The Devil's Doorway

This week's found footage horror is set in 1960's Ireland where we find a couple of priests dispatched by the Vatican to investigate a 'miracle' at a 'fallen' women's Laundry run by the sisterhood.

Zero build-up quickly gives way to Excorcist/Blair Witch cliches galore, as we once more tread the weary path of shouting, screaming, levitation and tripod-free DP work that we've seen countless times before (and done far better) in this long exhausted sub-genre.

I caught Writer/director Aisleen Clarke's debut effort at Nottingham's Mayhem 2018 Film Festival. Clarke followed the screening with a very informative and generous Q&A session which I found far more interesting and engaging than most of what she'd just served up on screen.

The use of 16mm and authentic location choice were big pluses in her movie's favour, as were the performances - not least from Lalor Roddy as the wisely sceptical Father Thomas. Its in the quieter moments where his monologues to camera accompanied only by the night time wind outside that TDD really hits home. Otherwise its business as usual as the seen-it-all-before possession tropes pile up faster than the linen in the wash room.

If Clarke had forsaken the FF for a more formal approach with a slow build-up and a tight reign on the creepy-kids-that-go-BOO-in-the-night traits, then she might have come up with a winner, instead of this strictly third place, non-event spook-show. A missed opportunity.

I'm usually not a big fan of found footage movies but this is one I actually liked. The storyline is simple and 'logic'. But what is the most astonishing thing about this movie is that it proves it's possible to draw relatable and plausible characters within it's short playtime. This is also thanks to outstanding acting by the three main characters. It's become very rare- especially in horror- to have the combination of writing, directing, acting and cinematography in such a perfect manner. I must say the scene where the mother superior starts to sing was the creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. Congratulations!

The devils doorway may have a mediocre IMDB rating but do not take this horror film from the UK to be just an average scary movie because it's not. The acting in this feature is purely amazing and the storyline may not be the most original but writers have creative privilege and they can always refresh our memories if they so choose. And although "The Devil's Doorway" does have 2 or 3 jump scares over the limit the dialogue keeps you entertained while you wait for the actual occurrences to take place and yes regardless of what the advertising banner for this movie says this is found footage and it's a pretty darn good one. The camera has a few jiggly moments at the end of the movie but 95% of it was was steady and well angled. Special effects were decent and the camera editing was converted into the look of a retro 35mm camera giving it a boost of realism. All in all this movie definitely fits the bill of a good horror flick so I give it an 8 which means you surely won't be mad to sit down and check this one out when you get a chance.

As horror films go, it isn't groundbreaking. As found footage horror goes, it did its job.

So as you've noticed by the trailer, the film has a unique way of presentation, using the old-school aspect ratio. Its not perfectly clear whether they used real film stock, or created it digitally, but as someone who worked at a film archive, I can attest that they did a pretty darn good job. But is it scary? Is it really like the critics say, that its the best found footage film in years, being a ode to The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby? Well no, its not anywhere close to those masterpieces, but I agree its much better than the found footage garbage we so often see. With a boat load of Hollywood found footage trash, we also get a wave of films made by anyone who has an iPhone, and the vast majority of them are terrible, and while Devil's Doorway is not amazing, its certainly to as bad as I'm used to.

But was it scary? Its hard to say yes or no, I would rather say it was hit and miss, some of it got me, some of it didn't. The atmosphere also appeared and disappeared, sometimes it was effective, sometimes it was either not there or was not as effective. Its no masterpiece, but it most definitely had some cool stuff in there. The aspect ratio adds to it, the story its based on is an interesting one (surprised it has been done to death), and some of the plot points, shocks, and scares were alright. Again, alright, not perfect. So don't go in expecting a masterpiece like some critics say, or are paid to say.