The Devil Inside

Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, Suzan Crowley, Bonnie Morgan
Directed by: William Brent Bell
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A woman (Fernanda Andrade) travels to Vatican City to investigate the exorcism that led to her mother murdering multiple people decades ago.

Review:

Tim: The Devil Inside is a fairly average exorcism movie. I didn't hate the film as much as many people, but I certainly didn't love it, either. I'm a fan of these types of movies in general, and it gives us just enough to keep us interested.

While the idea of a "documentary" approach to exorcisms isn't new, the idea is still interesting. While this film goes to great lengths to make this feel "real" (some of the events are derived from true events), it's really all for show, and it's not very convincing. From the very first scene, I knew this was a fiction story that was masquerading as being true. The movie doesn't do anything to convince us otherwise.

I thought the story was mildly interesting- a young woman travels to Italy to see her mother and explore exorcisms, as it was during a botched exorcism that her mother murdered several people. While a bit absurd, it at least gave us a somewhat compelling reason for the events of the film.

The characters are mildly interesting. I wasn't very impressed with Fernanda Andrade, as her character just seemed a bit too throwaway for me. I thought the two priests were more interesting, even though they weren't the "primary" plot. I liked the idea of a behind-the-scenes look at an exorcism school, and about renegade priests doing exorcisms without the permission of the Roman Catholic Church. None of this was particularly original or enthralling, but it managed to hold a bit of my attention.

The exorcism scenes are about average. There's some creepy moments, some clever use of flexible and double-jointed actresses, and all the typical moments we've come to expect from the scenes. Despite all that, there's always something inherently frightening about scenes depicting demonic possession. We see young girls with superhuman strength, speaking vulgarities in different voices, and a whole host of other creepy behavior. There was a few moments when I cringed because of what I saw on screen. I appreciated those moments, and the image of a woman with a cross cut into her inner lip isn't one I will soon forget.

I know a lot of people complained about the ending. It was a bit quick and not the most logical or believable way for the film to end, but I didn't have any problems with it. It presented several different alternative ways to describe what we see, so we can debate about the ending after the movie ends. That's always fun.

I feel like I should have hated The Devil Inside, but I simply could not. The film isn't very good, but it's a perfectly acceptable, average horror movie. It'll soon be forgotten like so many, but it's only 83 minutes, and did just enough to hold most of my attention.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Devil, The Last Exorcism, The Exorcist, Insidious