The Devil Inside

Just got done with this film and I have to say that it was slow from the start, but it does offer a nice set of twists and turns. The film is about a young woman who is in search of what drove her mother to murder three people. She is told that her mother murdered these people in the course of an exorcism gone wrong and now her mother is being held in Rome in a mental institution. She heads to Rome, attends a exorcism class held by the church and find herself two inspiring priests doing the good fight and preforming exorcisms without the church's permission to "help" those rejected by the church.

First off, I have to say that this film is like many others, done in the documentary form to push the realism angle. This film is about as real as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and before you say it; no that's not real either. However in the past these "Mock" documentaries have done very well and have brought a element of realism back to the horror movie industry. Eli Roth's The Last Exorcism is something of a hidden gem and the Devil Inside does attempt to follow in its foot steps. If you can make it past the slow parts, the exorcisms seen are excellently shot and disturbing. I don't know the contortionist they found to play the first girl, but damn, it was well worth it. The elements, plot, and turns in the film all work together well, the pace is just off. I will say that by the end of the film, you will want to keep the lights on for a while as some of the shots are pretty cool and deeply impacting. One of the elements that I did not like about the film is to get the whole story of the film you have to go to a website therosilifiles.com or something like that and watch the little videos to get a grip on what the demon is talking about sometimes. The only reason they do this is to push the realism of the film and try and pass these events off as actual events. If you remember this was done with the Blaire Witch Files as well and while that was successful, here's it's just annoying. So, go rent it, enjoy it.

But, while we're talking about realism, let's take into account some of the founding films in this movement. First and foremost, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Directed by Toby Hooper, this film is a shoestring budget film shot purely with hand cams and out in the middle of nowhere of Texas. I think if this film had happened any other time of place it would have flopped, but Hooper is a genius when he includes a brief monologue in the beginning of the film. He explains the plight of innocent teens who stepped into the wrong world at the wrong time and paid for it with their lives and their sanity. Wow, you can't say it any other way, just wow.

Another set of films that followed in this style are the Blaire Witch Files and Paranormal Activity (the original). These films brought the action home by not "recreating" the tragedy, but putting the audience first hand and letting them experience the horror first hand. Not only did this cross the line between fiction and reality, it allowed the audience to forget for a moment that they were watching a movie. There are cheaper films around that try and mimic this effect, like a film called Grave Encounters, but never are they as hard hitting as the first films in this genre. The best I've seen so far is The Last Exorcism, directed by Eli Roth. Not only does Roth keep the reality of the situation, he manages to interject a little but of the supernatural with his surprise ending.

All in all, horror (like all film) is an ever growing and evolving creature. Whether its slashers in masks, witches in the woods, or a fat man with a chainsaw, the villains are always better when they are believable. The events always will hit harder when they hit close to home or seem plausible and the films will always be scary when you confuse reality with fantasy.

Just my thoughts.
J.