The Devil Inside: Movie Review

We don't hate the "The Devil Inside" because it's yet another found-footage film with the lowest of budgets hoping to hit it big. In fact, we kind of liked the movie's approach. The documentary style sold us - it was more like watching a real show from Discovery Channel about exorcisms rather than a fictionalized one. But here's the thing, "The Devil Inside" might feel real and gritty but it lacks the thrills and chills normally associated with these kinds of films. We waited for something to happen, to scare us but alas, the abrupt ending did nothing but to frustrate us further.

On 1989, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) murdered three members of her Church. The authorities concluded that the three tried to perform an exorcism to Maria. The court found Maria not guilty due to mental illness and when the Catholic Church got involved, they sent Maria to a mental institution at Rome, Italy. Twenty six years later, Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade), the daughter of Maria, is doing a documentary on exorcisms. She decides to go to Rome to investigate further by going to the Vatican Exorcism School and to also meet with her mentally-ill mother. There she meets two priests who are doing rogue exorcisms to those persons whom the Church concluded were not possessed by demons but they concluded otherwise. When the group decide to exorcise Maria, they discover that her condition is the worst kind possession and one that not only endangers Maria but more so them.

"The Devil Inside" features great acting and cinematography. The film is believable and has its own taste of gruesome and gore that only brings more realism into the foray. Those words describe a great film that people need to watch but ironically, "The Devil Inside" misses too many marks with its lifeless story and pace and almost non-existent scares that we just wouldn't' and couldn't recommend this film. If there are exorcism scenes, you will be shocked not because those are scary but they are just gory at best. The film also delves into different types of possession with one in particular important to the whole story. For us, the transference phenomenon which happens towards the end of the movie was just a cop out. It was as if they did not know how to ptoperly end the film so they inserted demons who can transfer from one body to another in an instant. It just doesn't make sense with what was presented before that. Yes, they did acknowledge that demons can transfer to other bodies but not that quick or easy. The ending was the greatest blasphemy of all which not only abruptly ends the whole thing but it is also predictable before it happens. Possibly, it was one of the worst endings we have seen and how we wished they ended it by actually copying how this all started in the first place (a similar scene to the Rossi murders that is narrated in the first few minutes).

Rating: 2 reels





Why you should watch it:
- the acting was actually good enough that the documentary is believable
- some scenes will shock you with its gore and gruesome nature

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- it's feels like a real documentary but a badly made documentary without any sense of excitement or scares
- the final few scenes and the abrupt ending was just a cop out because the makers obviously did not kow how to end what they started


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