Searching for the 13th Child!

Having run out of material for my Jersey devil bottle project (as talked about mostly on my writing blog), I drug my daughters out to the Pine Barrens at Leeds Point in search of more bottles and possibly the Jersey Devil himself. My daughters are awesome, little horror movie fans and total purveyors of the unexplained. Every weekend, we have scary movie night (last night was Bram Stoker's Dracula). Honestly, they are every horror movie fans dream children.

As we went out this morning, we talked about the legend of the Jersey Devil again and the movie the 13th Child: Legend of the Jersey Devil. This 2002 direct-to-video horror film, based on the Jersey Devil is a fictional starting point for any researcher or horror movie fan looking for a potential true story (at least loosely based). Written by Michael Maryk and Cliff Robertson, the story is based on the book The Jersey Devil by James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr. and actually filmed in the devils stomping ground at Wharton State Forest, Batsto Village, and Hammonton in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey.

Unfortunately, the movie does not live up to the legend, proving the life is often stranger than fiction. In fact, even a decent cast can do nothing to save this film and it may create its own genre the "D" movie. It is truly that bad. Yes, the monster at the end does look disturbing as it rises from the pool of blood, but even that is not enough to raise it to B movie status.

Throughout the rest of the movie, the creature look terrible, the plot plods along and the character development is sub par to say the least. One character, Mr. Shroud is truly the only connection to the legend, as that states that the devil was born to Mother Leeds in the Shrouds House (the foundation is supposed to exist, but I have yet to find it). In the end, searching Leeds Point for signs of the Jersey Devil is much more enjoyable than sitting through this movie. Unfortunately, while I picked up some more bottles, the only sign of the Jersey Devil was found at JDs Pub for lunch!