Review of Devil (2010) by Joanne G — 11 Apr 2012

I remember when I was younger enjoying the earlier films of M. Nightâ(TM)s, specifically âThe Sixth Senseâ? and âUnbreakableâ?, back when M. Night was suspected of being the next Steven Spielberg (seriously). However, the problems seem to be that why he is a good director, when he becomes too invested in the story, adding his ideas and writing the script, it goes downhill, unfortunately. Here, M. Night does a good method. He picks an interesting idea, steps aside, and just produces, allowing another person the opportunity to create a story. Result? Possibly my favorite M. Night associated film since âUnbreakableâ?.

The basis of the script is simplistic, five people are stuck in an elevator, and one of them could possibly be the Devil. Bang, there, plot in a sentence, a minor sub-plot featuring a police detective working through his personal problems aside. The simplistic element of the script allows the director to work at what is important: scaring the shit out of the audience. And I admit, I found it freaky, not entirely scary, lots of people would, but the right bit of freaky. It had you jumping, severely creeped out, worried about what will happen next, which is a good thing.

I was most impressed by two of the male actors, the lead detective, and âTonyâ?, who I felt were the strongest performers. It was lucky in that all the performers were pretty solid, as a cast, but these two were the most impressive for me, have to admit.

I think the film is a good solid horror film, does the job, is enjoyable, and could actually show M. Night in a midst of a slow return to form, not as a writer/director, but as a producer. Good film.