Devil Down South is a 2021 Documentary focusing on the dangers of dabbling in Black Magic. It focuses on Abby- a young woman, who when she was a teen undertook a blood-tinged ritual to improve her life- with the ensuing years seeing her & her son being plagued by the dark, demonic and dangerous. Here from Synergetic Distribution is a region-free DVD release of the film.

Devil Down South was directed by Billy Lewis. Since 2009 he has helmed fourteen credits- which have seemingly been a mix of documentaries & fiction films. His fiction films go from Small town USA set mystery/ Horror The Jailhouse (2009), and horror/paranormal thriller The Terrible Two(2018),. With his documentaries include Mark (2020) which regards an unknown actor, Fonti Flora (2021) which regards an investigation of a haunted house in South Carolina, and Brewing Up the in Between (2023) which regards an investigation into a haunted asylum. Many of Lewis's docs see him teaming up with Sean Austin- demonologist, paranormal investigator, psychic medium & author- Devil Down South was the pair's second collaboration after Malefice: A True Story of a Demonic Haunting ( 2021).

Devil Down South runs around the one hour and fifty-minute mark- it’s a blend of interviews, reconstruction, and recordings/ pictures taken during the possession/ issues caused by the evil spirits. The film opens in a decidedly confused manner- as we get around ten minutes of jerky in-touch-light footage of a woman’s back, and arms, as well as the screen showing some form of ghost-tracking program.  As the credits finally roll, and we get into the film we meet  Mr Austin who is sat opposite Abby- we only ever see the bottom of her face, or blurred out full face- but I’m guessing she’s in her late twenties.

As the documentary unfolds we get interviews with her, her son( who I’m guessing is around ten), her partner/ husband, and (I think Aunty) with each of these we only see the bottom of their mouths. I understand why they want to remain anonymous in modern internet days- but to be honest this is one of my big gripes with the film, as it’s not really very interesting/visually rewarding watching the bottom of someone’s face talk away.

Otherwise, we get phone recordings made by Austin when he’s rung up Abby on various occasions- and some of these are fairly creepy, with one particular recording regarding the evil spirit telling the young woman not to speak to the investigator. We also get filmed footage of Abby being choked, or attacked with scratches by the evil.

The final part of the film's make-up is the reenactments- and to be honest these are really badly conceived/ acted. I know this part of documentaries can be a little wobbly, amateurish; but these are truly terrible.
Abby’s story which moves from her doing a black magic ritual at the age of fifteen, to her being possessed & harassed is interesting enough. And when her son & partner are also affected this adds another layer of interest/ intrigue to the proceedings.

I’ve been a fan of the ghost hunting/ investigation doc form going back to the early 2000’s, and UK TV show Most Haunted, going on to enjoy the long-running US show Ghost Adventures, as well as a few other docs/ TV shows in the similar vein. Both Most Haunted & Ghost Adventures have lead presenters who have a fair bit of charisma & charm about them. Sadly our lead investigator here Sean Austin- has neither of those qualities, and at points, he comes across frankly rather dull & boring.  So this is another mark against the film I’m afraid.

Lastly, the run time of nearing two hours is too long- with a fairly bit of repetition, and not really a very firm structure about it. So taking all the above criticism into mind- I’m afraid to say Devil Down South really wasn’t for me- which is a real pity, as I’d read rave reviews online regarding it being very creepy & uneasy, but it just largely bored me, to be honest.
The DVD is very bare bones- with just the film, and a basic menu. As this is a modern production the picture quality is fine, as is the audio.

In finishing I’d say if you were looking for a more serious & generally void of entertaining paranormal documentary you may get more from this than I did.  So with that in mind check out the trailer just here for yourself.