A horror movie in January is about enticing as having a one-night stand with Snooki from the Jersey Shore. Most of the time, you’ll leave the theater with un-fulfillment (and perhaps a burning sensation).
So to kick-off 2012, we have the 87 minute fake documentary, The Devil Inside. Once again, exorcism is the theme here; and if we have learned anything about this subgenre, not much else – from an entertainment perspective – can be done to make it worthwhile cinematically speaking.
But this flick tempts you to believe in it early on. The storyline is recycled jargon, yet the storytelling behind the lens provides a ray of hope. And not to mention, the cast of exorcist candidates (Susan Crowley and real-life contortionist Bonnie Morgan) have the ability to keep the audience in a brace-like position for possible scares.
When a twenty-something, Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) attempts to reconnect with her institutionalized mother (Susan Crowley) in a mental hospital over in Rome, Italy; she seeks out help from two maverick priests (Simon Quarterman & Evan Helmuth) who are studying at the Vatican school for exorcism. Isabella’s mother was involved in a murder twenty years ago that stemmed from priests trying to perform an exorcism on her. Since then, poor Isabella has become trapped in trying to figure out if her mother is purely bonkers, or is a higher (or is it lower) power responsible for her unexplainable behavior.
For whatever reason, a documentarian (Ionut Grama) has convinced her to allow him to capture the journey to try to more-or-less “cure” her deranged mother. Ergo, the two priests and the two of them engage in going against the church and performing exorcisms, despite not fully understanding who they’re dealing with.
The placing of the cameras, also known as cinematography, is the life-force of this flick. Dialogue scenes between mother and daughter in the mental hospital are creepy as all hell thanks to the viewing perspective. Since this is a documentary, the film allows the “filmmaker” to additionally position small cameras in the room during exorcisms so the audience isn’t just limited to one POV. This eliminates any shakiness and everything is captured at all the right times. Thing is, while the set-up is attractive, the payoff (scare moment) doesn’t seem to rise to the level of the occasion enough times. And this falls on the director, William Brent Bell. He had all the necessary tools along with a solid cast finding the correct tone in their approach; but you get a feeling that it can’t quite separate itself from the other recent flicks that have plagued this subgenre. In other words, he didn’t maximize the potential of the screenplay.
Still, it’s commendable that Bell didn’t go for any cheap pops of comedy, for the atmosphere remains tense all the way through. Plus, there is some nice demonic imagery and quasi stomach turning sequences, which are staples for this type of piece. Again though, there’s just a little bit of an unsatisfied feeling when this is put to rest. With that said, Bell and his co-writer, Matthew Peterman should take another stab in the horror genre. To go along with theme of the exorcism theory…there is definitely something (talent) there.
Overall, The Devil Inside is close to delivering what it promised. Think of it as The Rite meets a Paranormal Activity with a sprinkle of reality television commentary. There’s a decent story, albeit familiar, and some good filmmaking techniques that enable you to keep the faith as this unfolds.
The Devil Inside is rated R and opens in the Tampa Bay market today.
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