Post by Mr.HoRrOr on Jan 24, 2012 20:23:07 GMT -5
Plot:Documentary-styled horror film where - her entire life, Isabella Torelli believed her mother brutally murdered three people because she was clinically insane. After being told the murders occurred during an exorcism she sets out to discover the truth. While documenting her experience with a film crew in Italy, she becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms.
Cast:
Bonnie Morgan
Fernanda Andrade
Simon Quarterman
Preston James Hillier
Suzan Crowley
D.T. Carney
Ionut Grama
Evan Helmuth
My Thoughts:"Asleep" at the switch.
Review:The trend of the genre today. The current, "hot commodity". Are these movies involving exorcisms, demonic possession, and the catholic church. Back in the old days. We referred to them as "The Omen", "The Exorcist", and "The Amityville Horror". And also, back in those days. They were so much better done. Nowadays, it's not about making a "scary movie". It's more about "first-person-pov". Where it seems someone is taking a videocamera, and filming everything that happens.
As opposed to you watching a movie where things are playing out with actors. So the rub is, it makes you "think". This is "really" happening. Er go, they lose focus on how piss poor the script is. Because "oh look!". This shit looks soooo real! "Paranormal Activity" managed to escape such a fate. As did the Spanish horror pic "REC". But then there are the ones who aren't so lucky. Like "The Last Exorcism". Which was quite a mess up until the ending. And the latest attempt at "first-person-pov-horror". "The Devil Inside".
This movie follows a young girl named Isabella Torelli. A few years ago, her mom murdered three people. But was labeled clinically insane considering her claim was the murders took place during an exorcism. Now, Isabella wants to get to the bottom of her Mother's case once and for all. To do this, she hooks up with a film crew from Italy, and soon she and them, begin documenting a series of exorcisms. The catch? The exorcisms aren't sanctioned so of course, "the devil" is gonna get them!
Because after all, we all know "sanctioned" exorcisms have turned out so well in horror movies. Hence, the above-mentioned "The Exorcist". But "The Devil Inside" uses the same formula as "The Last Exorcism". With the cinema verite nonsense. The problem is, it's "not" scary. Which is where "Paranormal Activity" succeeded at. Oren Peli used "first-person", but also knew that he had to come up with a script and story to truly scare the audience.
This is where "The Devil Inside" epically fails at. The film feels as you watch, like the director is just trying to cash in on the current trend. You don't even feel like you're watching an actual movie. You feel more like you're watching a trainwreck. And waiting for it to end. Nothing exciting or thrilling ever happens in this movie. "Paranormal Activity" actually gave me chills. So no one can tell me that I'm simply to much of an adult to be freaked out by horror movies. Just a lil bit atleast. But "The Devil Inside" felt so empty, and so "lacking-in-direction".
Like it had no clue how to scare its audience. Very disappointing. The exorcism scenes for example. And the scene's where Isabella visits her mother at the institution. Carry little, to no chills or thrills. Instead, they feel like rehashed stuff. Body bending, contorting, twisting, etc. All stuff that we've seen in "The Exorcism Of Emily Rose", and many films that have come before "TDI". Especially the scene where Isabella's mother at one point, busts out with a rendition of "the itsy-bitsy-spider". While in her daughter's presence.
Which scares the crap out of her daughter, and the film crew. But as a viewer? I just sort of...yawned. The thinness of this movie is just extremely annoying. And as I watched, I sat there waiting for anything, ANYTHING...scary to happen. Or even remotely scary. But when you have a movie that is low on blood, gore, and graphic carnage. It had better be HIGH on psychological scares and terror. "The Devil Inside" was not. And when you couple that with the fact that the main character Isabella, was about as interesting as watching paint dry.
And the fact that the actress who played her was crippled by being given a lame character to begin with. Well, it just doesn't get any worse than that. The movie tries to throw a slight kink into the mix, by revealing a twist involving "multiple demonic possession". But if that's the case, then this film should've been 5 times scarier than it was. Instead...it falls short of even making me blink or jump once. "The Devil Inside" should only be seen by people who are extremely curious about the movie itself. If you can wait for DVD.
I suggest you do so. And if you're looking for scares, you'd have better luck finding some when you discover that you've accidentally broken one of your New Year's Resolutions. "The Devil Inside" is a "flat" horror movie. Flat on scares, terror, entertainment value, and pretty much everything that the recipe for a good horror movie, calls for.
Positives:The idea for a character to be undergoing multiple demonic possession was a good one.
Negatives:The flip-side of that coin. Is that the idea was implemented very, poorly. And was not effective. Thus, the movie overall suffered greatly.
Overall:One star out of four.