The Devil's Door

THE DEVIL'S DOOR, a 52-minutes long found footage horror film, is based on a very original premise: a TV reporting duo meets with a trafficker of Mexican immigrants (and drugs) who agrees to let them accompany and film him on what he intends to be his last round. He wants to expose this to help the world better understand what is happening at the border. They make it to the gate of a tunnel which turns out to have a supernatural connection.

Beside the originality of the premise, cleverly incorporating a topical real-life issue, the film is also very strong on atmosphere. I loved the way the scenes were set here.

Unfortunately, there are also some areas where the film falls short, most notably the screenplay. The most frustrating part was toward the end, where the cameraman just keeps repeating himself that they need to leave in the face of danger, while the female reporter displays increasingly incredible levels of recklessness. Further, her motivation for acting like that becomes a bit muddled, so that it is never clear whether she is motivated by her desire to "do good" or just to get the story.

Also, despite the relatively short running time, the story is still a bit thin. Another character, maybe unseen to preserve the budget but communicating via walkie talkie, for example, could have helped enrich the plot.

The ending felt a bit dragged out, but overall it was still an enjoyable experience.