REVIEW: The Devil Inside : Crimson Monkey

REVIEW: The Devil Inside

Monday, January 09 2012 - Reviews - by: trentstorm

The Devil Inside

Before I get into The Devil Inside, I wanted to discuss the technique that this movie was done in, as it blended horror, first-person, found footage and a documentary approach. When most people think about this style, they tend to think about 1999's Blair Witch Project or for the more recent audience, 2009's Paranormal Activity.

The horror-first person-documentary trend can actually be traced back to the 1980 Italian horror movie Cannibal Holocaust. This film was so brutal, many believed that actors and actresses were really murdered on-film. It was about a group of American filmmakers who disappear in the Amazon while looking for a cannibal tribe. It leads to an anthropology professor following their trail, meeting a few tribes and discovering the footage of the missing team. It is here he realizes the appalling acts the team did and the ultimate price they paid for their crimes at the hands of the cannibals.

In 1998, there was a little known film called The Last Broadcast. With Cannibal Holocaust as possible inspiration, this movie followed a 4 man team filming the hunt for the Jersey Devil for their television show. One by one, each man is killed off by an unseen entity, with only one survivor. Police take the survivor into custody with the belief that he murdered the rest of the crew. It is only when the audience sees the restored footage of the ill-fated night do they realize the truth.

1999 brought us the infamous Blair Witch Project. Whether you loved it or hated it, it has earned its place for pop culture status. Although Cannibal Holocaust and The Last Broadcast used the idea of a documentary setting before, I do believe Blair Witch Project was one of the first horror movies to entirely be hand-held.

From 2007 through 2009, movies like REC, Quarantine, Paranormal Activity and even Cloverfield all used similar techniques. REC and its American counterpart, Quarantine, followed a news reporter and fire fighters as they ran into a demonic virus in an apartment building. Paranormal Activity was about a young couple who encounter a dark force within their home and it launched 2 sequels with a third on the way. And even though Cloverfield was technically a giant monster movie, there were still some horror movie elements worth mentioning. There was even a little bit of a documentary technique used in District 9.

When used correctly, the found footage/documentary approach can be unforgettable, like Cannibal Holocaust and Paranormal Activity. It can be absolutely thrilling like REC and Cloverfield. And it can be regrettable, like how I took Blair Witch Project.

So where does The Devil Inside fit into this category?

Somewhere between Blair Witch and a really bad vacation video.

This was a classic case of a studio putting any and every scary and tense moment into the trailer!

What is disappointing was that the plot was actually there.

In Connecticut, 1989, a woman by the name of Maria Rossi appears to have murdered 3 people during an exorcism. She is found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to an Italian mental institution. Twenty years later, her daughter, Isabella, seeks to make a documentary about exorcisms along with her friend and cameraman, Michael. They fly to Italy where they meet 2 exorcists, Ben and David. The 4 devise a plan to perform an exorcism on Maria, but it turns out to be something more than they expected.

As I said, the plot was there. The execution was not.

Aside from the idea, what I liked about this film were simple things such as the effort to create a 1989 VHS feel to the police evidence. I also liked the explanation over how the Catholic Church no longer supports exorcisms, leaving the likes of Ben and David on their own.

What didn't I like about this film? Pretty much everything else. Way too much dialogue for a horror movie for one. Nothing like a classroom lecture to completely ruin any setup for tension. Therefore, by the time that they reached the first exorcism in the movie, I was completely bored. Paranormal Activity at least made constant attempts to keep the tension going. Even The Blair Witch Project made several attempts to keep the tension going. Save for the language and blood, this felt like a Lifetime suspense movie at best. Contortionists may have helped make The Exorcist iconic, but here, it was just a failed attempt to make this movie even remotely scary. There was another found footage exorcism movie that came out in 2010, The Last Exorcism, from what I understand, this movie didn't even come close to it.

What I found worst was that it just ended. The Blair Witch gave me more closure than The Devil Inside ever did.

In the end, it will take more than foul language and contortionists to build up any tension. I read that the filmmakers hope this will be the next Paranormal Activity.

Not from what I've seen!