The Devil Conspiracy

I went into The Devil Conspiracy knowing nothing about it, without watching any trailers. This is a perfect example of why I love that strategy. The movie starts with a breathtaking opening scene that made me think, "omg, what am I watching?" And it's filled with really weird and different scenes, things I feel like I've never seen before.

By far the best qualities are the music and the visuals. I love the musical score. It's not just one or two themes, it's awesome from beginning to end. And it's featured prominently. The visuals are frequently stunning. Numerous shots had my jaw dropped.

This movie is also flawed in many ways. There are a few stupid parts, even a couple that unintentionally made me laugh. Not everything works or feels smooth. I wish Peter Mensah had more screentime, I feel like he could have brought more to the role after loving what he did in Spartacus.

But the biggest downside by far is the lack of escalation to a climax. There is barely a climax to speak of. The entire movie is cranked up to turbo mode, but it stays at that level through to the end. It never kicks into overdrive. It would have taken the movie to another level for me.

I still had a good time with this unique and fun experience. I'll probably watch it again at some point and hope to see continued attempts at crazy movies like this. (1 viewing, opening Saturday 1/14/2023)

I saw the trailer for this and thought it would be the perfect way to blow time before dinner plans. I thought "oh cool, a Syfy channel original that's probably also secretly some kind of 'God's Not Dead' sermon-wrapped-in-a-movie. I love schlocky B-movies, and I was down for a bad time.

So wasn't I surprised when this movie is just like... pretty good??? The acting is not cringe or embarrassing like I was betting on, the SFX are not any worse than the worst Marvel SFX (Thor 2 anyone?), it's got some pretty gnarly action/gore, REALLY cool and original concepts, serviceable and not distracting music... What kind of B-Movie is this?? Even the sets were pretty good! The storyline is of course a bit ridiculous but it's also fun, and most importantly for movies in this lane, SALIENT. The story is like... ya know... cogent the whole time, which is refreshing for this kind of thing. I never felt lost, and I never felt bored.

Not to say it was all flawless or anything, there were a couple distracting establishing shots that were clearly someone's nephew messing around in Blender, some of the child-acting was a lil rough around the edges, a couple physical performances from minor characters/extras were a little less than convincing, but if you compare this to similar projects in its genre/budget, The Devil Conspiracy is basically the Citizen Kane of Tubi movies. I would be genuinely excited to see a higher budget sequel to this, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for Frankowski's next movie.

It has heart! It was clearly made with intention and care. Yes, at times it feels a little cheap, but it never ONCE feels lazy. Worth your time if you want a Supernatural Horror/Action movie.

As it happens, I watched this preposterous B-movie immediately after one of the most recent Marvel flicks, and honestly: it turned out to be far better regarding editing, soundtrack, and screenplay - not that that's necessarily saying much.

Of course, the effects aren't on nearly the same level, but at least the filmmakers knew exactly what they were going for, and communicated their intention from the get-go. Really: I enjoyed this schlocky spectacle a whole big bunch, and Alice Orr Ewing is a star to keep an eye on, as she acts the Hell out of her role - pun obviously intended.

It's been a long time since I was able to just sit back and enjoy the overt ridiculousness of the entire Biblical spiel, and for me, it wasn't even a 'guilty pleasure' or anything - just entertaining fun.

I mean no, its not award worthy, but I found it entertaining enough. Granted I went into it not expecting anything good. I actually expected to end up turning it off after a bit. I only gave it a shot because of 2 things.... Peter Mensah, and a weird scifi tastic sounding storyline.... While I was disappointed that Mensah didn't have more screen time I still found myself watching the whole thing and enjoying it. The music fit, and wasn't distracting and yes a lot happens in the dark... That's what TV settings are for people! Those are usually not set to optimal levels out of the box and almost always have to be adjusted. I had no problems seeing anything that happened. All in all it is definitely better than the low 4.5 rating. Is it a 10? Nope, although I was tempted to rate it as such to try and offset so many unjustly bad reviews... But I didn't. I did go ahead and give it a 6 although i really think its about a solid 5. For me ratings of 4 or less should be reserved for things with cringe worthy acting and/or cartoonish effects. They could have done more with the script, true. But all in all it was an entertaining watch that didn't run slow, it kind of hit the ground running and kept moving the whole time which works for me. It takes a special movie that can keep me engaged at a slow burn speed.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who decided to watch this because of the charismatic actor on the poster.

First disappointment, he's Michael, not Lucifer.

Lucifer is depicted as smaller, ugly, and weak of character since the very first moment (right after the fall).

They seem to have forgotten that he's the most beautiful and glorious of all angels, the closest to God, the most powerful.

Second disappointment, he's almost never on screen.

And the main actors are profoundly lacking ANY charisma and arguably almost any talent.

If that actor who plays Michael would have been more on screen, it would have been a 6.

If he would have been Lucifer, an 8.

If he and his band of rebels would have kicked ass, a 10.

But it's just a 4.

At least I don't regret watching.