May the Devil Take You

I enjoyed this. I thought it had some genuinely creepy moments. The effects were ok. They weren't the best but they weren't really cheesy. I think that the story could've used a bit more attention. I know that a lot of horror snobs will try to knock this film off it's feet but my opinion is that this was worth the watch. If you are looking for blood, guts and gore this is not gonna leave you satisfied. This leans more towards possession, ritualistic, and creepy horror. I'm glad I gave it a chance.

I gotta say, either the director or the acting coach work really well here. Chelsea did a great job! Pevita too. And Karina Suwandi went beyond my expectation. wth they did a good job! I enjoy their craft so much in character development.

but for me, who always scared with littlest jump-scares, this movie isn't really scary.

Kudos to wardrobe and art department too! this movie didn't make me cringe with cliches.

Director Timo Tjahjanto is the man behind a couple of my favourite action films of recent years - Headshot and The Night Comes For Us - and, along with Gareth Evans, he co-directed a fun story for horror anthology V/H/S/2. Naturally, I was pumped to see May the Devil Take You, which some have described as an Indonesian The Evil Dead.

I can certainly understand the comparison - both are fast, frenetic, gory tales of possession that, for the most part, take place in an isolated rural building - but Tjahjanto's film cannot hold a candle to Sam Raimi's cult classic: although it features some well handled individual scenes, a messy, unfocussed plot makes it a confusing tale that is definitely less than the sum of its parts.

The basic plot revolves around a young woman, Alfie (Chelsea Islan), who goes to see the ailing father she hasn't seen in ten years. On discovering that he has left an old villa in her name, Alfie pays a visit to the building, where an evil presence lurks in the cellar. When her stepmother and step-siblings also turn up, the malevolent spirit is freed and, in one of the film's most effective moments, possesses the stepmother. One by one, the family members fall victim to the evil at large...

Superbly executed scenes of suspense (the girl with the hammer behind her back) rub shoulders with derivative Asian spooky nonsense (what is it with Asians and haunted hair?), while predictable scares fail to do the trick. At no point was I tempted to turn off or catch some Zzzzzs - a brisk pace ensured that - but I did find the uneven, jumbled nature of the whole thing frustrating. I certainly expected better from Tjahjanto.

The audience is not afraid because of the visual appearance or plot, but just "surprised". The film only shows evil characters with a creepy appearance, and only to make the audience surprised by displaying it suddenly on the screen with sound and music as loud as possible. Even the characters seem very slow in speaking.

It's the Indonesian Evil Dead. Great directing & really terrifying visuals. Some of the shots were amazing. But could have been so much more if there was a good story to it. Another case of a script that goes no where. Still, had fun watching.