Review“Everybody believes in him a little bit, even guys like you who pretend they don't.” - RamirezFive people get stuck in an elevator 20 floors above ground level. Bad start to your day but it gets worse as it appears that not everyone is who they seem, and a killer shares the elevator with the four others. Detective Bowden, who is on site for a suicide dive from the previous evening, is called in as the blood starts to flow. He must somehow get to the people trapped in the elevator before things escalate to the next level. On duty Guard Ramirez doesn't help matters by stating it's a “devil's meeting” with all the passengers destined to die as the devil torments them before claiming their souls. As various maintenance men, city workers, and assorted others meet their deaths, the situation is not looking good for Detective Bowden, who will have to confront his own nightmare. The first in a three movie venture titled “The Night Chronicles”, Devil got some hatred started on the internet early as people with nothing better to do with their lives than moan about M. Night, threw tantrums and voiced the opinion the movie would suck yadda yadda due to Shyamalan leading the project. Nice to see the old mob rule thing hasn't died out in the U.S, nor the concept of a fair trial hasn't caught on in some quarters. Guess they must have the interweb on at the trailer parks of the home of the brave now. Ironically M. Night neither directed nor wrote Devil, but simply put his name behind the project, which once again proves there are some twats allowed out on the net that should do some research before making idiots of themselves. Anyway moving along with the actual movie itself, lets catch the elevator on the way up. Right from the opening shot, an aerial view of Philadelphia upside down, I knew I was in good hands. The opening sequence is disconcerting, it's actually bloody hard to digest for some reason, but gets that Devil vibe happening right from the get go. If I have to explain the whole upside down thing then you are on the wrong site. Director Dowdle then gets the first of his shock scenes rocking, dude polishing a marble floor in some commercial building has the music blasting on his mp3 player and doesn't hear a body slamming into the roof of a van parked just beyond the large plate glass windows behind him. Dowdle holds the static view he presents this scene in for a couple of beats as the Audience digs on what is going down. It's an amazingly tight shot, effective yet without any overblown concepts and rushing of multi angled mayhem. Dowdle is on a mission to get our victims into the elevator that dripped blood asap, indicating something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania, and getting an ominous atmosphere going down. We know who the major characters are, if not their social security numbers, and have a fair idea of the situation due to the excellent use of a voice over that informs us of a bedtime fable mother's used to tell their children in, I guess, Mexico. Perhaps one of the weaknesses of Brian Nelson's script is the fact that the Devil has come to play and there isn't any room given for other interpretations. Some ambiguity may have helped the tension and kept the Audience more on the edge of their seats. Just as a side-note, Nelson gives a huge wink to The Exorcist (1973), when he indicates the whole Demonic play date is being put on for the impact it will have on those observing happenings rather than those in the elevator. Nelson is at pains to point out that the Devil already has the souls of those trapped, and is after something more. Director Dowdle might be conjuring up some lush cinematography as he puts Devil through it's paces, but he is also delivering one hell of a thriller. There might be only five people in the elevator, but which one is the Devil? I actually got this right, then of course changed my mind as Dowdle and Nelson sent a curve ball my way. While the action down the elevator is certainly crisp and pretty tension laced, think about being in that situation, Dowdle gradually fleshes out his suspects as lead Detective Bowden discovers more about the people trapped. We're talking a whole bunch of low lifes, as one would expect at a Devil's Prom, so it's to the Writer Nelson's credit that he manages to inject a couple of surprise twists into proceedings. Things don't follow a preordained path, redemption is still available for those trapped and those looking on. Dowdle also puts his would be rescuers in harms way, and pulls off some pretty nifty false scare scenes as he keeps the Audience mesmerised. What I found intriguing about this movie were the off screen deaths that are gradually mounting up. Dowdle gives us some indications of the harm people are putting themselves in, hot electric cables and water, high rise roof top, bottom of elevator shaft, but does not necessarily deliver on each apparently pre-ordained death scene. It's a great approach as the normal tropes and cheap Boredwood film making techniques are turned on their heads. Dowdle keeps things interesting, which is more than can be said for any dozen other Studio dark genre flicks. Of course central to the movie are events in the actual elevator, and the question about just what might be riding with the other passengers. Dowdle goes with a less is more approach, each time something is going to go down the lights cut out and the Audience are left with noise rather than visuals to interpret. Of course when the lights do come back on something real bad has happened. I know this approach is probably going to infuriate the gorehounds, but I was digging on the whole anticipation of just what might have happened during lights out. The Director does give us a few shock scenes, but more in a Neil Marshall circa The Descent (2005) quick flash fashion than dwelling on it. With one character's death there's another nod to The Exorcist, but hey take what you will. I didn't catch Devil at the cinema but had a rocking good time with it on DVD, hired on the day it hit my local shelves. This is old style horror movie making, where the ideas and the situation are of more importance than the next obviously staged death scene. Director Dowdle (The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007), Quarantine (2008)) is a talent, and for once someone working out of Boredwood who understands how horror works, rather than being a self promoter like Roth. If you enjoy old fashion core horror outings then check this one out, I'm really looking forward to the next “Night Chronicle” instalment now.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... Solid horror thriller that knows what it is doing
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