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Deep Winter
Mar 26, 2010
Directed by

John Erick Dowdle

Produced by

John Erick Dowdle
Drew Dowdle
M. Night Shyamalan
Sam Mercer

Devil does not lolly-gag around. The premise of the film is that five strangers are locked together in a malfunctioning elevator, and after a series of strange, spooky, and demonic incidents (along with a bedtime story told by a religious Mexican) we come to learn that one person in this enclosed space is the Devil. You see, the Devil brings together a group of sinners for the sole purpose of torturing them before he accepts their damned souls. Not physical torture. He doesn't play that game. Instead, his mind-games make you wish for death.

Like I said, this movie does not lolly-gag. You don't get interesting backstoreis for the main characters. You don't get to decide five minutes into the movie who you like, who you don't like, or who the good and bad guys are. And the movie is only 80 minutes; nevertheless, this does not subtract from the movie. Instead, it removes fluff and gets down to the nitty-gritty: Scaring the poo poo out of you and the people inside the elevator.

On this front, it succeeded. At least for me. If you are the type of person to be afraid of suspense, then this movie will frighten you. If you are the type of person to be scared of "BOO" moments, well, their aren't alot of those. Multiple times throughout the movie, the lights start to flicker-this is a sign that the devil is about to attack, and that someone is going to die. The lights flicker, everyone looks scared and worried, and then they go out. And all you see is darkness, just like the victims. This is the beauty: You hear it. You hear the devil doing his work. And your mind wanders. Is that the sound of metal being bent? Of flesh being rent? What is going om? You just have to wait for the lights to come back on and see who is still alive.

The movie does not end how you expect it to. Yes, yes, jokes aside about M. Night Shyamalan. The movie has two twists, and you won't see either of them coming. People who are imaginative, you think, you have an idea who the devil is, you wonder and imagine. Here's a hint: You're wrong.

5/5. I really did like this movie. No fluff, just suspense. The twists were good and unexpected, I really was scared when my imagination went wild, and I liked the characters. All of them are sinners in ways we can relate, and we wonder, will our turn be next?

Only God knows.

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mysterious frankie
Jan 11, 2009

This displeases Dev- ..van. Shut up.
It's official- Mexicans are the new magical negros. In Devil, for example, our highly religious Mexican narrator uses his quaint religious beliefs (he prays in a different language, OMG) to guide the protagonist- and the elevator full of people who may or may not be getting offed by ol' Scratch himself- to redemption.

It's not a bad movie. And it defied my original expectations, which were set fairly low by M. Night's name plastered all over the film. Luckily, he had nothing to do with directing it, producing (The Night Chronicles, Jesus Christ)and thinking up the original concept, which is probably for the best. The pacing is tight, the characters just this side of likable and, while the scares were nonexistant, it was still weird enough to command attention. But look out for the bid dumb religious references; if subtly calling attention to the Judeo-Christian themes in your film by naming half the poo poo some variation of Bethlehem sounds about right to you, then this flick will push all the right buttons all the time.

3/5

mysterious frankie fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Sep 19, 2010

Truther Vandross
Jun 17, 2008

I went in expecting a huge trainwreck and I actually got a half-decent movie.

It's definitely different than anything I've seen. The writing was good enough. The acting was good enough. The directing was good enough. It's just a very "good enough" kind of movie.

The movie runs under 90 minutes which is perfect for the subject matter. Keeping the film tight helps my opinion of it tremendously. This was a concept that could have very easily fallen straight into extreme shittiness, but they ride the campy line pretty well and actually engaged me for the duration of the film.

The devil reveal is actually the least important of the two, which I think speaks for the film. To build the entire thing around the Devil and then have me care 100% more about the other twist by the end speaks well of the narrative.

If you can catch this at a dollar theater, I would suggest doing it. If you've seen every other good movie out and you just want to watch a film, this will probably satisfy you enough.

For the casual movie go, I would say save your $10, but it's worth a Netflix rental or catching on TV sometime down the road.

Overall: 2.5/5

That Dang Dad
Apr 23, 2003

Well I am
over-fucking-whelmed...
Young Orc
I went in with LOOOOW expectations and was pleasantly surprised. The movie is actually a decent little thriller.

The movie is a quick novella about evil and actually has an interesting message buried deep down. In the hands of a Chris Nolan or a Kubrik, this could have been a phenomenal movie, but even with the substandard creators we got, it managed to tale a good story.

Juanito the Magical Mexican was probably the worst part of the movie, but it didn't drag the film down too bad.

On a scale of "avoid like the plague" to "camp out three weeks in advance" I rate this movie a "catch a matinée if you got nothing to do one day".

3.5/5

Pweller
Jan 25, 2006

Whatever whateva.

Anal Surgery posted:

The movie is a quick novella about evil

I like this phrase, pretty much sums it up.

Movie felt like a short story as part of a larger horror anthology. Good hooks, good length, wee bit of a thinker. A solid evening rental/popcorn muncher.
3.5/5

QuintessenceX
Aug 11, 2006
We are reasons so unreal
Overall, Devil was a tight and extremely well-executed movie which defies typical movie conventions. Like the Current Release review said, it was refreshing to see characters who were competent at their jobs and acted in a believable fashion while unbelievable circumstances surrounded them. More importantly, the execution of the story was far better than most movies which come out.

What I would like to call attention to is the cinematography in this movie. The use of the first person perspective shines throughout the movie, as do some of the longer shots. I find that most movies have some type of ADHD, constantly cutting from image to image. This is not the case with Devil, where whole speeches are given just focusing on one character from one angle. This evokes a sense of claustrophobia and presence which is just phenomenal.

5/5

mysterious frankie posted:

It's official- Mexicans are the new magical negros. In Devil, for example, our highly religious Mexican narrator uses his quaint religious beliefs (he prays in a different language, OMG) to guide the protagonist- and the elevator full of people who may or may not be getting offed by ol' Scratch himself- to redemption.
3/5

Egh, I totally disagree. The Magical Negro trope is when a minority solves the problem using their magical minority powers. For the most part, the Ramirez is a side character who can't handle his poo poo because of his religious convictions. He doesn't guide the characters to redemption, he just provides religious context for a supernatural event. Infact, he seems convinced throughout the entire movie that these people are just hosed. The protagonist is largely the one who figures out how to "save" everyone. Which is why he is the protagonist.

QuintessenceX fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Apr 6, 2011

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catch22
Feb 17, 2006
Considering horror movies are generally awful and Shyamalan's name is attached to this, I had really low expectations. It's surprisingly decent, however, and doesn't feel completely cookie cutter like so many horrors. The worst part of the movie is by far the Mexican character, who is a "magical negro" and also a really lazy out for the writers to explain whats going on. Pretty much every time he was on screen I was rolling my eyes.

A more condensed, less magical negro reliant version of this movie would have made for a great Twilight Zone episode. As it is, it's just not quite good enough to recommend, but maybe worth checking out if it's on instant-streaming on Netflix and you have time to kill.

2.5/5

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