Devil (2010)

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: Five people are trapped in an elevator. One of them is a douchey mattress salesman. But the other just might be... THE DEVIL.



Scariness factor: It wanted really badly to be scary and moody. In fact, the music was so obnoxiously moody with its swells and crescendoes that it almost SEEMED to be scary and moody. But really, when it comes down to it, it somehow managed to miss the boat.

Gross-Out Factor: Mostly just aftermath images. Nothing you'd want your 4-year old to be staring at, but stuff that most adults could handle.

Complaints: Well, I started off with just a couple, but then they multiplied, so let's bullet:

Really, I didn't give a shit about any of the characters. And when the majority of your movie consists of five people in an elevator, this seems kind of important. Otherwise you end up not giving a shit about whether they live or die. Which was definitely the case here.

The acting was pretty terrible.

The premise really lent itself to something that could've been creepy as fuck. And yet, it was surprisingly unscary.

The score was obnoxious and forced. In moments where it was trying to lend tension and drama to the scene, it was so overwhelmingly forced that it actually just ended up making you very aware that there WASN'T enough tension or drama in the scene to warrant the over-the-top music.

And finally, SPOILER ALERT!!!! the ending had a twist way too reminiscent of Saw. I will admit, I didn't see it coming, and it creeped me out for a second, but then I was like: "SAW!!!" /END SPOILER ALERT

High Points: It was mildly creepy. In a "hey let's put this on in the background while we play Scrabble or surf the internet" kind of way.

Overall: Yeah, I was horribly underwhelmed. Like I said, the premise of this is good enough that it could've been creepy as hell. And yet, it never really is.

Grade: D+