Plot: Twenty years ago, a woman was possessed and killed three people who had tried to exorcize her. Now, her adult daughter investigates her possession along with two Priests.

Review:

The trailers for "The Devil Inside" looked promising, but I can't say I was thrilled at the idea of watching it. Something about exorcism movies all look the same to me, probably because every exorcist movie feels the need to rip-off or homage "The Exorcist" in some way, shape or form. I mean, all zombie movies feel the need to steal its genres conventions from "Dawn of the Dead", yet I rarely think of that movie while watching other zombie movies. Even its unofficial sequels are different in execution. But with exorcism movies, "The Exorcist" was so definitive, covering every trope the genre would exploit that it makes all other exorcism movies seem redundant and familiar. Strangely, the only exorcism movies that have made an effort to not be "The Exorcist" were its sequels, which probably lead to their respective bombs at the box office. Yet this genre doesn't seem to be dying. Every year has its own exorcism movie. "The Devil Inside" isn't going to stop the trend either. The universally negative reviews and its tired overused gimmick (found footage; didn't "The Last Exorcism" already do that for its genre?) didn't keep people away. In fact, audiences flocked to see it, turning it into a huge financial hit. But despite the negative hype, is it really a bad movie? Personally, I believe people are projecting their hatred of the ending onto the rest of the film. It's hardly a classic. I believe that deep down, there was once a good movie here. 

 Back in the 1980's, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) killed two Priests and a Nun, calling the Police right afterwards to tell them in an emotionless voice what she did. It turns out they died performing an exorcism on her. In 2009, her daughter Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) has decided to investigate the alleged possession by having a documentary made about her Mother, thus securing this film as a found footage/mockumentary hybrid. Her Mother is vague and unresponsive, but she does find help from Two Priests. After witnessing an exorcism done by them, she convinces them to help with her Mother. But they've gravely underestimated what they're up against, so can they survive and save her?

The first half of the film was rather mediocre, if a bit boring. Very little seems to be happening, although honestly, that comes with the territory. I guess this is a good time to bring up the one universal rule with found footage films: They will either bore you or scare you. They rely on the slow burn suspense and subtle sounds. With that said, "The Devil Inside" isn't much of a horror film for its first half. Yes, the opening has a decent jump and I was caught off guard by a huge dog popping up at one point. But for the most part, it's just people talking. It's also not anymore original than the rest of its ilk. I'm used to exorcism movies ripping off "The Exorcist"- which this sometimes does- but what did throw me off is how much it borrowed/stole from "The Rite", which only came out a year prior. It lifts identical plot devices and scenarios from that movie, but delivers half-assed versions of them. The found footage idea, furthermore, had already been done in "The Last Exorcism", which did it better. So while I feel this movie is underrated, there are plenty of arguments against it. It's never good to remind people of other, better, movies and "The Devil Inside" breaks that rule more than most exorcism films.

The film picks up once it reaches its first major exorcism scene. It offers nothing new, but I've learned something new about myself. Body contortionists freak me the fuck out. Certain jerky movements or popping noises just make me squeamish and at least this movie handles that effectively. The film does frame its scares effectively and the lighting is strong. It obscures enough to be menacing, but not to the point where we can't see what's going on. But the film really starts to get good when they try to exorcise the Mother. What I love about the rest of the movie from here is how they have all the characters start to break down psychologically. While there are flaws in this regard, watching the ugly sides of them emerge. I love how both of the Priests are deconstructed more and more as the film goes on, which makes them more vulnerable to the demonic forces. I'm not really sure I'm explaining this enough. But when the shit hits the fan, I was completely into the film. I thought it was creepy, intriguing and a little unpredictable. The actors pull off the growing paranoia and panic perfectly too. It is refreshing to see developing characters who have multiple sides to them. Even the cameraman impressed me. This is where I felt the good movie was, and this is also why the film feels incomplete. 

P.S: Personally, I'd just go see "Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy", as that film was excellent!

Violence: Rated R worthy. Some moments are hard to watch.

Nudity: None, although there is sexual oriented dialogue as every exorcism movie must have the possessed chick saying: "Let me suck your cock!" or some shit like that. 

Overall: "The Devil Inside" is worth watching if you like exorcism or found footage films, but you might want to keep your expectations low. I'm partial too it, but I'm mostly alone. 

2/4 Stars