It was literally only the other week that I was talking to my father about cryptids and mentioned that I had never really heard anything about the Jersey Devil, and now a week on and I have received a screener of Seth Breedlove's (Momo: The Missouri Monster) latest documentary, Bloodlines: The Jersey Devil Curse. This doesn't so much explore eye witness accounts of the cryptid, but it more looks into the myths and legends about the creature, charting just where the idea of the demonic looking creature may have originated.
Over eighty minutes the documentary heads backwards in time, starting off with an account in the 1980's, before heading to the turn of the 29th Century, then going all the way back to the 1600's. There are the usual talking heads you would expect, the majority appear to be more discussing the history that led to the creation of this legend, rather than experts who genuinely believe the creature to be a real thing. Throughout there are several lengthy recreations that I don't know if they were based on reality, or if they were made up, or if it was a bit of both. It didn't start too well, with the recreation of a sighting in the eighties featuring some very wooden acting. The second recreation was the most visually interesting as it styled itself as a silent sepia tinged film, complete with screens of dialogue for when characters have spoken. The final one seemed the most unrealistic, about a midwife discovering a demonic altar while attending to Mother Leeds, a woman who was said to have birthed a demonic creature hundreds of years ago.
So rather than treat this as a real creature (though the doc does state it is certainly possible a previously unknown creature could exist out in the vast Pine Barrens of New Jersey), this is more a look at the circumstances surrounding the creation of the myth. The many sightings that gripped newspapers in the early 1900's for instance are passed off as newspapers wanting to sell copies, while the whole Mother Leeds myth that popped up is said to have been originally created as a way to demonise a prominent settler who had strayed from his faith. The insight into historical facts was interesting, showing the reasons why this became a legend, it just wasn't so exciting with the recreations, however exciting they were made to be. I did think the CG monster wasn't actually that bad looking, and the directing was also not bad.
As always with Breedlove's documentaries, this felt like a quality product, lots of drone shots of the Pine Barrens, and every section had good design to it. Whenever there isn't an overarching narration I always feel it missing, the talking heads guide the doc ever onwards, but I feel narration would better unify everything. Still, a week ago I knew barely anything about this subject, and now I feel I know plenty, so this doc could be said to be a success. Bloodlines: The Jersey Devil Curse comes to Cable VOD and Digital HD on November 15th, from 1091 Pictures.
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