I had already heard some negative things about this film before even stepping foot in the theater, so I wasn’t really expecting much. I knew that the Strause Brothers (pretentiously listed in the credits as “The Brothers Strause”) were visual effects artists, so I figured it would look good, but I also knew that their only other feature is Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, so I figured not to expect much else. Turns out I was right on the money about both.

What it’s about:

Apparently beings so highly advanced, when compared to us, that they can construct flying machines that will cross interstellar distances are somehow concerned with little old Earth. They emerge from the clouds in their giant-ass vehicles and begin shining a strange blue light everywhere that turns humans into zombies, and then they suck them up, yum yum. They wreak havoc in L.A., and presumably the rest of the world, and there doesn’t seem to be much anyone can do to stop them. Or is there? (no)

The Good:

As I said above, the film looks fabulous. The Strause brothers did not make bank in Hollywood over the decade because they don’t know how to create a damned fine image. The photography is good, the camera placement and movements are good, and the aliens obviously look excellent. There is really never a time when you don’t believe what’s on screen. They throw everything from spaceships to tentacled marauders to huge-ass stomping alien creatures our way. There are even a few surprises and some nicely creepy visuals. Lots of people get their heads removed for them, which is a bit of a predilection I have in my monster movies (that sounds sort of sick, but it is what it is). There is also a distinct Lovecraftian vibe to the large aliens. Never a bad thing.

The Bad:

The story portion of the film is a total fizzle. The cast is The Attack of the Television Actors, and while all the players are people whose work I have enjoyed, none of them, except my man Eric Balfour, belong in a film. And even Balfour is made to look stupid with the weak script and choppy direction. The Strause’s can direct action and craft awesome aliens, but they can’t evoke convincing portrayals from their actors. There was really not an honest emotional beat in the whole movie. And as we all know, without any character development no one is going to give two shits what happens to said characters. There was never a single drop of tension anywhere in this pointless movie, and the bombastic music was a key that they knew it, and were trying to drum up suspense using that cheap ploy.

Basically it was all shades of ID4, The Matrix, and a whole scene lifted directly out of Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. Once the action got started it was apparent that no one had any idea where to go with it, and so it mainly just sat there stewing in its own juices. It felt like Lord of the Rings: it kept going on every time I thought it was going to end. Wait until video for this one. When it’s in the Redbox. And you have a coupon. And you’ve watched everything else.

Trivia:

Apparently this film was entirely self-funded by the Strause brothers and was mostly filmed in and around their condo complex. Which just goes to show that no matter how much money and expertise you throw at the screen, it will not make up for a derivative story, a weak script, and characters who are little more than ciphers. I cannot imagine for the life of me why they thought this movie was worthy of their own personal finances. They could have invested in a string of really awesome low budget efforts instead, and given the cinematic world some originality. Oh well.

I had wanted to see Devil on its open weekend, but my glamorous life of full-time job and helicopter parent kept me from doing so. But better late than never, I guess. The main reason I wanted to tackle this one, even in a mini format, was because I knew it was going to not be seen by a lot of people because of the Shyamalan backlash. So, as a point of information for you: while it was his idea and produced by his company, DEVIL WAS NEITHER WRITTEN NOR DIRECTED BY M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN. See? It’s safe to go see it after all.

What’s it about:

Devil is an ingeniously simple concept: five people get on an elevator, and they get dead in turn until we figure out which one is Satan up on Earth for a lark. And that’s pretty much it. There’s a cop with a tortured past trying to save the day, of course, but mostly it’s just the people in the elevator getting picked off like nits from a gorilla’s ass.

The Good:

The five characters are disparate enough to seem like random chance, but not as Village People-y as the bus occupants in Speed. The Final Destination events that occur to keep the people both incommunicado to the outside world and from being rescued are neatly explained away by Ramirez, a religious security guard in the building, who narrates the film with stories his mom told him as a child regarding how the devil likes to behave. With a fine coating of the supernatural we are free to let everything else go and anticipate who’s gonna die next and who the culprit may be. The casting was also well done in the sense that all the players should be familiar to you from their various smaller movie roles and TV work, but not so familiar that you pin any extra suspicion or sympathy on them.

The Bad:

Well, that sympathy issue is a big sticking point. While Devil’s 80-minute running time keeps proceedings tight and the pace fast, it also keeps us from ever building any intimacy with the characters. So while Devil is a fun movie, it’s never a tense one. It also leaves the opening event as a very loose end, and while the resolution in the elevator is more satisfying than a regular Shyamalan “what a tweest!”, the final scene in the movie is a bit weak and schmaltzy.

End Result:

As I look at what I wrote, I see that the good paragraph is a bit bigger than the bad, so I guess overall I liked the film. I think it is a fun Summer film. It will keep you guessing but won’t tax your brain in the way that a film like Inception would. It’s never tense or scary (unless you’re a tween, I guess, and with its PG-13 rating it will have a fair share of that audience) but it moves fast and never fucks with you as to whether it is supernatural or not, which is a pet peeve of mine. And considering it has made more than its budget in its opening week, you can undoubtedly expect to see the next two films in the proposed trilogy coming atcha pretty soon.

Trivia:

While the fireman named Kurtzy may not have been named for Bob Kurtzman, the former K in KNB Effects and director of such fine films as the first Wishmaster, the lawyer named Kazan and likable security guard named Lustig were surely not coincidences. Also, the annoying salesman in the elevator is Geoffrey Arend, the sonofabitch engaged to Christina Hendricks.

The Set-Up:

Disillusioned southern preacher Cotton Marcus agrees to perform one last exorcism for a documentary film crew, as a means of exposing to the public what a sham the procedure is. When he arrives at the Sweetzer farm in New Orleans he meets the presumably possessed 16-year old Nell, her angry brother Caleb, and their drunk and distraught father, Louis. He performs the exorcism, and everything seems fine…until Nell shows up at his motel room, five miles away, later that night. He becomes embroiled in her life, and drags producer Iris and her cameraman into some shit they never bargained for.

The good:

The acting here is really above par. Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell particularly stand out as Cotton and Nell. They’re the lynch-pins of the film. If you don’t believe the possessed and the preacher there isn’t much of an exorcism movie. Luckily they do a great job. Apparently Ashley Bell is double-jointed and all the contortions she does in the film are real and not special effects. I think this is a career-making film. Look what Emily Rose did for Jennifer Carpenter. Also, as with any film of this nature , the supernatural element remains largely ambiguous, but there are plenty of absolutely creepy visuals and scenes of great violence to keep you entertained and engaged while waiting to find out what happens in the end. And what an ending. Holy shit. Like it ot hate it you’ll have to agree it’s pretty insane.

The bad:

The Last Exorcism is like a horror film scarecrow: bits and pieces of other films copied and pasted onto a skeletal framework. It is difficult, as a film fan, to not sit and point out what other movies they lifted various pieces from. Sometimes subtly, and sometimes really, really, really blatantly. It also has one glaringly obvious logic flaw that doesn’t come to light til the end, and which I cannot point out here without issuing a spoiler. So email me if you’ve already seen the film and we’ll talk about it.

End Result:

Ultimately, I enjoyed the film. Yes, there is not an original bone in its body, but it was well-made, the characters were written and acted well, and there were definite goosebump moments. And they made sure that the final scene was going to be one sending you out of the theater going what the fuck did I just watch? I’ll give it a catch it on video thumb’s up.

Some trivia:

German-born directed Daniel Stamm made a film previous to this called A Necessary Death which was also documentary-style, following a man who planned to commit suicide. I can’t help but think that movie is why Eli Roth thought Stamm would be perfect for this film.