Con el diablo adentro

In 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists to cure her mom using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria. Many have been possessed by one; only one has been possessed by many. (Paramount Pictures)

Just recently, Paramount Pictures was named the studio that topped the 2011 box office above all the other major studios. If they want any more people to show up to their films in 2012, they should stop green-lighting films like THE DEVIL INSIDE, although dumping it in January seems like the best decision to forget the film ever existed by the end of the year. Yes, the film produces more unintentional laughs than actual scares. Yes, many people will walk out feeling ripped off once the credits roll. And yes, THE DEVIL INSIDE is a bad film, unfortunately, although the incredible red band trailer suggests otherwise. However, the trailer spoils all the "good," jolting parts in the film. Surprise, surprise.

As you can tell, there are many problems regarding the film. However, some of the ones that stand out are the incredibly slow pacing and the dull execution. The few, lazy, cheap scares the film has to offer, the only things left to salvage this dreck from a total waste, are few and far between. To say that the film was tedious to watch would be an understatement. Also, the documentary style serves more to harm than help the film, as every scene that should feel spontaneous and authentic, instead, feel rather staged. With the many problems the film has, the film's biggest crime is the abrupt ending, which is like getting slapped in the face. Just as the film is starting to pick up momentum, it ends as if the filmmakers ran out of budget. Note to all filmmakers: You don't want to anger audiences like that.

The cast don't do much to help elevate the film either. Fernanda Andrade, the female lead, is merely serviceable although nothing memorable. However, Suzan Crowley, in the few scenes that she's in, is rather good for what she had to work with. I can't say much for the rest of the supporting cast, which includes Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, and Ionut Grama. Grama, in particular, is incredibly bad as he tries to make his reactions and emotions feel real that it comes off as forced and awkward.

I suppose the film will open reasonably well in the box office like most found footage films with low budgets and make a cheap buck before disappearing off in the world. However, I'm here to warn you not to give in to what appears to be a fun, scary night at the movie theater. It's a slow, dull film with barely any scares at all. Yes, the potential for the idea is there, but the execution is just bad. THE EXORCIST this is not.

If star ratings were awarded for trying, The Devil Inside would definitely get 5/5 stars. It truly wants to be something. Ever since the Blair Witch Project redefined horror with its 'first person perspective' there have been many imitators.

Some have worked, others haven't. Sadly, The Devil Inside is the latter.

Every post-Blair Witch first person film will be judged against Blair Witch and, although The Devil Inside tries to break away, it doesn't really succeed. It's about a girl who goes to the Vatican to track down her long lost mother, who was sanctioned by the Catholic Church. Was she simply mad, or possessed? The Devil Inside lurches from one carbon copy of another similar film to another. I saw shades of Paranormal Activity mixed in there with The Last Exorcism (both superior films in my opinion). The actors did as best they could with what they were given. As with these kinds of films, they did well to capture the 'naturalistic' elements of their dialogue.

It's just not that scary. If you've seen one exorcism movie, then you've basically seen this one (even if this one does do it from a first-person perspective - which The Last Exorcism has already done anyway).

It's not bad, it's just not original. And (SEMI SPOILER ALERT) the ending will leave viewers thoroughly divided. You only have to look at some message boards to see that some people loved it - most despised it and felt ripped off.

It's your call. If you really need one more exorcism movie, then give it a go. But you've probably seen everything The Devil Inside has to offer before... and better.

The movie was better than any other exorcism/exorcist movie I've seen. Definitely better than all the Paranormal Activities, but it was also low quality. The whole movie was very shaky, very few times was the camera held still. The angles the cameras were put in were kind of odd. The ending was absolutely terrible. There were parts that made you jump but for the most part, it was like any other documentary film about this kind of stuff. I would recommend it to anyone who likes the thrill of stuff like that, but for anybody else, do not waste your money. For the few parts that they actually showed an exorcism, compared to what the previews show, it wasn't worth it at all.

In the same vein as Blair Witch and the Paranormal Franchise, The Devil Inside is another entry in the hand-held documentary style film. Although I think Blair Witch and PA did a much better job of making the "found footage" gimmick believable. Anyway The Devil Inside tells the story of a young girl, Isabelle who travels to Italy to learn more of the so-called demonic possession of her institutionalized mother.

The film opens with a 911 call made from the girl's mother in which she confesses to murdering three people who were trying to perform an exorcism. I guess it's safe to say it didn't work because when we next see the mother, she's holed up in Italian hospital for the criminally insane, mumbling to herself and looking generally frightening. Isabelle is looking to investigate the circumstances behind her mother's crimes and hopefully get her returned to the United States. And so the footage goes, mostly capturing her quest to learn more about exorcism, along with some help from two men she meets at a Roman Catholic university.

It could have been a very effective film if it wasn't for the glaringly flawed ending. Up to that point there was nice buildup and a few rather shocking moments. Then abruptly, it just ended. Poof! Like that. Shows over, go home. Myself along with the entire audience sat there for several moments after the ending scene, waiting....for something. I guess it took a few minutes to realize there would be nothing else. The ending came out of nowhere. None of the questions raised by the film were ever answered. The last 10 minutes embarked on a different path that just wasn't followed. It appeared as if the final climax was coming and then somehow the producers ran out of money so they just wrapped the film with whatever footage they had.

As it stands, the movie is incomplete so I can't give it more than a 5. Had there been an additional 20 minutes or more, I probably would have given it a 6.5 or 7.

This movie should have been titled The Devil Inside: Part 1.

Where the heck is the last half?!

With the annoying way too shaky camera, the ridiculous fast-zoom ultra close-ups, and crazy angles I got the worst headache and left the theater within 20 minutes. At one point I was seeing a close-up of an actors neck instead of what could have been beautiful background shots of driving down the street in Rome. The camera man is clearly "non-intelligent" to the extreme, who's "technique" was so distracting, the film is impossible to watch. I sincerely hope this shaky cam stuff comes to an end as I personally can't stand it. It's also unfortunate this horrible release made more than a dime. If you like the idea of driving to a theater, paying cash, and getting yourself a head-banger - this is the film for you.