Devil

M. Night Shyamalan is one of those writers who you can't help but hate...even just a little. Despite films such as "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable", his other films are not so memorable. Even if they are it isn't for the right reasons. However, I am not one to hold a grudge, so I thought I would go to see "Devil, more so since he is only credited as a writer and not the director. I loved the premise, simple and elegant. The acting and script were another matter entirely.

First off, let's get up to speed with the plot. The story begins with a suicide being investigated by the police. The crime eventually leads them to the front of an office building where the main story begins. Inside the building, five strangers have taken the elevator and soon become trapped within it. As attempts to rescue them go wrong the police are eventually called in when one of the trapped passengers becomes injured. No one knows who has hurt them, and things soon become fraught with tension. The idea is that one of the people on the elevator is not who they say they are; and as you find out, not all saints either. The whole film is strewn on top of a sub plot about the police officers wife and child who were taken away from him by a hit and run. As the movie progresses we start to see that things are more important than they originally seemed and that everything is happening for a reason.

As I stated before, I think that this as a film concept is ingenious. The tension, the clashing personalities, the impending doom and deliciously over stated Devil makes for good watching. However, this was not the case. As much as I wanted to like this film, I just couldn't let myself do it. The acting was shoddy, the script at times seemed to have been penned by a five year old and the frequent attempts to make you care about the characters go unanswered. Through out this 90 minute torture session, I was being hastily thrown deliberate chunks of characters exposition in an attempt to make them seem easier to relate to and familiar. This seems a tad unnecessary as the characters themselves are so generic, you have probably seen them in a million other productions.

There is an obvious religious tone to the entire picture, but I feel at times that it went to far. The talk of the wicked being punished for their sins and yet there are innocents who are harmed in the film. The idea that if the Devil exists, then so must God, is only tangible if God gets up of his arse and does something to help. Instead it seems like he just sat back in his reclining chair and fell asleep.

Unfortunately, "Devil" missed the mark; by quite a large amount. The trailer promised a thrill ride, full of tension and horror. What I got was ninety minutes of less than mediocre acting and yet another preachy message from a writer whose main goal in film making is to explain to people why they are wrong and how much better he is than all of us. Great idea on paper, but poorly executed. In short, I wouldn't waste your money on it; it's hell.

Rating 1 out of 5

See it if you liked:
Bleeding from your eyes!

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Review by Stephen King