Despite some fantastic ideas, photography and music, DEVIL can’t quite escape the unholy touch of M. Night Shylamalan. From the beginning we are treated to the very best and very worst of what this movie has to offer. Over a blackened screen we hear an inane voice over that proceeds to tell us exactly what this movie is about, god forbid anything be a surprise. This is then followed by some of the best inverted city skyline aerials I’ve ever seen and a suitably demonic sounding score. The film continues throughout with this flip-flopping between subtle ingenuity and sledgehammer like exposition. This is where I point the finger squarely at M. Night. He’s last few cinematic abortions have also been crashed under the weight of a director bowing to Hollywood convention, explaining everything away so that the retard in the back corner of the cinema, with his fingers knuckle deep in his girlfriend, completely understands what is happening on screen at all times. Had this film been braver and not stipulated from the very beginning the supernatural undercurrent of the story, DEVIL could have been a modern gem. Sadly, we are given a character (the security guard) whose sole purpose in the film is to make sure we all know that one of the people stuck in the elevator is actually the devil, friggin’ Satan himself. There are some many reasons why this is wrong beyond “How the fuck does he know?” Ok, so said character is given some flack for being a religious nut but the final insult comes when the cop (there to investigate a murder) suddenly, and for no reason, takes on board the security guard’s screwy theory. OMG! Or should that be OMD! It was such a missed opportunity to have not kept the audience in the dark as to the idea that one of the lift occupants could be the devil rather than the reveal relying on who the devil is. Ever heard of the double whammy M. Night? Oh, wait, you have. It’s not the past it’s the present + the town retard is the monster = The Village. Even with this massive and unfortunate handicap (known as Shylamalania) DEVIL has some great stuff in it and even after the reveal of who the devil is, the story continues to surprise with further character revelations. For the most part all the acting is sufficient and purposeful (except that tedious security guard), the photography is clean and classily handled and the music is supportive without being intrusive. It would have been interesting to see if director John Erick Dowdle would have made a better film had it not been under the tutelage of the real devil.
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