Another fantasy horror for adults from writer M. Night Shyamalan. Unfortunately, this movie falls into the same traps as most of his other films. There was promise with this film, I was hoping for something different, something tense and scary with an unexpected twist. This is not what I got. I was a fan of "Signs", "Unbreakable", "The Sixth Sense" and even "Lady In The Water". These films had great actors and scripts along with good production values. "Devil" had some good actors, some not, the script was laughable and the story had gigantic plot holes. M. Night can think up some great themes but ultimately fails to portray them on screen. Granted, he wasn't the director in this outing, so I can't fault him completely. Director John Erick Dowdle did not impress me and I suspect M. Night was probably breathing down his neck during production.
The premise is that a group of characters with their own dark secrets all get trapped in an elevator while the Devil torments them and begins killing them off. While all of this mayhem is taking place in the elevator, a detective and religious security guard watch from the control room trying to figure out who in the lift is killing everyone.
What worked? Well, there were only a few things. The score was great. Composer Fernando Velazquez created a haunting atmosphere and was probably the highlight of the film for me. I generally dislike a lot of music in horror movies, but this proves that if well done it can be very effective. The tension was also there, though, it was broken up too often by switching to the control room during some of the most tense moments. Lastly, the cinematography was pretty good. Keeping the action to a confined space was a huge part of the story obviously and Tak Fujimoto did a really good job with the lighting and camera angles.
My biggest problem with this film are the holes in the story. I won't point them out here, but you will ultimately find them. It is really disappointing because this topic/story had potential. M. Night needs to have more people reviewing his work prior to production pointing out the holes. I can't help but think this film would have been a huge success had it been in the hands of a different director and script writer. Michael Haneke for instance would have been a perfect fit for this. "Devil" also tried too hard to foreshadow without giving away the mystery. We are told numerous times throughout the film how the Devil works, such as taking human form, killing those who get in his way, etc. These hints made the ending much less effective. I also was really upset at the title/credit sequences. I realize these are not that big of a deal, but in "Devil" these scenes were meant to be symbolic. Unfortunately they were one of the most cheesy I've seen in a long time.
I could really go on and on about the things that went wrong in this film but who wants to read all of that? Just know that if you want an interesting concept you will find it here. If you want an enjoyable and well made film, you may want to go elsewhere.
The premise is that a group of characters with their own dark secrets all get trapped in an elevator while the Devil torments them and begins killing them off. While all of this mayhem is taking place in the elevator, a detective and religious security guard watch from the control room trying to figure out who in the lift is killing everyone.
What worked? Well, there were only a few things. The score was great. Composer Fernando Velazquez created a haunting atmosphere and was probably the highlight of the film for me. I generally dislike a lot of music in horror movies, but this proves that if well done it can be very effective. The tension was also there, though, it was broken up too often by switching to the control room during some of the most tense moments. Lastly, the cinematography was pretty good. Keeping the action to a confined space was a huge part of the story obviously and Tak Fujimoto did a really good job with the lighting and camera angles.
My biggest problem with this film are the holes in the story. I won't point them out here, but you will ultimately find them. It is really disappointing because this topic/story had potential. M. Night needs to have more people reviewing his work prior to production pointing out the holes. I can't help but think this film would have been a huge success had it been in the hands of a different director and script writer. Michael Haneke for instance would have been a perfect fit for this. "Devil" also tried too hard to foreshadow without giving away the mystery. We are told numerous times throughout the film how the Devil works, such as taking human form, killing those who get in his way, etc. These hints made the ending much less effective. I also was really upset at the title/credit sequences. I realize these are not that big of a deal, but in "Devil" these scenes were meant to be symbolic. Unfortunately they were one of the most cheesy I've seen in a long time.
I could really go on and on about the things that went wrong in this film but who wants to read all of that? Just know that if you want an interesting concept you will find it here. If you want an enjoyable and well made film, you may want to go elsewhere.