An unsettling story, portrayed as fact, about a women’s mother whose exorcism turns hellish as she brutally murders the three priests performing the sacred ritual. The Devil Inside emerges in a saturated market of documentary and ‘found footage’ film, led to convince the audience that these events actually occurred. My scepticism within this new fad leads me to believe that a secret Apollo journey in which discovered thousands of skittering malicious lifeforms never actually happened…
The plot line is obvious, unsatisfying and disappointing. The premise seemed reasonable, but after the first 30 minutes, the film decided to spiral down the route of a Goosebump’s episode in which by the end becomes all just a bit too comical. I won’t reveal any specifics, but the whole sense of a terrifying demonic presence is diminished by the final conclusion; a conclusion that may go down as the worst ending to a film in recent history. Although, perhaps my negativity is taking the better of me. The Devil Inside boasts some qualities; qualities in which have been done countless times prior to its release, yet not pulled off quite as well. The beginning’s and the actual exorcism’s are quite disturbing. The vivid scars and bleak glares from the possessed, gaunt mother, plant an indescribable fear that something supernatural and unworldly may be lurking around the corner and for some audience members may just be the tipping balance to what makes a great Horror flick.
What can I say about the characters? They are uninteresting for one. A brief back story surrounding the awkward teamwork that consists of our protagonist, Issabella Rossi (played Fernanda Andrade…) and her cameraman and two maverick exorcist certified priest pals. These two dimensional characters don’t exactly spark any charisma to stimulate your concentration to the very end, and adding that it’s meant to be a documentary hinders the film’s essence and charm.
The Devil Inside seemed promising but falls short from an average scare. The conclusion is cut off rapidly with many questions remaining, though to some extent I was grateful. The exorcism’s themselves were genuinely creepy, but it’s hard to believe any teenager (the film’s target audience) is going to sit through a possessed women shouting suggestive curse words at an upper-class priest holding a bible and not find it slightly amusing. Perhaps this year will pick up in this genre, with films like The Cabin in the Woods and Chernobyl Diaries coming soon, until then let’s pretend there were no Horror releases in the month of March…
