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bryan-banowetz
Reviews
The Devil Inside (2012)
Scary, Innovative and Worth It
"The Devil Inside" focuses on Isabella Rossi as she tries to figure out the mysterious murdering spree of her mother 20 years before. She later finds out that it was during an exorcism that her mother killed three people. After being arrested, Maria Rossi is sent to a mental hospital for the criminally insane in Rome and Isabella travels there to figure out what is wrong with her mother. The problem is more than just a mental illness, but evil itself incarnate in her.
My first thought before seeing this movie was that it was going to be another one of those "exorcism" movies. Turning heads, spider-walking down the stairs...we have all seen them. Before this film, most exorcism flicks just focused on these traits. None of them really discussed the religious aspect in terms of the Roman Catholic Church. I commend "The Devil Inside" for doing this. It really revealed the true inner feelings of the Church on exorcism, especially in today's society. Some people are separated in the idea of exorcism, even the religious people and this film did a great job in conveying this confusion and conflicting views. Mental illness is the panacea diagnosis, but there may be something more.
Honestly, I am not a very big fan of the hand-held camera style. But this movie, overall, did a great job with handling this style. Yes, there were spots where the camera was a little shaky, but it's a given with these kinds of movies. The camera was almost always on the action that was happening at the moment. It didn't try to trick the audience by moving the camera somewhere else while there is a mêlée happening just outside the view of the camera. The fake-documentary style is one of my favorites, mainly because of "The Last Exorcism".
Overall, the plot was very well planned. It was quite an original plot with a unique twist on multiple-demonic possessions. I thought that the plot flowed and didn't drag in any spots. All speaking parts fit in with the action and all discussions explained important aspects necessary to understand the movie.
All in all, this is one of the scariest movies I have seen. Everyone in the movie theater was on the edge of their seats. Yes, the ending was a bit disappointing, but the cliff-hanger was a great way to end this movie. This is a kind of movie that if it ended on a good note, it would have ruined the mood of the whole movie. That shroud of mystery was a perfect touch. I found the ending words that "the case is still being investigated" to be a little cheesy, which is why I gave it 8 stars. But other than that, I would highly recommend that you watch it. It is well worth every penny. Enjoy!
The Strangers (2008)
Scariest I Have Seen in a While
"The Strangers" follows James Hoyt and Kristen McKay as they are tortured by masked unknowns in the Hoyt family summer house. This movie toys with with a seemingly innocent idea: the home. It is through this movie that we realize that it is a distant dream to go to sleep at night with the doors unlocked. It is just impossible to believe that we are safe that way. There are people out there who will harm others just to harm them.
This movie was a great horror/suspense film. One of the best I have seen in quite a while. It combines great horror aspects such as endangered love, senseless torture, an isolated location and the innocent home. Bryan Bertino did a fabulous job combining these elements into a believable and logical film sequence. He also did a great job in getting the viewer emotionally attached to the characters. You really felt what they were going through.
The first, oh, 20 minutes of the movie were just really awkward. The two lovebirds come to the man's summer house and act really strange around each other. We find out that the man proposed to his lady earlier in the night and she rejected. This creates a great atmosphere of awkwardness and confusion of what to do. The couple just didn't know how to act and it really got the viewer's guard down.
The first moment in the movie where you know that something is up is when the strange girl knocks on the door and asks, "Is Tamara home?" Whoa...that freaked me out a little. There is a shadowed girl at the door in the middle of the night. I got a few goosebumps. It is here that the viewer knows something is up.
Kristen wants some cigarettes and James wants to go get them so he can drive around a bit, after his evening kind of went out of control. As Kristen is home by herself, getting a glass of water, we see a masked man looking at her in the background and then walk back into the dark. That was one of the scariest moments in the movie. Also one of the most intelligent and award-worthy moments. I saw this movie in the theater and everybody discovered the man at their own time. I was just in awe at how smart that scene was. It didn't have some guy just running out with a knife. The dramatic irony was a great element of surprise and horror. The audience now knows that these people are in the house. But, the characters don't. I thought this was very clever.
So to make a long story short, this couple is tortured by these masked people the rest of the night until they are stabbed in the stomach the next morning. That was the only gore in the movie and I was happy that Bertino didn't need to result to blood all over the house to make it scary.
What was even scarier still was one of the last lines of the film when Kristen screamed, "Why are you doing this to us?" Pin-Up Girl responds, "Because you were home." Probably one of the freakiest lines in horror movie history. It is such a creepy reason why these strangers are torturing these innocent people. It made the movie feel real and could really happen to just about anybody.
Overall, the plot line was great (a bit slow at times, but great). The camera work was fabulous. The actors did a great job with the awkwardness at the beginning and had the viewers eating out of the palms of their hands. I really enjoyed the sense of unknown at the end. A lot of people complain that they should have revealed the masked people and that it was stupid not to reveal them. It made for a great mystery and kept questions in your head. That made it all the more scarier.
I was surprised to read all of the negative reviews about this film. I felt that it was a truly remarkable work of horror. Of course, there were several horror clichés, but every other movie uses them and we don't seem to complain about them then.
In conclusion, if you are stuck on where to go in the horror genre, I would reach for this one. It is a very unique movie in itself and has a lot to offer. It is one of the scariest movies I have seen in a while, but it is one of my most favorite horror movies. I definitely double checked the deadbolts that night.