Devil Review

With this release the Night Chronicles has officially begun. For those not aware of what the Night Chronicles are, it is a series of films being produced by M. Night Shyamalan. If that name alone makes you groan, then perhaps it will ease your mind to know Shyamalan himself will not be directing any of the films. The story concepts are from his mind, but his creative involvement ends there. This project is way to let new blood sit in the director's chair, and we can only hope they turn out better than most recent films with Shyamalan's name attached to them.

First out the gate is Devil, a psychological thriller about a group of strangers trapped in an elevator. Doesn't seem very thrilling you say? What if one of them could possibly be ... the DEVIL ?!? ... Eh that still sounds kind of dull if you ask me. Does the devil have nothing better to do then dick around with people on an elevator? Anyway, so how is it? Well it's ... okay. I didn't hate the movie, but I certainly didn't love it either.

My major problem with the film is how bored I was through most of it, and how little is shown in what is supposed to be a movie. The action only happens when the lights go out in the elevator, so you are left looking at a black screen listening to thuds and screams. It's supposed to create an atmosphere, but when you don't really care about any of these characters then why should you care if one of them happens to be the devil?

The entire movie can't take place in an elevator, so the movie also adds on a police officer on the scene who does his best CSI act trying to use logic to piece together who the killer might be. If this were a murder mystery it might have worked, and been suspenseful and interesting. However this movie is called Devil, who happens to play a major part to the plot so logic doesn't exactly fit into the equation. In the end all of the cop's deductions mean nothing, and are pointless.

The cast are nearly all fresh faces. I can't think of any time I've seen any of these actors in major roles before. For the most they all perform well, but with poorly written dialogue it's hard for anyone to really shine.

So should you take the time to check out the beginning of the Night Chronicles? I say check it out if you're at all interested, but if you could care less then the movie won't change those feelings. If you need something to watch this weekend, maybe skip Devil and watch The Town instead.

Final Score: C