What can I say, I just love single-location movies. And the one we’re going to be talking about today is taking things to a whole nother level. Devil is a claustrophobic, tense, and suspenseful horror movie brought to you by M. Night Shyamalan. It is, however, directed by John Erick Dowdle, the guy behind Quarantine, the American remake of the Spanish horror masterpiece REC. We will be following a group of people who end up trapped in an elevator. And Satan himself is among them, possessing the body of an unknown individual.
As you can see, the premise is simple and effective. And the execution was also quite good. I especially liked the short running time of just 75 minutes. Devil is definitely a movie worth watching as it will keep your attention and keep you guessing right up until the end. The atmosphere was intense and the characters well-developed. And since this is an M. Night movie, I have to tell you that there won’t be any major twists. After all, he’s not directing. And just to be perfectly clear, there will be a couple of medium ones.
Not quite sure if it’s ready to dip its toes in the occult waters, Devil carefully dances between the psychological and supernatural thriller genres. Of course, the main course is the guessing game. And I have to admit that I was not right, so I hope you will have more luck than me. This brings me to the most important point I have to make and that is to just go along with it. If you approach Devil expecting perfection, you will be disappointed. If you, however, approach it as an entertaining, fast-paced, and short horror movie, you will have some fun.
Detective Bowden is still grieving about the death of his wife and daughter in a hit-and-run five years ago when he gets called to investigate a suicide. Apparently, some guy jumped off the building with no apparent reason. Meanwhile, in the same building, five people get stuck in the elevator. Soon after tension starts rising as they all don’t know each other and are trapped in a small space. Not to mention that one of them is the Devil. Detective Bowden must figure out how to save them with his unusual sidekick kick a religious nut who works security in that very same building.
Could’ve Devil been better? It absolutely could’ve but what we got in the end, isn’t so bad. I feel like as time goes on, people are going to start appreciating it more and more. Its unobtrusive nature and attention to detail. Take the opening credits for example where a single creative twist instantly sets the mood for what’s to come. Or take the numerous biblical and references to the numbers 6 and 666. The numbers of the beast. The cast did a solid job and I would like to single out Bojana Novakovic and Chris Messina as both of their performances were excellent.
You can check out Bojana in another cool horror movie, Sam Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell. And no, that’s not Tom Hardy, it’s Logan Marshall-Green. Finally, if you’re looking for movies like Devil, check out Exam and Cube. Both of them are single-location thrillers albeit without the supernatural component. If you want that, you can always return to any of the throngs of exorcism movies made in the past four decades.
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Writers: Brian Nelson, M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O’Hara, Bojana Novakovic, Matt Craven
Fun Facts: The name of the song that’s constantly playing in the elevator is Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree.
Rating:
IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1314655/
