I Trapped the Devil (2019)

A man descends into paranoia after trapping what he believes to be the devil in his basement, but things take a dark turn when his family unexpectedly arrive for Christmas.

Director:

Josh Lobo

Writer:

Josh Lobo

Stars:

Scott Poythress, AJ Bowen, Susan Burke

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Scott Poythress	...	Steve
AJ Bowen	...	Matt
Susan Burke	...	Karen
Rowan Russell	...	Ben / Cop #1
John Marrott	...	Alan / Cop #2
Jocelin Donahue	...	Sarah
Chris Sullivan	...	The Man
Aaron Larsen	...	Biker
Jack Vernon	...	Santa
Victoria Smith	...	Her

Storyline

Christmas is supposed to be a time for peace and joyful family reunions. But when Matt and his wife Karen show up unannounced at the home of his estranged brother Steve to celebrate the holidays, they are instead greeted with a horrifying surprise: trapped in the basement is a man. But not just any man. Steve believes that his hostage is none other than the devil himself.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The font used on the poster is the font most commonly used by Stephen King for his book covers

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Goofs

There are 2 padlocks and a sliding lock on the door in the basement, the padlocks are locked so you need keys. When they go to open it, it happens off screen, and you hear 3 turning lock sounds, without using keys for the padlocks, and then the next time you see the door when it's opening, the padlocks disappeared, as did the metal parts that are supposed to be fastened to the door.

User Reviews

2019s I Trapped the Devil

2019s I Trapped the Devil

2019s I Trapped the Devil, directed by Josh Lobo in his debut, is about Matt and Karen who unexpectedly show up at Matt's brothers house for Christmas. They enter to see that the house is in disarray, and a brother who believes that he (and c'mon, it's in the title) has trapped the Devil.

This is another solid entry into the "man, 2019, you're really close" category. We've seen quite a few films come close to being really good, and this is one of them. The poster art is great, excellent score, fairly well filmed and acted, but just lacked some of the oompf that would have put it over the top.

I'll be staying well away from spoilers here, but there was some missed opportunity with tension here. Don't get me wrong, there is tension and paranoia, but I would have liked to see it go farther.

Additionally, the ending could have been much more effective if what happened would have been more intense and visceral. A la Blackcoats Daughter when Rose gets killed.

So, this was close and good effort by all involved. With some more money, more time, more tension, this would have gone from good to great. But solid effort by a first time director, and I look forward to seeing what he does next.

I'm still rating it above average, but it just didn't blow me away.

6.5/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 April 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

I Trapped the Devil

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1