Devil

Devil has one of the more eye opening scenes of the year, that of an upside down Philadelphia (though I guess some people may think the projectionist has goofed). It’s a strange, but ultimately intriguing start and definitely the best use of a city landscape since the opening credits of Panic Room. Can the rest of the film live up to this startling beginning though? The first thing to mention is that, yes, the film (based on a story by M Night Shayamanlan) does seem to, ahem, “borrow”, from the similarly themed Elevated. The main storyline of Devil concerns 5 strangers who become stuck in a lift in a sky scraper. Pretty soon though feelings of discomfort and claustrophobia give way to something much darker. The film then essentially becomes a two hander as we flick between the inhabitants of the lift and the struggles of the security and police outside trying to release them. Though the title of the film is somewhat of a giveaway, director John Erick Dowdle does a neat job of keeping the audience guessing and most reveals are cleverly in line with the characters finding things out for themselves at the same time as the film-goer. On the down-side, despite a couple of decent scares, the film really isn’t all that scary and all in all has a TV movie film to it or perhaps a longer Twilight Zone / Outer Limits episode. The cardboard cut out characters in the lift don’t do much to change this perception either. Despite all that, the short running time means it doesn’t outstay its welcome and it’s almost a breath of fresh air for a horror film these days to attempt some smarts over out and out scares.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
You won’t be biting your nails, but there’s enough intrigue here to keep your interest until the final reveal. Rating: 6/10.