Pesadilla

I'm very surprised that the IMDb rating to date is less than 5 at the time of writing. I feel it's important to critique this film for what it is, ... a 'B' movie. In my opinion it did not present as such, it gave some lesser A movies a run for their money. The acting was convincing, the characters interesting and the cinematography was superb. The story line was perhaps the weakest part of the film, and for me the ending was predictable, however it kept me interested to the end which is not always easy with me.

I enjoyed the film, though it's a long way from my favorite in this genre. This being said, the production crew should be very proud of it considering it is a B movie. Give them a real budget and I'm sure they would come up with something remarkable.

In the whole scheme of things I rate this movie 7/10 ... but compared to other 'B' movies I would give this a 9.5/10

College student Jake Gray (Jensen Ackles) has disturbing visions. His friends Conrad Dean (Teach Grant) and Dakota (Dominique Swain) have some troubling secrets. Then they introduce him to a weird computer group called "The Pathway". It turns out that "The Pathway" is something more disturbing. When Jake's douche boss fires him, "The Pathway" helps him get revenge. As more deadly things happen, he is more concern that this is even more dangerous than a simple cult.

This movie had some good tension going. Jensen Ackles is good as the lead. The visions are a bit weak. Teach Grant is not up to the job his role needs. Dominique Swain is good as a damaged corrupted girl. Shannyn Sossamon is perfunctory as the sweet love interest. All of it was going well as an average horror movie. But the ending is really weak. It needed a lot more action to push the climax over the top.

This movie is very similar to movies such as Cry Wolf, The Ring 1 and 2, and Stay Alive. In all these movies a character does something (like visit a website, watch a video, play a video game, or start a rumor) which starts into motion a chain of events (usually unleashing something evil) that result in a blood bath. While this is probably considered a B movie, I thought it was a fairly good B movie. It sure wasn't the best horror movie I've ever saw, but it did entertain me. I thought Jensen Ackles (Jake) and Dominique Swain (Dakota) did an excellent job portraying and acting their parts... Shannyn Sossamon (Marisol)was just mediocre in her acting skills. I found her acting kind of bland and boring.

The movie itself started off really well. It was set up well, but then the further along it got the worse it got. If a different person were playing Marisol, if they'd kept the beginning and the basis of things being connected to the website, but found a way to make various parts and the ending more realistic and added a bigger budget to pull all of that off, then this had the potential to of been a great movie. However, they did not and this is what we are stuck with. Which is, a really good, but not great B movie...

All and all this movie is not a complete waste of time. I think it was highly entertaining, but like someone else said it is no masterpiece. If you start the movie with unrealistic expectations you will be disappointed. It is best to have no expectations at all and decide for yourself. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes horror movies or thrillers, but if you don't then it's not for you.

Poor Jake is living a pretty screwed up life. He keeps having disturbing visions. His mother is a cripple, his dad a recovering alcoholic. He gets fired from his job. And he gets introduced to a dark computer game called The Pathway. Then everybody around him starts to die. But it's not all bad, Jake is a hit with the ladies! This starts off slowly but intriguingly. However once the plot begins to open up about The Pathway being a computer game used by the Devil, who here is a she(?), and a Satanic cult it descends into absurdity. I found myself laughing at how silly it was. Acting is decent, though the actors are obviously older than the parts that they are playing. Not as gory as the DVD cover suggested, however there is a graphic tongue cutting. I certainly won't be going for a repeat viewing. If you want to watch a good Satanic video game movie choose Evilspeak instead.

In Cheever Lake, the twenty-one years old Jake Gray (Jensen Ackles) has bloody nightmares while awake. His friends Conrad Dean (Teach Grant) and Dakota (Dominique Swain) apply him in a weird game called "The Pathway". Jake begins to mix reality with daydreams, while his closest friends die. Jake blames the game, which might be connected to the devil, for the deaths of his friends and decides to investigate the mystery.

The beginning of "Devour" is a promising but miscast teen horror movie. Jensen Ackles and Teach Grant are too old for performing characters of twenty-one years old, as well as Shannyn Sossamon, who looks very old to be the girlfriend of a young guy. The rules and the reasons for the attraction of "The Pathway" are never explained, so it is not clear why the three friends decide to participate in this strange game. When Jake Gray discloses the mystery in the woods, the confused direction and the terrible screenplay are completely lost and the movie wasted. The dubious conclusion, with Jake questioning what has really happened and who he is, is excellent but does not save this forgettable flick from a complete failure. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Adoradores do Diabo" ("Devil Worshipers")