The Devil Inside Review

Some spoilers follow. Looking to cash in on the success of films like Paranormal Activity and The Last Exorcism, The Devil Inside tries its best to be something that is inexorably doomed to fail. The film desperately wants to have that same creepiness and poignancy that makes some of its predecessors so great. Unfortunately for director William Brent Bell, The Devil Inside squanders what could have been a pretty good movie, opting instead to rely on found footage trends and a horrible, pretentious ending.

If you've seen one of the film's many trailers, then you already have an idea of the plot. The story follows Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) and documentarian Michael (Ionut Grama) who travel from America to a psychiatric hospital in Rome to visit Isabella's deranged mother (Suzan Crowley), who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism years prior. They soon team up with two ordained priests, Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth), who are secretly working on a series of unauthorized demon possession cases. Together, the four investigate the mystery surrounding Isabella's mother while also combating demons of their own.

On the surface, the premise is actually somewhat intriguing. The Italian backdrop seems like a cool locale for a movie like this, and the prospect of unsanctioned exorcisms is also a nice twist on the genre. There are also a few interesting character-driven subplots that could have taken the story to another level. The problem is none of these things ever reach a sound conclusion. Literally none of them.

The story is bad enough, but on top of that, the writing and the acting is just an absolute mess. Grama and Helmuth are especially atrocious, making the already too serious tone seem all the more ridiculous. Even some of the better acting is totally wasted on hackneyed dialogue normally reserved for zero-budget student films. This is only amplified when the characters speak directly into the camera as they launch into massive streams of exposition and pointless narration. The R-rated language also seems forced and unnecessary, especially when the demons cast out taunts at Isabella and the priests. I felt like I was listening to a 14-year-old school boy test out all the profanities he just learned.

Watch a Scene From The Devil Inside

Not unlike many of its predecessors, The Devil Inside also suffers from some particularly wonky shaky-cam. Even some of the more quiet, conversational scenes are shot like the climax of Cloverfield. In fact, the film probably would have been better off abandoning the mockumentary style altogether. Maybe if it had stuck to a more traditional style, the movie could have actually been decent. It definitely wouldn't have hurt to get some nice, steady shots of the city and really utilize the location. Instead, we got a bunch of out-of-focus garbage paired with shoddy lighting and grainy closeups of people's faces.

The bottom line here is DON'T GO SEE THIS MOVIE. If you saw the trailer and thought you might want to check it out, think again. You've already seen most of the scares, and the cheap ending isn't even worth its mercifully short running time. If my audience was any indication -- I can't make this up, there were audible "boos" -- The Devil Inside is something you'll definitely want to miss.

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