Featured Audience Ratings

• Luke B

  
  What a God-awful pile of crap this was. And that's coming from a huge fan of mockumentary/found footage films. The Devil Inside follows a a young woman trying to discover why her mum killed three people during an exorcism. She teams up with two rogue priests that perform… More
  What a God-awful pile of crap this was. And that's coming from a huge fan of mockumentary/found footage films. The Devil Inside follows a a young woman trying to discover why her mum killed three people during an exorcism. She teams up with two rogue priests that perform exorcisms outside of the church's jurisdiction. What makes this film so bad? Mostly it's how unconvincing it is as a documentary. Why bother with this facade if you are completely moronic when it comes to documentaries? WIthin the first 20 minutes we see a number of instances that break the film's own rules. First of all the girl starts asking about the cameras in the car. No documentary would include this moment, it's just an example of a fake documentary reminding you of what it's supposed to be. Next, a doctor walks down a doctor sneaks up on the protagonist with no sounds of footsteps, a second later he starts walking and yes, we hear footsteps again. Then we have a set-up in a room where we see CCTV and no cameraman, and suddenly footage from the cameraman's perspective. Is he invisible? Does he run in and out of the room? Hell if I know. It gets no better with the awful performances and idiotic characters. They act as though this is a normal scripted narrative, and forget to be real. I'm guessing zero amount of improvisation went into this film. Later we also see blood splat on the camera lens and then it vanishes. It isn't wiped away, it just disappears. Finally we get to the end. Well, actually we don't. There is no end to this film. It just finishes and gives you a website link to "read up on the case". Would you like to do that once you've wasted your money? No, didn't think so. Make sure this film dies a horrible and painful death. It truly is disgusting, and doesn't even bother to try and entertain. When the most enjoyable part of the movie involves the attempted drowning of a baby and the audience wishes they were the baby, then you don't deserve to make films.

• Nate Z

  
  I heard all about The Devil Inside earlier this year, when supposedly midnight screening audiences were so incensed that they practically became a riotous mob, throwing items at the screen, loudly booing, some even destroying theater equipment. If that doesn?t sell this movie, then I… More
  I heard all about The Devil Inside earlier this year, when supposedly midnight screening audiences were so incensed that they practically became a riotous mob, throwing items at the screen, loudly booing, some even destroying theater equipment. If that doesn?t sell this movie, then I don?t know what will. I wasn?t expecting much from this faux documentary about one pretty girl?s (Fernanda Andrade) search for her crazy mom who may or may not be possessed by demons. She enlists the help of two exorcists and a camera crew and goes searching for answers. Never mind that the movie is absent any scares outside the sudden jump variety, ignore the empty characters and nonsensical plotting and poor pacing and choppy editing, as well as some bad Italian accents, and let?s get down to what makes this movie so notorious ? the ending. Just when it appears that The Devil Inside is gearing up for a climactic showdown between good and evil, just when it seems like the movie is finally getting somewhere, it ends in the most abrupt, ludicrous fashion (note to self: when transporting possessed people, stow them away in the trunk). You?re left dumbstruck, shocked that the filmmakers cheated you out of an ending. It?s a nonsensical and cheap thing to do, and I can understand why it inflamed audiences (it still made over $50 million, so I think the filmmakers are feeling fine). Only those easily spooked by demonic possession would find this movie scary. Everyone else will just find it upsetting, not because of its content, but because of its lack of a workable conclusion. Nate's Grade: D+

• Jeff "

  
  The Devil Inside is that film that has the misfortune in being released in the period where Found Footage films are becoming tiresome, uninspired and a waste of time. This isn't the first Found Footage flick to deal with Exorcisms since 2010's The Last Exorcism. This film is… More
  The Devil Inside is that film that has the misfortune in being released in the period where Found Footage films are becoming tiresome, uninspired and a waste of time. This isn't the first Found Footage flick to deal with Exorcisms since 2010's The Last Exorcism. This film is one of the worst horror films in recent memory. What it lacks the most is substance. This film had so much potential in being an effective horror film. Unfortunately, it ends up being one of the worst. The film misfires and instead of delivering great chills (except for an exorcism halfway through the film), this film fails. The Devil Inside relies on the usual clichés, and doesn't try anything new, bold or exciting to thrill the viewer. What's really a shame here is that the two actors playing the priests are very good in their roles, unfortunately the film doesn't work. The script is poorly written, and the material is taken from other genre films. This is one of those films that is predictable and really isn't worth your time. I personally feel that Found Footage films are a thing of the past, and aren't great. Apollo 18 was a decent flick, but it should have ended with that one. Guess they're going to keep on making these types of films just for the sake of cashing in on it. As far as I'm concerned, they all follow the same formula, and really don't offer anything new. The Devil Inside might have been a good effort if the script would have been reworked, but it becomes one of the worst horror flocks in recent memory and the ending will surely disappoint.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"No soul is safe."</i> In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism. <center><font size=+2… More
  <i>"No soul is safe."</i> In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) and a documentary filmmaker travel to Italy where they want to find out what really happened twenty years earlier when her mother killed three people supposedly during an exorcism. Along with the help of a couple priests, Isabella plans on finding out if exorcism are real and if her mother was ever possessed. The Devil Inside is yet another film showing off the "found footage" format and I think the entire genre has almost ran its course. I'm not going to call this one of the worst horror films ever made as many have. I'm not going to call the ending one of the worst in the history of cinema like many have. The Devil Inside isn't a horrid film or a good one and what really makes me upset at it is how bland and lifeless it is. If you've ever seen a horror movie in your life then you're going to know all the tricks here. This includes quiet moments where the surround sound gets a workout with one of those fake scares from a loud noise. You're going to know when the characters are all gathered around talking while the "subject" is calm that the person will then go crazy to try and get another fake scare. The problem is that these fake scares don't even work and the execution of the film really isn't all that impressive. If the fake scares don't work then you know the real ones aren't going to either. I found the film lacking any real atmosphere and I'd say that the entire exorcism plot line is just played out. Nothing fresh or original happens here and it's really not too hard to catch the twist that happens at the end. I will say that I did enjoy the performances with Andrade doing a fine job in the lead. Supporting players Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth are also good. The Devil Inside is far from being a horrible movie but it's somewhat worse simply because it's bland. At least with bad movies you can have fun with them and that's certainly not the case here.

• Everett J

  
  Exorcism movies are very hit and miss with me. "Last Exorcism" is a miss, but "Exorcism of Emily Rose" was amazing. I was hoping "Devil Inside" was more like Rose, but instead it is a lot more like "Last Exorcism". It's a found footage… More
  Exorcism movies are very hit and miss with me. "Last Exorcism" is a miss, but "Exorcism of Emily Rose" was amazing. I was hoping "Devil Inside" was more like Rose, but instead it is a lot more like "Last Exorcism". It's a found footage film, which I have zero problem with. I actually enjoy movies shot like this, it really adds a good atmosphere. It's the story of a woman named Isabella, who is seeking the truth about her mother. In 1989 her mom Maria brutally murdered three people during an exorcism, and was relocated to Italy for observation. Isabella wants to know if her mom is possessed, or if she has a mental illness. There are a couple very good "holy shit!" moments during this movie, but they aren't like "Boo!", it's like "that looks sick!" For that, the movie is worth a watch. But, overall the movie leaves you wishing it had offered up more. The story could have gone farther, and the action could have been picked up a bit. It runs at 83 minutes, but feels a lot longer than that. Better than some recent horror movies, it's still not that great, and really only worth one viewing.

• MisterYoda ?

  
  three stars

• Pierluigi P

  
  This vomitive trend of horror pseudo-documentaries irritates me no end. This is, by far, one of the worst pieces of trash born out of it. Poorly written characters, no suspense, and a terrible ending. Simply laughable.

• Kase V

  
  'The Devil Inside' is disappointing on so many levels. It isn't scary (just creepy), the story is bland, and most of the acting Is awful. The ending doesn't seem to help either, because it ends so poorly and abruptly, that all you can do is sit there and feel like… More
  'The Devil Inside' is disappointing on so many levels. It isn't scary (just creepy), the story is bland, and most of the acting Is awful. The ending doesn't seem to help either, because it ends so poorly and abruptly, that all you can do is sit there and feel like you've wasted your time. Try to avoid this one.

• Universal D

  
  Sooo bad. Sooo stupid. I actually got angry at the director, the actors, the writers, even angry at other people in the audience simply for being there. Every exorcism movie I see I say this, but here I am saying it again: no more exorcism movies!

• Markus R

  
  True Life: My Mom is Possessed by the Devil.Who is William Brent Bell? Could he be the director of the new low budget exorcism movie "The Devil Inside"? Could he be the man to single handedly spell the end for these faux-documentary "horror" movies? Could he also… More
  True Life: My Mom is Possessed by the Devil.Who is William Brent Bell? Could he be the director of the new low budget exorcism movie "The Devil Inside"? Could he be the man to single handedly spell the end for these faux-documentary "horror" movies? Could he also be the director of the first bad movie of the year? In the end, WHO CARES who William Brent Bell is! Because whatever far too negative thoughts which come to mind when the term "director" and William Brent Bell are used in the same sentence, will soon become as irrelevant as his career is after directing "The Devil Inside". Warning: This movie is filmed like a "Quarantine" or "Cloverfield", meaning almost all of it is filmed in that amateurish POV shaky cam, can't see a lot of the action because the cameraman is running, lose your lunch style. The only difference here is, at least those other two were watchable. So, viewers going into a movie like this need to keep two things in mind: 1. When the cameraman dies so does the movie. 2. Try not to eat a big meal beforehand. If you haven't heard by now, the story follows an American woman by the name of Maria Rossi, who allegedly killed a bunch of people during an exorcism gone wrong (don't they always?) in 1989. She is subsequently locked away in a mental hospital (in Italy for some reason). And for some reason, years later, her grown daughter Isabella wishes to visit her (with a cameraman mind you) and question her crazy mother about what really happened that night in 1989. Though the trailers promises audiences an entertaining horror movie full of scares and terrifying images, due to a grocery list of outstanding flaws "The Devil Inside" is doomed to snatch the title of worst film of 2012 so far (and it's only the second week!). The faults are as follows: Via an awful script, this film attempts to become far deeper than simply a B movie horror flick, by inserting psychological dialogues having to do with mental health disorders as the modern Catholic Church's alternative to possession, which does nothing but slow the film down to a crawl (at times). The script (partially written by Bell himself) also does its part to take away from any scary moments the film would have had. Any time there was a genuine build up to a scare, one of the characters would say something utterly outlandish or begin singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and create a state of unintentional goofiness that worked to negate any and all scares. The acting also hinders this movie greatly. The phrase "can't act his/her way out of a paper bag" cannot be used enough in this case, but that is to be expected out of a low-budget film of this nature. Furthermore, if there were any dust particles of entertainment value floating aimlessly throughout this film, they were overshadowed by some inexcusably shaky camerawork which was so bad that while watching the film I realized (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that "The Devil Inside" stood alone as the worst visual experience I have ever had watching a hand held faux-documentary. The phrase "Can't direct his way out of a paper bag" can also be thrown around quite liberally here, as the director of this amateurish endeavor shows his lack of skills early and often. There are some scenes were the camera (mid-sentence) cuts to inconceivable shots of the side of a forehead and others (when cameras are installed in a car) that look as if everybody's mouths and body movements were inexplicably sped up post-production. There is also a directorial ploy used where (from time to time throughout the film) the cameraman pulls priests and other characters of note into "confessionals" of sorts where they spout off emotionally driven asides of how they are really scared or how they don't like the other people in the house. Yes, these scenes are all too stupidly reminiscent of similarly shot sequences in MTV shows such as "The Real World" or "Jersey Shore". But all the bad acting, lazy camerawork, sloppy dialogue and the fact that the first hour of this "horror film" contains a debilitatingly slow build up, with little to no actual scares in it, can all be forgiven and considered side effects of hokey B movie productions. BUT, what cannot be forgiven is the slap in the face ending, which consists of a half-way descent climax culminating in basically (SPOILER ALERT) an abrupt ending. And as the groans from the audience commenced as the screen suddenly goes black (an ending that is all too egregiously overused in films like these), a message flashes on the screen ballsy enough to incite a riot. It reads: For more information about this case, go to www.mariarossi.com (or something to that effect). To me this is the equivalent to watching a Discovery Channel show and being told "for more information on tigers consult your local library". In short, while it works for said Discovery Channel show, what did I just pay for?! Did I really just pay 10.50 to see a movie that contains, not an actual ending, but a climax which results in a website where I am to continue to seek out an ending that the director refused to show in theaters?! Another way to see this ending could be as Bell letting the audiences know (in so many words) how he already has their money, therefore he can throw any old ending up there and nobody could stop him. To quote the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, "Worst ending ever!" Final Thought: I am not going to lie. For about fifteen minutes of this 87 minute film (beginning around minute 60) there is a semblance of suspense that, no matter how predictable, was somewhat engaging. BUT the fact that it took so long to get to this point in conjunction with the sad fact of how it ended (my God, don't get me started again on that ending) negates almost any recollection of entertainment value "The Devil Inside" had. So obviously my consensus is to skip "The Devil Inside", unless you are a fan of sitting through movies where you can barely see anything that is happening onscreen; or crappy endings. Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole Ashland Please visit my page on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/x-52464-San-Jose-Indie-Movie-Examiner and leave any comments you have about this or any review. The more hits I get the better. Thank you. Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

• Tom M

  
  I couldn't actually give this film 5 stars cause it's REALLY bad. But my god. Everyone has to see this movie. It's so freakin funny. It's definitely a new favorite bad movie. There is literally no way to take it seriously. The audience was laughing to! And rotten… More
  I couldn't actually give this film 5 stars cause it's REALLY bad. But my god. Everyone has to see this movie. It's so freakin funny. It's definitely a new favorite bad movie. There is literally no way to take it seriously. The audience was laughing to! And rotten tomatoes wasn't kidding, the ending was atrocious! There's nothing to say! See it! It's so damn funny! The best possible way to start off 2012!

• Joshua W

  
  I was worned early on that this film was horrible (and not in the good way.) but I'm a sucker for mockumentary films. i believe them to be a great new film format. I paid discount price to see this film only to find out I paid full price for it. Seriously? 1 hour and 27 mins?… More
  I was worned early on that this film was horrible (and not in the good way.) but I'm a sucker for mockumentary films. i believe them to be a great new film format. I paid discount price to see this film only to find out I paid full price for it. Seriously? 1 hour and 27 mins? Disney animated films are longer then this. I'm a fan of short films. But a good short film needs to tell a full story in that short amount of time. what I got from this film is the writters were ambitious at the start, sort of got over it halfway and soon said f#%k it. The film had it's moments but were outshadowed by the long boring dialogue driven scenes. AND, I have to talk about it, the ending... like I mentioned before, it seemed like the writters just gave up instead of coming up with an ending. Would I refer it to my friends? Of course not! Would I see it again? Only if it's for free. What did I like? The acting. This is one of the rare cases where the actors are way over qualified for the film itself. If I were producing this, I would have hired another writter to add to the story and give it a proper ending. This film had potential but failed to deliver.

• E.J. B

  
  The first release of 2012 is also the first big horror release of the New Year, and it's setting the bar really low for what's to come. Shamelessly rehashing cliches, telling the story through the extremely tediously tired found footage documentary style, and failing to… More
  The first release of 2012 is also the first big horror release of the New Year, and it's setting the bar really low for what's to come. Shamelessly rehashing cliches, telling the story through the extremely tediously tired found footage documentary style, and failing to create a single scare, The Devil Inside is a clunker that could almost be the movie definition of the word derivative. Kudos to the movie trailer guy for making this pile of manure look almost like gold. Isabella Rossi, played by the gorgeous Fernanda Andrade, hires a documentary cameraman to help her investigate the case of her mother, Maria, who killed three people in 1989 during a supposed exorcism. She teams up with two rogue priests who have been performing exorcisms against the wishes of the Vatican, because the Vatican no longer recognizes demonic possession as a diagnoses. They tell the cameraman to document everything. And as fate would have it, they're all in for a "shocking" discovery. Of course the demon they're about to encounter is one they've never encountered before, and this demon will give them a fight they doubt they can win. The plot moves at an incredibly slow pace. Scares are few and far between, and when they do occur, they induce far more laughter or frustrated groans than fearful screams. Much of the plot is revealed through character interviews and scenes with them around tables discussing their next move. But perhaps the biggest offense committed here is the one on one time the characters have to talk to the camera, just like in reality TV. You know, those scenes in The Bachelor, Survivor, and Jersey Shore where people complain about their peers and reveal their inner emotions. Yeah, those are aplenty in this movie. I enjoy films about demonic possession. It's creepy subject matter. However, it's a very easy horror subgenre to screw up. For one, if you've seen one exorcism movie, you've more or less seen them all, since all the terror scenes involve someone contorting his or her body, screaming obscenities, and screaming really loud in multiple voices. It's very difficult to find new ways to tell this kind of story, and I acknowledge that. But I refuse to forgive a movie like this that so unabashedly exists to repeat ideas, concepts, and scenes that are far beyond uninspired. The Devil Inside fails as compelling drama, horror, and is a obvious knockoff of Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, and The Last Exorcism. A must miss.

• Tyler C

  
  Only positive aspect is that the performances were okay. But this film is devoid of decent scares and that ending...OH THAT ENDING!! The whole theater I saw this with Rage Quitted at that piece of sh*t ending!

• Dann M

  
  Frightening and intense, The Devil Inside is a terrifying tale of horror. Isabella Rossi, whose mother suffers from demonic possession, films a documentary about exorcisms in order to better understand what happened to her mother and possibly help her. The film is shot exceptionally… More
  Frightening and intense, The Devil Inside is a terrifying tale of horror. Isabella Rossi, whose mother suffers from demonic possession, films a documentary about exorcisms in order to better understand what happened to her mother and possibly help her. The film is shot exceptionally well and does a great job integrating different types of footage into a narrative. And, there's an authenticity to the look of the film that enhances the faux documentary style. The Devil Inside may be a little too by the numbers, but it's a solid horror film that delivers some thrills.

• Shawn M

  
  some cool athletic stretches but a sad attempt of a movie, was waiting for something epic to happen, but sadly, the only entertaining part was the first possession.

• The Movie W

  
  Yet another found footage movie fails to hit the mark. The movie opens with footage filmed by police at the scene of a triple murder, the victims being two priests and a nun. Twenty years later, Andrade, daughter of the killer, sets off to Rome with documentary film-maker Grama to… More
  Yet another found footage movie fails to hit the mark. The movie opens with footage filmed by police at the scene of a triple murder, the victims being two priests and a nun. Twenty years later, Andrade, daughter of the killer, sets off to Rome with documentary film-maker Grama to finally meet her mother, who it seems is possessed by a demon. Why she was transferred to a psychiatric facility in Rome is never quite explained, but I guess Rome is a better setting for a horror movie than Philadelphia. The reason the found footage genre has such a low success rate is because it attracts so many hacks. Film-makers think they can make it look as amateurish as possible and this will excuse their lack of talent. They're wrong of course as this is a genre that requires a serious attention to detail in order to pass it off as reality. It's a quality Bell is severely lacking. For instance there's a scene inside Crowley's cell with three characters, one of whom is the cameraman. When we cut to footage from the CCTV camera in the cell however there are now only two characters, the cameraman now nowhere to be seen. "Chronicle" succumbed to similar mistakes. This is a genre that has it's own unique set of rules and if you don't understand them you'll be easily caught out. The exorcism scenes are exactly what we've become used to, contortionists standing in for possessed girls with potty mouths. Crowley's idea of speaking in tongues only seems to stretch as far as a dodgy cockney accent. After a dull first hour the movie does start to get into interesting territory but just as our curiosity is peaked the movie (quite literally) crashes to a halt and we're left feeling cheated and frustrated. The European release of this has been delayed quite a while, strange considering it was quite a hit Stateside, taking $33 million for a $1 million budget. American audiences were furious at the ending which told viewers to visit a website to continue the story. This has been erased for the European release but the movie's climax still leaves us hanging in its abruptness. The best thing about this endeavour is Andrade. I hope she goes on to bigger things as I could happily spend more time looking at her stunning face.

• Cameron J

  
  "Look at them go, look at them kick, makes you wonder how the other half live; the devil inside, the devil inside, every single one of us the devil inside!" Oh, come on, did you seriously think that I wasn't going to do that? That song reference is to me what found… More
  "Look at them go, look at them kick, makes you wonder how the other half live; the devil inside, the devil inside, every single one of us the devil inside!" Oh, come on, did you seriously think that I wasn't going to do that? That song reference is to me what found footage horror film cliches are to this film, I just couldn't had to do it. Yeah, I'm not terribly crazy about that song, or INXS for that matter, but hey, at least "Devil Inside" is a better song than this is a film. If nothing else, the song "Devil Inside" is less obnoxious than Suzan Crowley's Maria Rossi character, with all of her going around and talking about, "Connect the dots", which leaves me to think that she may not so much be possessed by Satan as much as she's possessed by Pee-wee Herman. I always figured that Pee-wee demon inside him somewhere, it's just that I didn't expect for him to turn out to be that demon, though, now that I think about, it does explain a lot, which is something that you can't say about this film, or at least this film's ending. Still, as poor as this film is, it's hard to deny some strengths, however limited they may be. Though extremely formulaic and barely structured into an actual plot, this film's ideas are undeniably rather interesting in concept, thus creating a degree of immediate intrigue that sticks with the film for a little bit, only to dissipate after a while, once you come to realize that this film is going very few places very slowly. However, regardless of the borderline plotlessness that plagues this film and will be touched more upon later on in this review, the film isn't exactly aimless, as it has its sights set on certain points, it's just that it gets there so startlingly blandly that you barely even care by the time this film gets to where it aims to go. This, of course, dilutes the already atmospherically tainted moments where something actually happens, like, say, an excorcism sequence, yet it's not like moments such as those are lifeless, for although direction and atmosphere fall flat, the general structure of the film's rising action set pieces have an audacitity and bruality to them that may go undercut by direcorial flaws, and rarely hit all that hard to begin with, but establish a degree of consequence, and with it, more intrigue than this film deserves. It all comes down to a climax that, like the other set pieces of rising action, doesn't have as much bite as it should, but does deliver on as much, if not more intrigue than any preceding intriguing set piece, and for that, I'd like to give a bit of credit to Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth, the relative best performances of the film, which isn't saying much at all, considering that everyone else, while not bad, is blandly mediocre. This means that Quarterman and Helmuth don't have to do too much to stand out, and sure enough, Quarterman and Helmuth aren't any better than decent, but they have a certain light charisma about them before they take on some genuine acting range by the climax, and that helps in making the final act more effective and, by extension, the ending even more of a cop-out, which isn't to say that the final product leaves too much to ruin. I've thrown in a few compliment to the film, but make no mistake, the film's high points are scarce, and don't even hit all that high to begin with. Really, the best thing that I can say about this film is that it's almost too bland to be bad, yet it is ultimately bad, and thanks to more than a few factors, including the very blandness that nearly saves the final product. Now, while this film is a poor waste of time, it really isn't quite as bad as I was expecting, as I was going in expecting a poorly-acted, ceaselessly laughably-written and all out stunningly stupid disaster, when really, all I ended up getting wasn't quite that bad, or even that kind of bad, though there were points where I was expecting this film to slip into that kind of bad, as it would inject this film with a certain livliness that it seriously needs, because the problem with the film is that it is truly boring in its dragging along with little, if anything to do, not necessarily to where it's all that tedious, just to where it's so bland and biteless in its mediocre acting, writing and direction that it fails to sustain consistent intrigue and compellingness, let along your attention. The film's found footage format goes plagued by the fly-on-the-wall dullness that taints most of its kin, but where most films of this type have the upperhand is in their actually having a plot, whereas this film, while with the occasional plot point, is barely with actual narrative structure, drifting along from place to place with hardly any direction and no actual momentum, thus exacerbating this film's directionless blandless, to where pacelessness sets it, or at least until a slow pace comes into play and leaves this film of not even 90 minutes to feel as though its outstaying its welcome more than it already is. Still, even with its having little, if any plot, this film still plummets into quite a few plotting faults, and that's not neccessarily faulty storytelling, that's just bad writing, thus what plot there is goes tainted by much, including unevenness, as the film with make sudden and jarring shifts in focus that throw you off, even though there's hardly any momentum to go thrown off in the long run, or in this film's case, long, long, long, long limp. The film, on the whole, is completely unfocused, and what focus it does have is all over the place, yet no matter which direction this film goes, you can tell where it's going to go, as the film goes tainted by profound, almost laughable predicability, spawned not just from shameless overemphatic hinting at "plot points", - such as they are - but also from excessive genericism, because if there is a cliche of the found footage genre to hit, you better believe that this film hits it, or at least for the most part, as neither the film itself nor - especially - the plot runs long enough to have time to hit all of the found footage tropes. Of course, if there is something that can't be predicted, then it's the magnitude of stupidity within the ending, if you even want to call it that, for although the film's abrupt conclusion isn't quite as painful as many say, it's still pretty ridiculous, undercuts what few things there are to commend about this film and ultimately solidifies everything that's wrong with this boring flop of a film. That being said, while what flaws there are within the film are pretty intense, the film doesn't have too much that's wrong with it, yet at the same time, it has even less that's right with it, and could have easily fallen in between as simply mediocre, so much so that, quite honestly, it almost does, being just so startlingly average that, with charming simplicity, it could have been nothing more than a bore, warranting neither acceptance nor disdain. However, with this final product, there is no charm, only a lifeless, amateur atmosphere, broken up only by overambition and actually pretty insulting self-pride, because when it's all said and done, all this film is is a gimmick, not just as a lame horror film looking to ride off of the already gimmicky found footage genre craze, but as a testament to lame and farfetched themes that it goes built upon and hucks at you with shamelessly down-putting forcefulness, even though its blandness and incompetence show that it has no right to talk down to anyone or anything, so in the long run, it's the film's looking down at you that truly shows just how much it deserves to be looked down upon. In the end, - such as it is - the film's ideas are intriguing ones, and some of its rising action set pieces are, to one degree or another, mildly effective, while simple mediocrity in plenty of aspects leaves the final product itself to come close to mediocrity, a state that it's not even good enough to achieve, as the film finds what few strengths it has undercut and its mediocre blandness intensified by ceaseless dullness, spawned from cold direction and lifeless atmosphere, as well as made worse by pacelessness - if things move even that quickly - and a lack of narrative structure and focus, with what focus there is being plagued by unevenness, while what structure there is in the narrative goes tainted by excessive conventionalism that creates immense predictability, as well as by overemphasized and gimmicky themes that create the arrogance that goes into making "The Devil Inside" an utterly forgettable, startlingly bland and altogether immensely unrewarding bore that wastes what little of your chronological time it occupies and much of your perceptive time. 1.5/5 - Bad

• Jacob P

  
  Not the best exorcism film out there, but I do admit it delivers some very scary and frightening scenes!

• Ryan M

  
  *1/2 out of **** On October 30, 1989; it is said that an elderly woman made a 9/11 phone call in which she revealed to have killed three people. Through an excruciatingly dull walk-through of the crime scene, we learn that the victims were found mutilated almost beyond recognition… More
  *1/2 out of **** On October 30, 1989; it is said that an elderly woman made a 9/11 phone call in which she revealed to have killed three people. Through an excruciatingly dull walk-through of the crime scene, we learn that the victims were found mutilated almost beyond recognition with religious items such as a crucifix at their side. The deceased were conducting an exorcism on the perpetrator of the crimes when she killed them. The woman, Marie Rossi, is moved to a psychiatric ward in Rome, Italy. Her case has been talked about for years, although if she really was possessed and in need of that exorcism that ultimately failed, she has not been getting the proper treatment. Marie has a daughter, Isabella Rossi, who hasn't seen her mother in years due to her being locked away like some rampart animal. However, Isabella is willing to make arrangements. Intrigued by the whole case, she flies to Rome with a documentary crew so that she may (1.) see her psycho mother again, (2.) meet some kindly Catholics to use as primary sources and perhaps even actors in her film, and (3.) bring back some kick-ass, on-the-scene footage of what is assumed to be real exorcisms. But alas, this is not a provocative study of faith or a crisis of faith; it is a merely a narrative that talks big but delivers so little. I don't even think it's worth talking about in great detail at this point. Isabella befriends two priests - Ben and David - who intend to give her the recorded evidence that she desires. After a distressing 20-years-in-the-making reunion with psycho mom, they bring her along with them to an exorcism of their own; on a young woman clearly played here by a contortionist. It is in this prolonged scene that we learn something rather important: that technology now plays a pretty huge role in exorcisms; as they can now properly determine, through their fancy little gadgets, whether it is mental illness or possession. But remember: they haven't yet developed technology that can help you battle demonic forces from beyond, or rather, the devil himself. Demons are dark, vile beings of inhuman strength and logic; and this seems to be something that "The Devil Inside" understands quite well. But still, that's one of the only things it does understand. Shot in a thoroughly found-footage style, the film - directed by William Brent Bell - is another typical shaky cam celebration of all things corny and derivative. It makes no proper attempt to separate itself from other exorcism films of the past or have a unique voice of its own. A found-footage exorcism flick has been done before, and successfully, in 2010's "The Last Exorcism"; but clearly you've got some people that know how to use the filmmaking style to their advantage and then on the other end of the spectrum you've got a couple morons with a shitty camcorder. Guess where Mr. Bell - whose debut feature "Stay Alive" was an insult to the nefarious Elizabeth Bathory and her bloody legacy - ends up? By demonstrating a complete inability to conjure up any sort of atmosphere or suspense whatsoever, Bell accidentally lands himself right at the bottom of the found footage trash heap. If this is what a professional looks like, then I don't want to live on this planet any more. But of course, the film isn't all bad. Most of it is set in Rome, and the film's puny brain utilizes its surroundings as much as it possibly can. Which essentially means that, while it's not going to utilize it nearly enough to satisfy, the fact that it utilizes it at all is - to say the least - mildly impressive. And then there are a few effective sequences, such as a baby's baptism gone wrong, which hope to give the darned thing some merit; but by the end, the whole thing is just so goddamn stupid that you can't forgive it whatsoever for its faults. The icing on the cake is a truly piece-of-shit ending that perhaps aspires to go down in history as one of the worst horror movie send-offs of all time. It implies a sequel, although judging by the critical reception and box office results; the filmmakers on board might not get what they want. Hell, they intended for this one to be the next "Paranormal Activity", and look where that got them. Case in point; make your own movie, and make it passionately. Bell and his team were hell-bent on crafting a cheap cash-in from the very beginning, and that is why "The Devil Inside" is such a failure. It's bad to the point where it is watchable - and if you dig bad movies, check it out sometime - but also boring to the very bone. Either way, by the time the end title card - which urges the viewer to revert to a website linked to the "true stories" that serve as the central drive for the film's narrative - pops up, you'll feel manipulated and possessed by nothing more or less than the desire to yawn.

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