Devil Bluray

Posted In: The Last Exorcism

Lynda Ortelli says...

In many ways, DEVIL is simply a bloated episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE or ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS.It could easily have been told in a 60 minute TV episode (including commercials).Apparently this tale "sprung" from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan...and I like the inclination to tell little scary "short stories" via a film series.However, I think I might like the idea even better if this became, let's say, an hour long series on Showtime.DEVIL is so modest in scale and ambition that it felt a little like a rip-off to pay movie theater prices to see it.



DEVIL tells the story of five people who become trapped together in an elevator in a high-rise building in Philadelphia.And it tells how all efforts to save them prove fruitless (and even fatal).As the police get involved, it becomes evident that something supernatural is causing all this.One by one, the passengers meet terrible ends.(It almost feels like a claustrophobic, modern-day version of Agatha Christie's novel AND THEN THERE WERE NONE.)



The movie moves along at a brisk pace, but a lot of the action feels unneeded.The role of the main detective (Chris Messina) is practically unneeded...except for the final couple of scenes.He's the single biggest character, yet he's fairly tangential to most of what is going on.



The film has been marketed as a horror story, and the title certainly feeds that.What's more horrible than The Devil, after all?And yet, partially because it's PG-13 and thus shies away from gore...it feels more like a supernatural mystery.



The film, directed by John Erick Dowdle, who also helmed QUARANTINE (a movie I liked, even though everyone else hated that it was a remake of a Spanish film), kept my interest, was modestly suspenseful and was respectably acted.Simply put, it is competently put together...but no matter how well it may have been done, the script/story are simply too skimpy.The film has a couple of twists...but they don't begin to approach the game-changing impact of THE SIXTH SENSE.It is not fair to expect every movie with a twist to knock us out like SENSE...but in DEVIL, the little twists made me think, "wow, this ENTIRE movie has been made just to get to this minor surprise.So much work for SO little payoff."



I give the film a VERY modest thumbs up...but only if you're seeing a bargain showing, or better yet, watching it on DVD in your darkened living room.I think that will bring this to the proper scale.(And I say again...Shyamalan, please think about bringing these modest efforts to the small screen.)

Posted on October 16, 2011

Jim Meares says...

(3 & 1/2 stars) I was interested in this movie because of M Night, despite his spotty record over the past few films, and the fact that he only produced Devil and didn't direct.This is the first of several "Night Chronicles."It turns out to be generally good, although not quite what I was expecting.As can be gleaned from the trailer, it's about 5 people trapped in a skyscraper elevator (the inside kind).One of them may be a killer, or even something evil.Although the trailer didn't reveal too much, I expected the story to involve the early revelation of a demonic figure, and a lot more gore than there was.Instead, it's much more about the suspense of not knowing who the killer is and what will happen next.This film is pretty subtle, at times almost too subtle.By that I mean the scariness factor might have been upped by just a few more flashes of the demonic as events unfolded.There were also a couple of disconnects or logical fallacies here and there, such as how the characters didn't figure out a source of light until much later than they should have (during the lights-out moments in the elevator), and the guy falling out of the skyscraper at the beginning was never really explained.Those things were minor though, as I was propelled along by the tense story, and the acting was also solid.Chris Messina as the detective and Matt Craven as the security chief were especially good.

Posted on October 17, 2011

Helena Larrieu says...

People trapped in an elevator...with Satan!Does it get anymore freaky than that?M. Night Shyamalan conjoured up a suspenseful premise and let Director John Dowdle (Quarantine, Poughkeepsie Tapes) dance with the Devil.The result is a simple but effective thriller that is sure to horrify.



An unsettling suicide in the City of Brotherly Love seems to open the gates (or elevator shaft) for The Dark Lord to impose his will on a group of sinners.Police are baffled as they watch from the outside, trying to identify the culprit for these brutal crimes as they occur.



Is Hollywood finally discovering that less is indeed more?Don't be expecting lots of action here--it's a slow burner, taking place almost entirely in one confiscated setting.It's not especially gruesome either, but it's sure to butcher your brain trying to pinpoint the murderer.Many of the kills happen quickly when the lights conveniently flicker.



DEVIL is very well written and acted by a group of up-and-coming actors.It stops well short of the potential shock factor it could have obtained, but it's no slouch in the scare department either.Part one of the Night Chronicles trilogy.

Posted on October 18, 2011

Kera Struck says...

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this movie.I had read some very negative reviews (and considering that the last couple of M. Night Shyamalan's movies did so poorly) I really wasn't sure if the movie was going to be any good or not. Much to my surprise, I didn't think it was just good, I thought it was great.Shyamalan (who wrote the story but did not direct) got back to basics with this script and it's much more in the vein of his early movies The 6th Sense, The Village and Signs.

First of all, to the people who are giving this movie a bad review because it wasn't scary - it's not meant to be scary, it is meant to be suspenseful; just as his early movies were not scary, but suspenseful.Also, it's rated PG-13, so exactly how people expected it to be a full blown horror movie...well, if people had thought about the rating before going to the movie, they would have realized it wasn't a horror movie.

M. Night Shyamalan also brings a moral/ethical point into the movie, as is par the course for his stories. Basically - "own up to your sins before they destroy you".The "twist" ending was easier to guess than some of his earlier movies...I knew `what' was going to happen, but I didn't know the `who' until the end.

All in all, I really liked this movie and I think that fans of his earlier works will like it as well.

Posted on October 18, 2011

Hiroko Kangleon says...

M. Knight Shyamalan makes a slight return to his game in the claustrophobic suspense film, "Devil." It's not really a horror film as much a tightly wound whodunnit, with five people trapped in an elevator being killed off one by one, as two cops and two building supervisors watch from outside. The film plays it minimally, with the scares coming from surprise and not from gore.



That's to "Devil's" benefit. In fact, the opening credits alone are enough to disorient you, as a fast moving something zeroes in on Philadelphia and the building are soon to be devil-meeters, almost all of them only slightly known actors.



Shyamalan wrote the script as part of a "Night Chronicles" series, with brothersJohn Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle directing, which is also to the film's benefit. Trimmed down to a fast 90 minutes, no time or space is wasted (even if the ending becomes predictable as it approaches). It makes the potential for more of the chronicles promising.

Posted on October 19, 2011

Lyndon Ostendorff says...

Great movie with a great message. For those who say that M Night Shyamalan's movies have gone down hill this one will change their minds. Very similar to the set up and presentation of a Rod Serling written episode of the Twilight Zone, but edgier. Shyamalan has out done himself with this one. Best movie he has written since Signs!

Posted on October 19, 2011

Bok Marble says...

M. Night's Back in the game in his tale of evil whacking the passengers of Elevator Six of a Philadelphia high rise building.



Beginning with the mysterious suidicde from the 35th floor, Detective Bowden (Julie and Julia's Chris Messina) is dragooned to become a sinister force's latest audience as it picks off an ecclectic passengers of express elevator six and to defining the metaphysics of evil after his family's killing at the hands of a hit-and-run driver.



From the disorienting opening sequence to the final narration by Jacob Vargas' Ramirez, M. Night continues to bring his audience through the screen to his world with clarity and stregnth reminding us why we go to the movies.Devil's plot races forward like a controlled explosion, never boring the audience (which, when I saw it, was me.)And while the tale may seem tired, the presentation was not.



I enjoyed Mr. Messina and the Elevator Cast's performances.The terror for the passengers is felt clearly with each time the lights go out and the reactions become more and more irrational and hysterical, just as it would become for any of us trapped in similar circumstances.Mr. Messina's detective follows a clear path from logic to faith which inspires those who have none.I enjoyed his journey and his presence in this picture.I last saw him in Julie and Julia and dismissed his performance in favor of his co-stars.However, after Devil, I will watch more carefully for anything with him in it.



The onion peel, when the connections within the elements of a story unravel to reveal something, was executed routinely but brilliantly.Even I, a jaded film watcher, was surprised when the core came out.This is the mark of a great writer, as M Night is, despite Hollywood's need to define greatness with financial success.



Bravo, guys!!This one's a keeper!!

Posted on October 20, 2011

Janessa Sepvlieda says...

Putting sinners in an elevator may sound like an interesting premise, but after viewing it you realize its really nothing new under the sun. There are a few scary moments in the dark, more so what you hear as opposed to what you see, which isn't much. So yes its psychological, not really ghosts or demons. It does have a supernatural side which i really won't get into as to not give anything away. The plot is ok but thin, the acting is enh, something out of a cheap made for tv spooky flick, and the atmosphere, well pretty good. Obviously people know from the previews that the movie takes place mostly in an elevator, so if your clostraphobic you may feel a little uneasy. This is far from M Nights worst film but then again far from his best which was The Sixth Sense of course. Its far better than Lady In The Water, but truthfully i found The Happening to be move unnerving. So don't get your hopes up to be scared out of your whits but also you won't be disappointed at this VERY short but semi-sweet psychological thriller. Hey at least its about the first one this year, where did all the horror films go in 2010?

Posted on October 21, 2011

Yadira Orgain says...

When I first heard about this movie I knew I had to see it!



5 people board a evelator in a modern skyscrapper office building.They board one by one as they each press the button to which floor is their destination. In a small metal box the elevator begans to rise to the upper floors. Amongst a goup of strangers no one speaks, no Good Morning greetings or small talk. The elevator aburtly stops, sending all the passengers aboard holding on to each other for balance.The lights flicker but the elevator doesnt budge. They quickly discover they are stuck in a small elevator sitting in a elevator shaft with more than 20 floors below.



But, falling down the elevator shaft is not the biggest problem they face. Amongst them is the King Of Darkness.



Who is it? What will happen next?

Posted on October 25, 2011

Brigitte Gemmer says...

i loved the actors performance it kept me on the edge and it wasn't boring. the producer(s) ,writers, directers all did a great job. i plan on adding this movie to

my movies (DVD) collection when it come out.

Posted on October 26, 2011