The Devil Inside (2012)
Brief review: January has always been the month of low-grade horror flicks, but 2012 had a rough start and really hit the bottom with "The Devil Inside". The biggest problem of the film does not lie in its premise, because the latter is fairly passable, but it lies in its lame execution and absurdly abrupt ending, that leaves the story incomplete. In fact, if the film had a proper ending, it could have been at least watchable, but instead it ends up being a stupid mess of exorcism cliches presented in a barely believable documentary style. Moreover, a couple of creepy scenes aside, "The Devil Inside" offers nothing scary, devilish or even remotely disturbing, and that's probably the worst thing that can be said about a horror movie, especially one involving the devil. On a technical note, the film is also heavily flawed. Although it uses similar tricks as all the other 'found footage' flicks, such as clumsy filming technique and realistic 'no filters' cinematography in order to give it a more real-life feel, there are certain scenes where it's more than obvious that more than one camera has been used, which ruins the authenticity of it completely. With the exception of Suzan Crowley, who does a fairly solid job as the possessed mother with forbidding behavior, the rest of the performances are sub-par to say the least. Fernanda Andrade is just plain bad as the lead character, Isabella, and the supporting cast is forgettable.
Overall summary: While not necessarily the worst horror movie ever made, "The Devil Inside" remains a cheap, cliched and poorly-crafted mockumentary, that not only does not contain a single scare, but also features one of the most shockingly endings in film history.
20 comments:
LOL another bad review. Seems like everyone hates this movie :)
Will see it in March. I know that I'll probably end up pissed, however there's something in me that is still excited about it. I guess it's the masochist in me :D
Maynard, much like you I was excited about it despite all the negative feedback. Well, it turned out the critics were right - it sucked. I've seen worse though.
I know you read my review! I tried to warn you. Definitely a disappointment, especially from a disturbing standpoint like you said. Agree with your review! Hopefully we get some better horror movies soon!
I'll avoid it then!
Why is it so difficult to make a good horror film?
This movie sounds awful. An implausible ending, an unscary-scary experience, uninspired acting, terrible technique, cinematography, and endless cliches...Yep, I'll pass.
Nice job exposing this horrible non-fright fest. And thanks for heads-up!
Guess I wont be seeing this one. :P
HorrO, I did, and I was aware that this will be terrible. Nevertheless I decided to see it. Well it was bad and then some. The sudden ending pissed me off. Seriously. I hope that too, buddy.
Alex, I've been asking myself the same thing...
Matty, don't waste your time on his scare-free crap. And the ending... ah, don't get me even started. :)
InfinitePlans, avoid at all costs, unless if you're a die-hard found footage/mockumentary fan. It was hideous!
I think I liked it a little more than you did, George. It wasn't great, but I liked the Italian locales and found some of it fairly tense. I got the impression the ending was intentionally abrupt. It was better than APOLLO 18, imo. I blind bought that one and have regretted it ever since.
Too bad. I was hoping this would be a good entry into the demonic possession genre. We have not a single excellent film about demonic possession in a very long time.
Terrific breakdown of what sounds like a mess.
venoms5, the ending ruined it for me. Besides, most of the 'scary' scenes were shown in the trailer. Yes, it was good that the film was set in Italy, but the location alone didn't make it a better movie. I dunno, I thought Apollo 18 was slightly better, because it was really claustrophobic and way more atmospheric than this one.
Mel, 2010's similar in style "The Last Exorcism" was way better than this crap. They should have taken the story to another level, but instead they decided to leave it incomplete and without a climax. Pity.
A good horror is hard to find these days....but we keep looking!
Ha! I KNEW this was going to suck. The trailers made it out to be all scary and possession-y but I just said 'pfft.'
Of course, that doesn't mean that I won't be watching it when it comes to DVD because apparently I like wasting my money and torturing myself.
Ricky, it's hard to find a good horror movie these days indeed, but we have to stay positive :)
Michele, I wasn't impressed by the trailer either. It showed all the "scary" parts from the movie.
Sometimes I also like to torture myself with bad horror flicks so I perfectly understand you. :)
Oh my goodness I was so excited to see this film and was supposed to see it so many different times and something always got in the way... apparently that was a good thing. I have heard horrible things about this film and your review/opinion definitely seals the deal-I won't be seeing it.
Nicole, I was kinda excited about it too, but then the first horrible reviews came out and pretty much killed my excitement. I thought.. well, it can't be that bad... I was wrong - it was hideous.
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