AllMovie

Shot in the Philippines, this campy but enjoyably surreal occult thriller finds a quartet of wayward college kids trapped in the cursed village of Santana, a town whose founders made a pact with Satan centuries ago to spare themselves from a plague epidemic. It seems the villagers' end of the bargain allowed for the Devil's return each year to pick up a handful of fresh souls free of charge... and it's no surprise who's on Ol' Scratch's list this time around. Writer-director Ferde Grofe, Jr. makes good use of some rustic locations, and the scenes of demonic hordes swarming through the streets are quite chilling. Also a plus: the young protagonists are presented as fairly well-rounded and intelligent, instead of mere cyphers waiting their turn to become demon-fodder.