with friends.I also want to agree that although these ideas have been used before, they are good ideas, and that is why they are copied. The movie has a good climax also.The bare midriffs on the girls is always a nice touch. The lead actress has a face to forget, but a body to love.

First of all, this is an absolutely excellent horror flick that I have seen multiple times on cable and I still don't get sick of it. This is the type of story that you have to watch at least twice to grasp. If you like horror your in for a ride with this one. Let me just pick apart some of the more idiotic reviews here by these armchair critics who try to compare the horror genre to regular movies. Let me break it down for you idiots: First of all this is Horror. We as horror lovers don't always expect clever plots and we don't expect everything to be breakthrough movie or something with a "statement". And cliché can be good in the horror business and sometimes can make the movie really fun and sometimes nostalgic of simpler times. My point is that the Horror genre plays by strict rule sets so please STOP with your crap reviews. You people take yourselves too seriously actually thinking that someone gives two craps what you think and your "opinion". Us horror lovers only want a few things: 1)Good realistic gore 2)A clever story(Not always needed) that MAY OR MAY NOT be similar to other horror styles and genres3)Decent acting is not always neded especially when its not tongue and cheek, but true horror needs good actors4)A decent production, direction, sets, etc5)Characters we recognize from other legendary horror moviesThe Devils Playground delivers in spades on all of the above except the scream queen, but we get Daryl Hannah which is a very worthy stand in. Now, let me clarify something that really needs clarification again for those real smart people here at IBMD, "There is no such thing as a rip off or "cliché" in a Horror movie", Or let me rephrase that. You should never, EVER bash a movie because it bears similarities to other horror flicks. I can tell the reviewers writing these reviews weren't around in the 80's to watch the tens of thousands of Zombie/Slasher/Low quality movies released. If these bashers were around they wouldn't set out to see a movie like this. Let face it the internet allows us to check up on and watch movies we would never even looked at before. So Only real horror movie lovers wouldve watched most of the independent horror flicks. I think had these "bashers" been loved horror since the 80's they maybe actually able to understand the Horror genre and give these guys a break. So, when it comes to horror you don't rate like you would a drama or a romance andif you do you have no business voting or even watching horror movies. Don't you know because you all sound like broken records on every single horror movie thread? Go be a movie reviewer somewhere else please and let us, The real horror movie lovers rate horror movies..Or lighten up. I mean you will never catch me rating romance movies which are just as, if not more repetitious then horror movies. Hell all movies have influenced by other and have similarities to othersAnd to the repetitive reviewers with the same old post: the plot is filled with holes. Um no. The plots are usually as simple as they can get its your attention span thats filled with holes. I am just SO sick of these idiots trying so hard to bash these movies and ruining all their ratings. I never know what to watch because of it. Isn't it obvious to these people that they're not really horror fans?? Just because you liked The Descent and Paranormal activity doesn't make you a horror buff.To the die-hards: This a winner. Great flick, great story, great gore, and even a great twist. This movie is very original in its own right no matter what people say. Comparisons to Texas Chainsaw are non-existent just more crap from idiots reaching far and wide. This is a winner. I promise. 7 stars and it deserves every star!

Daryl Hannah plays a relatively small role as Carrie, a motorist who picks up a mysterious girl (Leah Gibson) stranded on a backwoods road. The bulk of the story is told through flashbacks as the girl recounts her story to Carrie. It seems the girl and some fellow students were out on an environmental survey when they found themselves being hunted by an unknown assailant. The Cycle does an admirable job of hiding its own low budget. The directing is good, but moreover, the slick editing and detailed camera work give this film a well-produced look. The acting here is also decent enough. Unfortunately those assets don't quite succeed in saving The Cycle from B-movie status. What it can boast in looks, it dearly lacks in substance, due mainly to a poor script.The movie also feels long overall. When it eventually attempts to lazily incorporate sci-fi and supernatural elements, the audience is already past the point when they were primed to care.Ultimately, while well-made in many respects, it's not particularly entertaining or thought-provoking, so I can't recommend it. Although to be fair, it feels like the work of a good film maker who just needs a better script to work with.