Well, 'Devil' Isn't Too Bad, But It Ain't That Heavenly Either

Release Date: September 17, 2010

Starring: Chris Messina, Jenny O'Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, Bojana Novakovic, Geoffrey Arend, Jacob Vargas, Logan Marshall-Green

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Writer: M. Night Shyamalan (Story) and Brian Nelson (Screenplay)

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, thematic material and some language, including sexual references.

Trailer

Official Movie Website

I think, from my very first review in The Little Critic ('The Last Airbender') you can safely assume how disappointed I have been in M. Night recently. Either his films are just not what they used to be or they have always been like that and  it is just getting old now.

We all know his storytelling style almost always includes a twist in the end and there is nothing wrong with that, but it seems like he's been trying too hard with the twists lately. 'Devil' is not an exception to the twists-concept, but it is not exactly a bad or good thing.

I think it is worth saying that he did NOT direct 'Devil,' but wrote the story. 'Devil' is the first film of The Night Chronicles production company; this company plans to create more films based on supernatural tones in a modern society.

In 'Devil,' through seemingly random events, five strangers are brought together in an elevator and evidentally trapped as it comes to a sudden, complete stop.

This mere inconvience becomes a fight for their lives as they slowly realize that one of them is not who they appear to be; that the devil is among them...

The film is fairly short, about 80 minutes, and, as stated before, not a good or bad movie. Actors are believable as mediocre, random people, especially since most of them are random actors who I am not familar with. Exceptions for Chris Messina ('Julie and Julia') and Geoffrey Arend ('(500) Days of Summer')

I think there is a moral to be learned from this film that probably does not have to be there, but that is just how I feel about it.

If 'Devil' was a TV episode of a show similar to 'The Twilight Zone,' it would have translated well as there is not much you can do with the story (they ARE in an elevator, for Pete's sake), but it is still a good premise for a short one. I do not think 'Devil' stands out enough to be its own feature-length film.

So, to be blunt, it is a decent start for my faith to come back to M. Night Shyamalan. Despite its moral lesson of forgiveness, 'Devil' does not give me a good reason to forgive Night for the atrocity that is 'The Last Airbender' just yet. Perhaps the next few films he spews out will change my mind...or condemn him to the Devil for all eternity.

Rent worthy? Yeah, if you really must know what happened on the elevator, I'd just rent it. Don't shell out money in the theaters; shell it out in your nearest Blockbuster or have Netflix deliver it to you when 'Devil' becomes available. I already made that mistake of spending money, well actually, someone else did for me, and I'm grateful for that.

DVD/Blu-ray worthy? Ha...no.

Keep on watchin'

The Little Critic