The Devil Inside
Movie Review
"The Devil Inside"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: F
Rating: R
Released: Friday, January 6, 2012
Directed by:
Cast:
The shocking twists in "The Devil Inside" begin immediately. Even before the first scene there's a title card informing us that "the Vatican did not endorse this film nor aid in its completion." That's huge! Normally the Roman Catholic church is heavily involved in the production of cheap, uncreative horror films! It's pretty much their main focus. Why, I can't remember the last awful scary movie I saw that didn't have the Vatican logo on it!
I wish that "disclaimer" were the dumbest thing about this derivative faux-documentary, but it isn't. Not by a long shot. The dumbest thing about it is that even though it doesn't feature a single original idea or scary moment, a group of movie-industry professionals chose to put it in theaters. Theaters that charge admission! And it never even rises the level of Fun Bad, where at least you can find enjoyment in the train wreck. A train can't wreck if it never tries to go anywhere. It's like they tried to make the blandest, most derivative, least memorable horror movie possible, carefully avoiding anything that might resemble actual entertainment.
Like 98 percent of all horror movies made in the last five years, "The Devil Inside" pretends that it is a documentary. The subject is Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade), a young woman who's trying to find out what happened to her mother, Maria (Suzan Crowley), during an exorcism 20 years ago. The filmmaker, Michael (Ionut Grama), follows Isabella to Rome, where her mother is being held in a mental hospital. Mom has been under lock and key ever since some Catholics tried to exorcise the demons out of her and she killed them (the Catholics). At some point she got transferred to this Italian facility, because for sure the United States is always handing criminally insane people over to foreign asylums, just for fun.
Anyway, Isabella drops in on a class at the Vatican's School of Exorcism, which not only exists but permits random tourists to drop in. There she befriends two young priests named Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth), who have a secret project where they try to cast the demons out of people the Church has given up on. After visiting Mom in the loony bin, Isabella is convinced she's still possessed by Satan (or by whichever of Satan's interns was assigned to her 20 years ago), and so then there's a lot of wheel-spinning and time-wasting before the movie finally gets to the point, which is obviously to have Ben and David try to exorcise Isabella's mom.
All of which sounds like potentially good fodder for a creepy demonic-possession thriller, if not exactly a groundbreaking one. But instead it's a weak, tedious waste of time, with even the reliable gimmicks of the genre rendered impotent by apathetic execution. And I really do think "apathetic" is the right word. The screenplay, by director William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman, isn't just devoid of wit and flavor -- it doesn't even try to have any. (Bell and Peterman were also responsible for 2006's dumb "Stay Alive," about a deadly video game.) Bell directs with all the enthusiasm of a guy who was called into work on his day off.
Most damning of all? The movie has no ending. Apparently unable to devise a climax and resolution for their mundane story, Bell and Peterman pulled the old "and that's where the tape suddenly ran out!" maneuver -- the ultimate lazy cop-out for the found-footage genre. The message is clear: the filmmakers didn't feel like coming up with a satisfying conclusion to a movie that already wasn't trying very hard. Moviegoers are sometimes very easily entertained, it's true, but I find it hard to believe that Bell and Peterman honestly believed this pile of nonsense would please anyone.
Grade: F
Rated R, some harsh profanity and vulgarity, some moderate violence
1 hr., 27 min.
This item has 23 comments
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Damion Judkins says:
January 6, 2012 at 2:13 pmOne of these days, Eric, you will have to give a movie an F-
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Rob D. says:
January 7, 2012 at 4:39 amIt's crazy that this movie is making huge money this weekend and will be number 1.........almost doubling the 2nd place movie. Considering how cheap this movie was to make, there is no doubt they will find extra footage and there will be a sequel next year.
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Mia says:
January 8, 2012 at 4:47 pmIt's the worse movie I have seen in a long time. What a waste of money and time! I should have donated the money to a charity! How is it possible something like that to be shown on the big screen and be called a movie? The producers, advertisers and everybody involved in making the so called movie should be ashamed of themselves for making money on something like that. It should be taken off screen as soon as possible!
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Bobbie says:
January 8, 2012 at 6:14 pmIn comparison to 'The Devil Inside,' 'The Blair Witch Project' is The Gone w/The Wind of it's genre! This was a complete waste of time & money. I am completely embarassed to have chosen this movie as a birthday treat for a friend. Can now see why this tragedy on tape was not screened for critics before being released. The $5 movie bin @ walmart would be a huge over-rating for 'The Devil Inside!'
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Donald says:
January 8, 2012 at 6:23 pmI walked out!
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tasha says:
January 8, 2012 at 6:42 pmIt ended stupid it just went off I'm not a nog fan of these types movies.......but it was a waste of mi money
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TIffany says:
January 8, 2012 at 7:06 pmA law should be implemented for a money-back gaurantee for movies such as this!!!
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Rick says:
January 8, 2012 at 9:22 pmThis was seriously the worst movie I have ever seen... and I enjoyed Cloverfield and Paranormal Acivity (both of which I often hear from people as "the worst movie ever"). I would feel ripped off if I watched this movie for free. I would not recommend ANYONE EVER watch this pile of crap. I paid $18 for me and my girlfriend to watch this movie and we both would have preferred to stand in a checkout line in a walmart for an hour and a half over watching this (let alone actually paying for it.) Stay far far away from this...your evening news is much cheaper, faster, and more scary than this thing
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Steve says:
January 8, 2012 at 10:19 pmI just went and saw this movie tonight and I am wondering if these are actual events or is it just a made up story?
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Siera says:
January 8, 2012 at 10:40 pmDon't waste your money. A complete waste of time. Never seen such a bad movie. I was hoping to be scared but it was just awful. Not a scary part in it.
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Ana says:
January 8, 2012 at 10:45 pmWorst Movie ever!!! I should get my money back! Given credibility to this movie makes movie theaters and advertisement agents look cheap and stupid! For trying to sell a clip that deserves to be viewed on an amateur youtube channel not on a the big screen!.
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Corinna says:
January 8, 2012 at 10:47 pmOk, it was a good movie. It was suppose to look cheep, it was suppose to look like a documentary.
Now, the ending did disapoint me. But it was scary and freaky.
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Chris says:
January 9, 2012 at 12:25 amI saw this movie Sat. afternoon.I sat in the second row and when I looked behind me, the theater was absolutely packed.I heard more screams that day than I've EVER heard at ANY movie I've been to. As we left after it was over ,I heard some negative comments from a few "tough guys", one of wich sat directly behind me.I know for a fact that he screamed more than a few times. I thought the movie was very well made,it WAS scary and it was different. If you like inbred cannibals wearing hockey masks chasing 30 yr. old teenaged girls around the woods then this movie isn't for you.If you are into the subject matter and you want to see a different kind of horror movie then you should not miss this film. Oh yeah-it's not in 3-d and there aren't any cgi effects so there!
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John says:
January 9, 2012 at 11:48 amneed more killing and more action. the back breaker was the best. the movie would be better if they had more info.and less talking. i would pay 2 dollars to watch it.
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jen says:
January 9, 2012 at 12:31 pmMovie was a waste of my time, absolutely horrible, as we walked out we were all handed a complementary movie pass so I got my money back, crazy how the theatre acknowledged that it was so awful.
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james says:
January 9, 2012 at 1:12 pmWorst of the Worst movie on earth that ever made... Absolutely wasted time and $$$
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brandie says:
January 9, 2012 at 3:00 pmAwful awful awful!!!!!!!! And im a horror buff, soooooo
disappointed i want my money and time back!!
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Emily says:
January 10, 2012 at 5:42 amthis movie was a waste of time. i thought it was going to be scary but it wasn't just as it was getting good, it ended. i hate endings like this!! i wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
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Sparkle says:
January 10, 2012 at 9:25 amHorrible, Horrible, Horrible..This is TRULY the worse movie of the year!!!! Dont waste your money if you haven't seen it...If you still really want to see it then wait unitl it comes out in REDBOX, I probably wouldnt even pay the 1.20 to see it then if I would have know that it was that bad!
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Mark from Lockport says:
January 10, 2012 at 12:58 pmWow. A cheap shot at the Catholic church which, by your own admition had absolutely nothing to do with this film. You are sooo edgy, Eric.
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Sheila says:
January 10, 2012 at 3:40 pmA friend convinced me to go and see it. I don't do "scary" movies but she really wanted to go so we did. It is almost comical. It had a couple of scenes that caught us off guard and cause you to jump or yell. But I wouldn't really call this film scary.More like weird. No body liked the ending but I wouldn't say it wasn't a good movie. It did hold our attention and it was entertaining.
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Sara l mcghie says:
January 10, 2012 at 10:20 pmDumb! Thats all i really have to say. The only reason i jumped at all was the loud noise comming out of the theater speakers! The movie made me laugh at the poor acting, and the stupid lines. NOT SCARY! I honestly want my money back. Worst ending on any movie ive seen. Thanks for making my date night with my husband lame.
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Malea says:
January 10, 2012 at 11:45 pmThis movie is poorly made. I am shocked no one has mentioned that the camera moves and jumps around so much. It made me so nauseated that I thought I was going to be sick. I wasn't able to watch enough to judge if it was good or bad.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
Notes:
Reprinted from Film.com.
Contrary to regular industry practice, this film was not screened for critics before opening.