Review of I Trapped the Devil (2019) by Bryanandrew — 09 Apr 2020

Essentially a Twilight Zone episode that is drawn out way too long and over-relies on suspense to carry its entirety to the end. The film is set in a single setting that is so dark that it is genuinely difficult to tell what is going on at times - especially in the basement where everything is literally bathed in a red hue.

There is praise, however, in the unique decision in placing the events of the film during Christmas with festive decor, creating a disturbing dissonance that juxtaposes itself sharply against the actual mood of the film.

The actor of Steve did a marvelous job at selling his character's disposition by portraying a somewhat nervous twitchiness at key moments. Also, at one point he had to deliver some movie exposition to get the audience up to speed and he does so with a sort of ease that makes his performance believable.

However, I think the remaining two characters of Matt and Karen were under-developed and lacked substance, and it shows in the actors bland portrayals of them. The music score is highly effective but is so overused throughout the film that it loses its effect by the time it truly matters.

In terms of sound mixing and editing, I think the voice of the 'Devil' has a genuinely creepy vibe to it and an almost ominous presence. The same can be said for the 'Blindfolded woman' in Steve's vision, with her freakish cries actually giving me goosebumps as I watched along.

The movie leaves much to be desired and more questions than answers in the end, and while I think open-ended endings are good in some cases, it doesn't quite work for me in this film. For example - Who was calling? Who were the people in Steve's vision? Mystery is good when it adds to the story's themes and motifs but in this case it just adds mystery for the sake of it.

In the end, the plot is ultimately pretty straightforward and moves at the pacing of a slow burn with little payoff. 'I Trapped the Devil' gets a 5.5/10.