Among the falling autumn leaves and brisk bite in the air, Halloween season brings us the cluster of ever-anticipated Horror theatrical releases. John Erick Dowdle’s newest thriller, Devil, hit the box office just before the tide came in, driven by a passable leading cast including Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, and Geoffrey Arend. A close-quarters confinement horror story, this movie plays on the audiences’ sense of morality, religion, fears of the dark, and topped with a sweet glaze of claustrophobia.
The blanket statement of the story is nothing original. The Devil walks the Earth in human form and agonizingly exterminates those who harbor intense sin. Screenwriter Brian Nelson provides a bit of refreshment to this tale by placing our group of sinners in a broken elevator, knowing not who the killer is amongst them, but only that there’s absolutely nowhere to run. Considering his past works, most memorably Hard Candy (highly recommended!) and 30 Days of Night, Nelson has a deep understanding and talent to exploit the extent of terror created by restricting the space between good and evil. Adding to the growing sense of claustrophobia, shared by both character and viewer, is the unbearable detail that all the scary stuff happens when the lights go out. My personal distaste for darkness accounted for relentlessly squeezing my husband’s hand to numbness. These two prominent aspects of the story rub a shiny polish on the overused “Devil on Earth” concept.
The movie opens on a pan across the cityscape of Philadelphia. Decorating the set-up is an offensively robust score by Fernando Valà zquez. Cellos and Tympanis blaring superficial staccato rhythms, I thought I accidentally stumbled back in time to fifty years ago and walked into a showing of Hitchcock’s Psycho. A modern-style horror in modern times should yield a more modern musical backdrop. Now I don’t mean to undermine retro-horror or any of its significant aspects. I adore the upbringing of the genre in all its ages. I also enjoy much of its return stylistically, such as in the successful Grindhouse double-feature and Andrew Douglas’ 2005 remake of Amityville Horror. But unless you’re Lady Gaga, you just don’t wear plaid with cheetah print.
Sitting upon the top tier of the creative involvement are Director John Erick Dowdle and Writer-Producer M. Night Shyamalan, masters in their own genius’ of twisting reality and plot. Emerging again from the box office hype of Quarantine (another “confinement” horror), Dowdle struts his seductively suspenseful knack for the uncanny. Shyamalan stamps his signature on the film with the loveable yet sorrowful anti-hero, undertones of religious structures, and his most notable third act twist. Though controversial in talent within popular culture, I am a Shyamalan fan. I will defend The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable to my dying day – a topic I will subdue arduously until another time. Though not nearly as poignant in character progression or story as his other films, this movie accomplished what I think its straightforward intention attempted. It’s a good scare with an interesting enough story to sit through for eighty minutes.
Obligated to mention the on-screen talent, I find myself pausing for inspiration. Not too bad, but not too good. Excluding key players Chris Messina and Logan Marshall-Green, there isn’t much to say for the cast. They played the shallow roles they were given. Equally the fault of deficient character development and stale performances, I was resigned to slight disappointment and indifference. Rescuing the viewers’ teetering emotional involvement, Chris Messina subtly (for the most part) forces his sorrow upon us. The detective who lost everything must work through his personal life struggles and save this group of tormented elevator passengers from unknown peril. Messina plays misery, temporal urgency, perplexing horror with a comfortable and charming sense of mature restraint and calculation, soothing the headache caused by overacted fright from the elevator tenants. Among our group of detained sinners, Logan Marshall-Green highlights his superior talent. Though at first a little banal (undoubtedly a factor of the “plot is priority over character” design), his character develops a little more than the others throughout the plot and Marshall-Green pursues it to the fullest. By the end of the film, and especially in the gripping twist, I was attached to him. A scene in particular where his character steps into the spotlight allows him the opportunity to show a certain depth and emotionality that is executed with authenticity and endearment.
All in all, Devil classified itself as an entertaining but potentially forgettable horror film. Whether intentional or not, it might have been a smart move to release it as forerunner of this year’s horror season releases instead of alongside competing releases. Followed by other enticing movies of its genre in October (Let Me In, My Soul to Take, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, etc.), this ordinary picture would have been a likely candidate to be overlooked otherwise.
I rate this movie 3 out of 5 "Hail Marys".
The movie opens on a pan across the cityscape of Philadelphia. Decorating the set-up is an offensively robust score by Fernando Valà zquez. Cellos and Tympanis blaring superficial staccato rhythms, I thought I accidentally stumbled back in time to fifty years ago and walked into a showing of Hitchcock’s Psycho. A modern-style horror in modern times should yield a more modern musical backdrop. Now I don’t mean to undermine retro-horror or any of its significant aspects. I adore the upbringing of the genre in all its ages. I also enjoy much of its return stylistically, such as in the successful Grindhouse double-feature and Andrew Douglas’ 2005 remake of Amityville Horror. But unless you’re Lady Gaga, you just don’t wear plaid with cheetah print.
Sitting upon the top tier of the creative involvement are Director John Erick Dowdle and Writer-Producer M. Night Shyamalan, masters in their own genius’ of twisting reality and plot. Emerging again from the box office hype of Quarantine (another “confinement” horror), Dowdle struts his seductively suspenseful knack for the uncanny. Shyamalan stamps his signature on the film with the loveable yet sorrowful anti-hero, undertones of religious structures, and his most notable third act twist. Though controversial in talent within popular culture, I am a Shyamalan fan. I will defend The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable to my dying day – a topic I will subdue arduously until another time. Though not nearly as poignant in character progression or story as his other films, this movie accomplished what I think its straightforward intention attempted. It’s a good scare with an interesting enough story to sit through for eighty minutes.
Obligated to mention the on-screen talent, I find myself pausing for inspiration. Not too bad, but not too good. Excluding key players Chris Messina and Logan Marshall-Green, there isn’t much to say for the cast. They played the shallow roles they were given. Equally the fault of deficient character development and stale performances, I was resigned to slight disappointment and indifference. Rescuing the viewers’ teetering emotional involvement, Chris Messina subtly (for the most part) forces his sorrow upon us. The detective who lost everything must work through his personal life struggles and save this group of tormented elevator passengers from unknown peril. Messina plays misery, temporal urgency, perplexing horror with a comfortable and charming sense of mature restraint and calculation, soothing the headache caused by overacted fright from the elevator tenants. Among our group of detained sinners, Logan Marshall-Green highlights his superior talent. Though at first a little banal (undoubtedly a factor of the “plot is priority over character” design), his character develops a little more than the others throughout the plot and Marshall-Green pursues it to the fullest. By the end of the film, and especially in the gripping twist, I was attached to him. A scene in particular where his character steps into the spotlight allows him the opportunity to show a certain depth and emotionality that is executed with authenticity and endearment.
All in all, Devil classified itself as an entertaining but potentially forgettable horror film. Whether intentional or not, it might have been a smart move to release it as forerunner of this year’s horror season releases instead of alongside competing releases. Followed by other enticing movies of its genre in October (Let Me In, My Soul to Take, Paranormal Activity 2, Saw 3D, etc.), this ordinary picture would have been a likely candidate to be overlooked otherwise.
I rate this movie 3 out of 5 "Hail Marys".
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