* out of (****)
Exorcism films are one of the hardest films to make for two reasons. (1) Critics and audiences alike dethrone nearly any film that doesn't measure up to the impeccable heights of that of Friedkin's 1973 cinematic icon "The Exorcist". And (2) Because they offer next to nothing to the table, making it 80+ minutes of virtually watching the same film- over and over again. (Sometimes even less than 80- Thank the Lord). So typically, I tend to try to be as lenient as possible when critiquing a film of such content because I know it is a tough accomplishment to actually make a serviceable horror flick.
Bell's sophomore effort "The Devil Inside" revolves around Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) who traveled to Italy to attend exorcism school and to pay a visit to her ill mother Maria Rossi, played by Suzan Crowley. From there, a few questions are at stake. What's wrong with Maria Rossi? Could Maria's demon be transferred to her daughter? Could Isabella turn out like her mother?
Just by hearing the synopsis, I'm pretty sure you don't need to spare 87 minutes to conjure up some logical answers based on the aforementioned questions. But let's talk about the performances first. The acting is surprisingly decent. Everyone here does there job... but that's pretty much it. You can certainly throw character development out the window as every actor is dull and about as lifeless as a cardboard cut-out. It's hard to sympathize with our main protagonists when they aren't even established as characters. Strike one. Strike two, the film takes an excruciatingly long time to get the ball rolling. For the first hour or so, you have to hear some tedious blabber about religion, which doesn't serve as controversial, but just insipid and soporific. I don't mind drawn-out sequences of dialogue, if it has something to say about our characters or the plot, but it's used to consume most of the already short running time. Here's my philosophy: If you don't have enough footage to tell your story and still keep your audience's interest, don't stretch out what originally could've been a solid 15 minute story into 70 more minutes.
Now onto the question everyone wants to know: Is it scary? Absolutely not. "Devil" resorts to generic jump scares, heavy cut-aways, and the shaking of the camera. If you weren't scared by the trailer, you must certainly won't be by the film. Which reminds me, if you're going to shoot a film in mockumentary style, at least make it believable. Just because you shoot in found-footage doesn't mean you can side-skirt believability. I'm one who is prone to stretch my imagination, but not as far as Bell wants me to. What am I, an imbecile?
And lastly, this film is just so predictable. If you're film isn't frightening, and certainly isn't interesting, try to spice it up a bit. If you've watched any film about an exorcism, you've seen this one already. I completely guessed the "twist" (if you can even call it one) even before I got to the theater. And that ending? One of the most retarded endings I've seen in a long time. How they got away with such a haphazard ending is just... MIND BOGGLING.
For the first thirty minutes or so, "The Devil Inside" isn't such a bad outing. It raises a few interesting plot points, the direction is pretty good for the most part, and actually got me invested in what Bell was trying to sell the viewer here. After that, it's pretty much downhill and when you think things couldn't get any worse, the last five minutes prove that. Just when you think the film was going somewhere, it just cuts you off and is of the equivalence of shoving the middle finger down our throats, saying "Ha Ha. I took your money. See us next year for the sequel." All I wanted to see was a decent exorcism movie. I didn't care how predicable or clichéd it was. I didn't care if I was the biggest fan of the actors or not. All I asked for was a decent way to spend 87 minutes, and I couldn't even get that. If you seriously want a good exorcism movie, rent "The Exorcist" or if you want something more modern, see "The Last Exorcism". But for the love of God (no pun intended), do not see "The REPUGNANCE Inside" or "The Rite". Oh and the film apparently wants you to see their "website"? F. THAT.
Exorcism films are one of the hardest films to make for two reasons. (1) Critics and audiences alike dethrone nearly any film that doesn't measure up to the impeccable heights of that of Friedkin's 1973 cinematic icon "The Exorcist". And (2) Because they offer next to nothing to the table, making it 80+ minutes of virtually watching the same film- over and over again. (Sometimes even less than 80- Thank the Lord). So typically, I tend to try to be as lenient as possible when critiquing a film of such content because I know it is a tough accomplishment to actually make a serviceable horror flick.
Bell's sophomore effort "The Devil Inside" revolves around Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) who traveled to Italy to attend exorcism school and to pay a visit to her ill mother Maria Rossi, played by Suzan Crowley. From there, a few questions are at stake. What's wrong with Maria Rossi? Could Maria's demon be transferred to her daughter? Could Isabella turn out like her mother?
Just by hearing the synopsis, I'm pretty sure you don't need to spare 87 minutes to conjure up some logical answers based on the aforementioned questions. But let's talk about the performances first. The acting is surprisingly decent. Everyone here does there job... but that's pretty much it. You can certainly throw character development out the window as every actor is dull and about as lifeless as a cardboard cut-out. It's hard to sympathize with our main protagonists when they aren't even established as characters. Strike one. Strike two, the film takes an excruciatingly long time to get the ball rolling. For the first hour or so, you have to hear some tedious blabber about religion, which doesn't serve as controversial, but just insipid and soporific. I don't mind drawn-out sequences of dialogue, if it has something to say about our characters or the plot, but it's used to consume most of the already short running time. Here's my philosophy: If you don't have enough footage to tell your story and still keep your audience's interest, don't stretch out what originally could've been a solid 15 minute story into 70 more minutes.
Now onto the question everyone wants to know: Is it scary? Absolutely not. "Devil" resorts to generic jump scares, heavy cut-aways, and the shaking of the camera. If you weren't scared by the trailer, you must certainly won't be by the film. Which reminds me, if you're going to shoot a film in mockumentary style, at least make it believable. Just because you shoot in found-footage doesn't mean you can side-skirt believability. I'm one who is prone to stretch my imagination, but not as far as Bell wants me to. What am I, an imbecile?
And lastly, this film is just so predictable. If you're film isn't frightening, and certainly isn't interesting, try to spice it up a bit. If you've watched any film about an exorcism, you've seen this one already. I completely guessed the "twist" (if you can even call it one) even before I got to the theater. And that ending? One of the most retarded endings I've seen in a long time. How they got away with such a haphazard ending is just... MIND BOGGLING.
For the first thirty minutes or so, "The Devil Inside" isn't such a bad outing. It raises a few interesting plot points, the direction is pretty good for the most part, and actually got me invested in what Bell was trying to sell the viewer here. After that, it's pretty much downhill and when you think things couldn't get any worse, the last five minutes prove that. Just when you think the film was going somewhere, it just cuts you off and is of the equivalence of shoving the middle finger down our throats, saying "Ha Ha. I took your money. See us next year for the sequel." All I wanted to see was a decent exorcism movie. I didn't care how predicable or clichéd it was. I didn't care if I was the biggest fan of the actors or not. All I asked for was a decent way to spend 87 minutes, and I couldn't even get that. If you seriously want a good exorcism movie, rent "The Exorcist" or if you want something more modern, see "The Last Exorcism". But for the love of God (no pun intended), do not see "The REPUGNANCE Inside" or "The Rite". Oh and the film apparently wants you to see their "website"? F. THAT.