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"The Devil IS in the details in "Devil" directed by
John Erick Dowdle ("Quarantine", "The Poughskeepsie Tapes")and
written by Brian Nelson ("30 Days of Night") and produced
by M. Night Shyalmalan. Shyalmalan who has had a career
in free fall after a promising start may have found his
niche as a producer/story man (he wrote the story the film
is based on)allowing others to complete his vision. ***
Unlike the last three films that Shyalmalan has done
which became unintentional comedies, "Devil" benefits from
the confined space of the elevator that the story takes
place in. Inspired by the folktale "The Devil's Meeting",
"Devil" works because it eschews the heavy handed symbolism
and increasingly lame O. Henry (or Rod Serling)like twist
endings that Shyalmalan relied on to tell his stories. Perhaps
the film benefited from having someone else direct it and
write it which might explain why the excesses that have
made Shyalmalan's films virtually unwatchable are absent
here. The actors should also be praised here for keeping
the film believable. ***
The main flaws with the film are a fairly predictable
plot but Nelson introduces a subplot involving our detective
that keeps us guessing (even if most viewers will figure
it all out by the first third of the movie)and a pat, predictable
outcome that lacks the flash that I had opened for at the
conclusion. ***
Detective Bowden (Chris Messina)pulls duty on what
appears to be a suicide but quickly reveals itself to be
something much more. As Bowden investigates the suicide
he gets called in to a situation where five people (Jenny
O'Hara, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine,Geoffrey Arend
and Logan Marshall-Green) are trapped on the express elevator
in the high rise where the jumper made her fatal leap from.
The security officer (Matt Craven) in charge and his deeply
religious co-worker (Jacob Vargas)watch on their security
screens as the five trapped in the elevator are attacked
by someone or something in the elevator with them. ***
"Devil" avoids the trappings that caused Shyalmalan's
last three films to fail so badly and that's a good thing.
If Shyalmalan can continue this trend with the next films
in this series (it's part of a trilogy called "The Night
Chronicles" about supernatural occurences in modern urban
society) he might be able to break the curse dogging his
films. ---
Image & Sound:
The Blu-ray looks quite nice with a detailed image
and nice skin textures although I wouldn't call it refernce
quality. Audio sounds quite good throughout and since seens
happen in darkness with only the audio to spook us, that's
a good thing. ---
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