The Devil Dared Me To

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Young Randy Campbell (Chris Stapp) has a dream. Keen to emulate his late stuntman father Reg's exploits, he wants to become the first person to jump Cook Strait on a motorcycle.

But it isn't just the laws of physics against him. Randy's Aunt and Uncle are desperate to avoid a repeat of Reg's fiery death and keep a close eye on the boy on their isolated South Island farm.

However, even their best efforts can't keep him from visiting the speedway whenever the Timaru Hellriders are in town.

Led by the enigmatic Dick Johansonson (Matt Heath), the Hellriders are the South Island's most daring stunt drivers and Randy would do anything to become one of them.

One tragic accident later and Randy gets that chance, although strictly as support crew. Now if he can just persuade Dick to let him drive.

Inspired by little-known 1981 Canadian documentary The Devil At Your Heels (about stuntman Ken Carter's attempt to jump across a mile-wide river separating the US and Canada), The Devil Dared Me To also splices elements of Star Wars: A New Hope and 70's-style B-Movies to create a riotous, Society for the Promotion of Community Standards-baiting whole.

The easily-offended should steer well clear of this expletive, explosive and excrement-fuelled Kiwi comedy.

However, those who love a good portaloo gag, the sight of someone tongue-kissing a hideously disfigured burns victim or deadly slapstick will consider this the best 77 minutes of their life.

Likewise, fans of Heath and Stapp's anarchic TV show Back of the Y will lap up this extended edition, although it is probably closer to early Roger Corman or Peter Jackson than the boys' beloved Goodies or Goodbye Pork Pie.

Highlights include a jump over upside down lawnmowers, a poignant sequence of street littered with broken stuntmen and the fab use of 1980s Kiwi music staples from The Exponents, The Mockers and Rikki Morris (all unsurprisingly absent from the more hard-rock-orientated official soundtrack).

However, the self-confessed fluid script lets the story-telling down, the acting ranges from more than reasonable to ropey and the tongue-in-cheek anti-South Island sentiment may infuriate some Mainlanders.

But while you won't see anything else like The Devil Dared Me Too this year, American and British audiences have.

Bizarrely, just months after Devil premiered at the South by Southwest Festival a blander, similarly-themed movie called Hot Rod appeared at the US and UK box offices.

- © Fairfax NZ News