The Devil In Me DVD Review
Written by Joel Harley
DVD released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Directed by Greg A. Sager
Written by Greg A. Sager, Geoff Hart
2012, Region 2 (PAL), 108 minutes, Rated 18 (UK)
DVD released on 9th July 2012
Starring:
Michelle Argyris as Alex Froshiber
Shantelle Canzanese as Jessica Martin
Vanessa Broze as Brianne Whitaker
Kevin Jake Walker as Brian Wolski
Wayne Conroy as Professor Madison
Colin Smith as Young Priest
Review:
Remember Drag Me To Hell? The creators of The Devil In Me should hope not, since their demonic possession movie compares very unfavourably to Sam Raimi's horror tour de force. The title brings to mind the more recent The Devil Inside, although it fails to better even that.
Three college girls enter into a house share, paying suspiciously little rent for what seems like the ideal home. What their real estate agent didn't tell them is that their new home comes already inhabited by a malevolent force that might just wind up living inside them. It's Alex in the loft bedroom who takes the demon's fancy, and she finds herself playing host to a very excitable evil. Soon she's dancing across her own bedroom ceiling like Tina in A Nightmare on Elm Street and screaming blasphemous obscenities at priests.
What distinguishes The Devil In Me from most demonic possession movies is that the story is told from the perspective of the victim rather than a worried relative or priest. Unfortunately it takes forever to get to the point, and the things it shows us just aren't original or interesting enough to make the grade. Lead actress Michelle Argyris does the best she can with such uninspired material, but isn't quite good enough to liven up the duller moments. One suspects that the story's similarities to The Unborn aren't coincidental, given that she spends the movie in the same manner of undress as that film's Odette Yustman. Without the likes of Gary Oldman and Idris Elba adding a dimension of class, The Devil In Me feels boring and very derivative.
Even the possession scenes have little verve or dynamism. Michael G. Wilmot's unconfident priest is another sterotype, bumbling his way through the exorcism scenes and having little to do but look scared in the dark. We're told that Alex's demon is a particularly dangerous bastard, but it never seems to do anything beyond that which we've seen before in every other demonic possession movie ever made. There's not even any good swearing, which you can usually take for granted in an exorcism film. Alex looks ridiculous wearing her 'possessed face' and is not at all believable or menacing while under the demonic influence. Still, the cinematography is good, with some nicely bubbling tension amidst the dullness (Alex's being tossed around her own bed is a highlight, as are early signs of possession) and the acting is a cut above most straight to DVD affairs.
Be it due to a recent influx of possession movies or because of its consistent lack of action, The Devil In Me is one of the worst of its kind. It's not scary, like The Exorcist, fun like Drag Me to Hell or even ironically enjoyable, like The Devil Inside – it's just bad. It's boring, lazy and unoriginal, and no amount of Michelle Argyris running around in her panties can save it from that.
Video and Audio:
It looks clean and polished and sounds perfectly acceptable too.
Special Features:
None
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