Devour - Il gioco di Satana

Okay, so I first just wanna say, I'm not a hardcore horror fan but have definitely seen my share of horrors. I'd even go as far as to say that I actually like some of the horrors that have gotten bad reviews. So basically, when it comes to horror I even like the bad ones.

As for Devour? Well I gotta say it started of okay. I didn't like the music at the beginning titles but that can be overlooked. I liked the beginning of the movie, as it went further it started to fall apart bit by bit. The flashbacks of day nightmares or whatever you wanna call them, were a bit over the top and shown a bit to often. There were moments that were gross and gory, that even I had to look away for just a sec. (I've seen many horrors and I'm a nurse in training, so I've seen my share of blood and gore in real life)

I'm not the one that scares that easily, but there was one moment during this movie that got me. And that was the only moment in the entire movie. I don't know if you could define that as a good or bad point. It could be considered good cause it definitely got my jumping out of my seat, it could also be bad seeing as I wasn't really paying that much attention to the movie.

I'm not a sucker for happy endings or anything but the ending was somewhat disappointing. I expected more, the ending was just unsatisfying.

The acting was alright, all though I've seen the actors act better in TV series or movies.

I don't consider watching this movie a waste of my time, I've seen better horrors sure but like I said before, I kinda tend to pick the bad ones out. (maybe that's because I've seen the good ones :D) so I guess if you like horrors, you could give this movie a shot, just don't expect a masterpiece.

I'd give it a 6,5 out of 10

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

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")

Well acted and shot snore-fest by director David Winkler, tells the story of a computer program linked to Satan himself. Basically just another psychological thriller with out much substance, the story sputters along at the same speed as sheep jumping over a fence. It does have some decent gore scenes, but they are too few and way too far in between, and chances are you will miss them due to the fact that you are sleeping, which makes "Devour" almost impossible to pay attention to. The plot involves a collage student who's (Bobby Brady-looking) best friend introduces him to a internet program (as a gift)that turns his dismal life upside down. Certainly not the worst premise, but it's slow pace makes it so boring that I actually fell asleep four times trying to make it through this. Perfect evening's viewing for anyone suffering from insomnia, as I found it more effective then NyQuil... Yawn.

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.