Devil Review

O M. Night! What’s going on?

I was skeptical all through that Sixth Sense movie oh those many years ago – until the very ending, and you made me, against my will, a believer! I knew then and there, M, that you could do no wrong!

On the last day of my honeymoon a decade ago, exhausted from vacationing, the wife and I half-dozed in an airport motel. I struggled for the remote, and discovered your Unbreakable advertised. I gladly paid for that view. We sat, entranced, as the movie steamrollered ever so gently towards its twisting, slap-your-head-in-how-did-I-miss-that? glory. While I was slightly disappointed at the actual reveal (I felt I could pen a more effective ending), it was still a better motion picture experience than 99.99 percent of the crap Hollywood puts out. For one, it was different!

Then – Signs! One of my top-ten all-time science fiction flicks. And get this – you combined my other love, religion, with it! SF and religion. You only realized that they are not mutually exclusive. They do not have to tear at each other’s throats. They are yin and yang, complementary, different facets of the jewel and gemstone representing our earthly experience. I left the movie theater that summer with goosebumps traveling up and down my arms. I pondered that movie in a daze for days. Couldn’t get it out of my mind, and perhaps that is the best compliment any artist can receive. I eagerly bought the DVD once it came out and watch it at least twice a year, usually when the family is away because stone-cold-me gets so emotional watching it.

With great anticipation we bought our tickets to see The Village at the local movie house, me and my pregnant wife, taking a break from fixing up the new-bought house. Perhaps it was a mistake to see it with scads of tweens, but, hey, live and learn. And when your fourth major film’s reveal was, er, revealed, well, it was good, I suppose. Reminiscent of Sixth Sense. If pressed, I suppose I could say I enjoyed those monster thingies. But I left the theater somewhat unfulfilled. Well, I thought, even Joe DiMaggio struck out every now and then. But in my heart of hearts I didn’t really consider it a K. More like a 5-3 or, at best, a 1B with an E in parentheses next to it.

Two years later, what the f----? What is this thing called Lady in the Water? Mermaids? Mermaids?? Well, Signs was about invading aliens, so who am I to disparage mermaids. Still, though, poor reviews made us wait for a rental, and after renting and viewing this misfire, the ember of my love for your movies grayed out. I did like the evil wolf critter, but that stereotypical multi-culti overacting cast only fed us softball after softball for laughs.

Devastatingly bad reviews plus a tangible anti-human stance in your next flick, The Happening, kept us away from both theater and video store. Never seen it, and don’t plan on it. Did not see The Last Airbender, either, though that may because I am no longer a twelve-year-old boy.

But then – Devil came out. And that caught my attention.

What an intriguing setup. Minimalist. Gritty. A mental exercise in justified paranoia. Five seemingly innocent random people trapped in an elevator dying one by one. Dying in gruesome ways. I had to watch just for the execution (pun intended) alone. I know, Mr. Night Shyamalan, you did not direct Devil, but as producer and writer your personality saturates every scene. Eerie, shocking, scary – it even has your trademarked twist ending, though not as forceful or shattering as those in your early works. Perhaps it was too heavily foreshadowed; I should have anticipated it but was too wrapped up in discovering who, exactly, was the devil in the movie.

While not your best work, may I humbly announce my opinion that it is a definite return to your prior form? If I had to place it in your pantheon, I’d put it above The Village but below Unbreakable. And at a lean and mean 91 minutes, the perfect length for a decent night’s scares.

Grade: B+.