Shame the Devil

While the setup can keep an attention span engaged for the first half of the film, it is the latter half where the script rides off the rails with improbable plot devices like poisons, antidotes, and polygraph-triggered lock boxes. Like many fictional serial killers, the maniac of "Shame the Devil" has a diabolical plan so ludicrous that even the detective and the profiler cannot pinpoint if he is killing violators of the Ten Commandments, men with the first names of Jesus' apostles, or following some other whacked out methodology entirely. Looking back on it when all is revealed, you realize that it is the most ridiculously overcomplicated scheme ever devised to accomplish what the objective ultimately is.

If you claim to be even just a mild fan of the horror genre then you probably know about the 'Saw' films by now. From the opening scene in 'Shame the Devil' you'll probably be thinking, 'Oh, this is a Saw rip-off.' And you'd be right. Although, maybe Shame the Devil isn't anything like Saw at all, because the Saw franchise was well-done and successful whereas Shame the Devil is total rubbish.

Sorry to be blunt, but there isn't much going for this film. It's a British version of Saw, only nowhere near as good on any level.

Yes, it's a horror film and anyone who's ever watched one probably isn't expecting amazing performances from the characters. However, the actors here take bad acting to new levels. In fact, sometimes the performances are so bad that you could be excused for thinking that they're a bunch of students, playing at being professionals.

However, maybe I'm being a little unfair on the actors. They really don't get much to work with. Every line they're forced to speak is filled with clichés and sounds like it's been copied and pasted from one generic cop movie or another. With acting and dialogue like this it makes it impossible to care for any of the characters as they sort of bumble about, trying to catch a killer who's hell-bent on making his victims confess to their darkest secrets or murdering them if they lie.

Simple verdict: don't bother. There's absolutely nothing positive about this film at all (with the possible exception of the quite breath-taking establishing shots of London, which I found quite nice!).

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The acting wasnt bad. The first half of the film wasnt bad. But then zzzzz nothing. And then finally you think, "really"?

Poor script, weak and inexperienced acting, unforgivable direction skills....the list goes on....the cameraman managed to shoot it in focus but the weird inserts during a poor edit did little to save this awful production. I'm sure someone, somewhere would have gained from this dire movie...except of course us. How on earth did they manage to raise the three million dollars to make this? It uses techniques from other more successful films to give it a big budget feel a d fails at every level. Its a great pity that a British film made in 2013 avoided using experienced people, what a shocking waste of an opportunity to do something memorable.

This is the first time I have been driven to write a review for IMDb but have done it purely as a public service to warn people off wasting 90 minutes of their lives on this bilge.

From the opening scene one imagines a second rate, British version of Saw. Sadly it is not even 3rd or 4th rate. Where as Saw has real menace, even if the franchise grew more tired as it wore on, this lack believability, tension, emotional depth and any sense of a real narrative to drive it forward.

None of the actors is bad mind you, they have simply been given dialogue that is at best clunky and at worse downright nonsensical.

Avoid.