Devil (Universal Pictures)
Devilishly Fun
M. Knight Shyamalan made a bad movie earlier this year titled The Last Airbender and it made tons of money. Now he has a second film in theaters titled Devil. It is a good movie but will probably make very little money. The film wasnt screened in advance for critics and the pre-opening buzz about it has not been great. So many potential viewers will just discount it as a flop before they even have a chance to see it. Those who do go ahead and get a ticket will be pleasantly surprised. It is a first rate thriller from beginning to end.
There are no major stars in the film. Logan Marshall-Green appears each week on Dark Blue. Jenny OHara has been around for many years but has never been in the star category. Bokeem Woodbine and Chris Messina have made a few movies but neither would claim to be a top liner. Still each of these performers delivers a solid performance in the movie.
It all starts innocently enough with a man speaking with his AA sponsor. Later we find out that this man is named Bowden (Messina) and he is a police detective. He developed a drinking problem after his wife and child were killed in a car accident. After he speaks with his sponsor he is called to the scene of a suicide. A man has jumped off a building and landed on a bread truck.
Soon he is called by his superiors and told to go to a skyscraper across the street. In the building an elevator has stalled on the twenty-first floor. There are five persons in the car and they have begun to panic. Eventually they begin to die.
The fact that most of the action in this film takes place in the elevator car in a confined space adds to the tension in the movie. It also appeals to the basic claustrophobia within members of the audience. Add to the small space the fact that the lights keep going on and off and you have a boiling pot of terror.
The poor people trapped in the elevator have one problem after another but those on the outside also have their share of danger. Everyone is doing their best to get the trapped people to safety but evil occurrences keep happening within the elevator and without.
Shyamalan ratchets up the tension and terror with each minute that passes. He has a genius for making the unexpected the source of fear in commonplace situations. This movie is not as fascinating as The Sixth Sense but it has a definite appeal for those who like a suspenseful film.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
It has been a while since we have had a suspense thriller this good and it comes to most viewers out of left field. No one anticipated it would be this good and many had just written it off as another Shyamalan flop. It is far from that.
This is not a graphically gory film but it does make its points nonetheless. It will keep you on the edge of your seat dreading what could happen next. For devotees of this kind of movie that is pure pleasure in and of itself.
I scored Devil a hellish 7 out of 10.
