The Devil Went Down to Islington (2023)

"Laugh Out Loud British Comedy Horror"

It's actually something of a joy to report that THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO ISLINGTON, which is getting a digital release from Bulldog Distribution, is that rarest of beasts, a horror comedy that's actually funny.

Be warned beforehand that it's not terribly scary, though. In fact it's not scary at all. We're firmly in the sub-genre of movies like CARRY ON SCREAMING or COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES with this one, with a host of faces familiar to aficionados of British television comedy and a cheery sense of knockabout fun that's you'll find extremely entertaining if that's your kind of thing.

Hopelessly unlucky music teacher John Robertson (Spencer Brown) and his dodgy friend Nick (James Lance) sell their souls to the devil (Dominic Coleman) one night after a few too many beers. For the next three days their luck changes. John falls in love, wins a scooter and acquires a winning scratch card while Nick wins the lottery. However they soon latch on to why they've suddenly acquired such good fortune, and with the help of mad exorcist Father Crowley (Michael Smiley) they realise their only chance of escaping hell is to reverse everything that has happened to them.

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO ISLINGTON features likeable lead performances from Brown and Lance who obviously have good comedy chemistry together and there are turns from Ronni Ancona as John's headmistress, Tessa Peake-Jones as John's mum, and Mark Benton as porn producer Barry Grossman whose latest opus is THE SEXORCISM OF EMILY'S ROSE. It's a bit bumpy at the start but after that becomes frequently laugh out loud funny. Director Daniel Wilson could just be a new Edgar Wright in the making. I laughed a lot and I'd certainly watch something else from the same team. Let's have a trailer:

THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO ISLINGTON is out on Digital platforms from Bulldog Distribution on Monday 23rd October 2023