Obsequiousmelon got in a lift with the Devil.

Name of the Film:  Devil

Starring:  Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas and Bokeem Woodbine.   

When a group of people are trapped in a lift it soon becomes clear that there is something sinister at work...

Devil is the first film made by M Night Shyamalan’s production company The Night Chronicles, although I’m not sure that that would encourage many people to go and see it.

M Night Shyamalan clearly has some ability as a story teller but I can’t help but feel that his ego and initial success has long since damaged any initial promise he had.  Its a shame because I like the kind of movies he makes, the ideas are cool but the execution just seems too... pretentious.

So I like his stories but I don’t like his films.  Well then setting up a production company and letting young directors script and direct films based on his short stories seems at first glance like a good idea.

Devil is in many stylistic ways a Shyamalan movie.  Throughout you can see his influence.  A very talky script with infrequent but sudden moments of action to add tension (for a good example see the suicide at the beginning of the film or the hanging bodies at the school in The Sixth Sense.)  The pace of the film is slow and we have a mystery at the heart of the story.  The characters are strangely familiar as well with a no nonsense / bereaved lead character that holds a position of responsibility (a policeman here who works in much the same way as Mel Gibson’s Priest character in Signs) It has a clear narrator (just like the Korean daughter in The Lady in the Water) who handily knows everything about what is going on because their grandma told him a story.

And this is a big part of the problem.  Shyamalan is like a cook that only makes sponge cakes.  Every film has the same ideas, characters and structure.  This removes the impact that his twists have but it also makes the film seem tired and predictable because we know who these people are (even if only subconsciously) and we cant help but feel like we have done all this before.

The fact that Devil is actually directed by John Erick Dowdle actually makes little difference but those differences do lift the film.  The pace is stepped up slightly, only slightly but enough that we don’t get bored and the acting is less ponderous.  These two things help make Devil less pretentious and therefore more watchable.

The story builds well and it isn’t obvious to the audience who the devil is which is good because just when you think you know who it is, thats when they tend to die.

The ending is a slight cop out.  It is predictable but is saved by a, sort of, second ending which could go either way but they choose the more up beat ending and that leaves the film on a good note.

Ultimately Devil is a tight little thriller.  It has it’s faults (in that it can't totally escape Shyamalan's influence) but it is worth a watch.  If it is on tv then I would definitely watch it. 

  

Did I enjoy the film?  Yes

Would I recommend it to my friends?   Yes, it is at least an interesting concept explored with reasonable skill.

Will I buy it on DVD/Blu Ray?  Hmmmm maybe when it is on cheap.

If it was a mate would I let it date my Sister?  It’s called the Devil, it will do what it want’s whatever I say.