Movie Review: Devil

Synopsis: A group of people trapped in an elevator realize that the devil is amongst them.

I was a bit apprehensive since M. Night Shyamalan wrote the story, but was also sort of hopeful since he didn't actually write the screenplay or direct. I liked his earlier work but he lost me somewhere around the dreadful Lady In The Water and the moronic film The Happening. After this film though I'll continue to give him chances I guess because although this one wasn't great, it's enjoyable I thought.

If you're claustrophobic you might want to avoid it, as a good deal of it takes place within the cramped quarters of the elevator. It's one of those guessing games from the opening minutes as to who is "the devil" so there are twists and red herrings aplenty. It's not as much in-your-face horror as it is suspenseful and tense, but there's some gore and a body count. What is in-your-face are the religious metaphors, and I think it's a bit of an over-simplified sermon so that annoyed me somewhat.

There are some pretty creepy ideas and scenes, the direction is solid and I found the characters interesting and believable. The ending left me a bit unfulfilled though. In the end I think it's entertaining and compelling enough to make it slightly above average for a small scale, broken elevator movie.

7/10