Business rating: 0.5/5 (Half star)
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Cast: Fernanda Andrade, Suzan Crowley, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, Ionut Grama.
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What’s Bad: The boring and predictable script; the botched climax; the absence of many chilling moments in the drama.
Verdict: The Devil Inside is a very ordinary fare; it will do poor business in India.
Loo break: Several, in spite of the short running time.
Watch or Not?: Watch it at your own risk, but if you do, you won’t feel very scared.
Prototype and Viacom Motion Pictures’ The Devil Inside is about a young woman who tries to treat her mother who is in a mental asylum.
Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade), a young woman, travels to Italy in 2009 to find out more about exorcism when she learns that her mother, Maria (Suzan Crowley), had brutally murdered three people during an exorcism ritual that was being performed on her (Maria) in 1989.
When she visits her mother at the mental asylum there, the latter fails to recognise her. The doctors show her tapes of her mother’s extremely violent behaviour. Next, Isabella befriends two priests, Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth), who clandestinely conduct exorcisms without the church’s permission. Isabella’s friend, Michael (Ionut Grama), is documenting everything on camera for a documentary.
Isabella, after witnessing an exorcism being performed by the priests on a possessed girl, decides that she must get them perform an exorcism on her mother, something that the church would otherwise never allow. What happens then? Are the priests able to perform the exorcism on Maria? Does she get cured? What happens to the priests, Isabella and Michael? The rest of the drama answers these questions.
William Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman’s story is commonplace and predictable. Their screenplay is even worse as it lacks the chills and thrills and the intrigue value which are musts for such a film. As the audience is given enough obvious clues about what is going to happen in the end, there is not much left to look forward to. In fact, the writers must be aware of the flaw; it is evident in the way they quickly wrap up the film with a botched-up and unimaginative climax. Most disastrously, the exorcism scenes hardly frighten the viewer. Another negative point is that the story of The Devil Inside does not even lend itself to the found-footage format of storytelling. A few moments might scare the weak-hearted, but that’s about it.
Fernanda Andrade does an average job as Isabella. Suzan Crowley (as Maria) is convincing. Simon Quarterman (as Ben) acts ably. Evan Helmuth (as David), Ionut Grama (as Michael), Bonnie Morgan (as Rosa) and others support well.
William Brent Bell’s direction is below the mark as he is unable to make the narrative a compelling watch and also fails to scare the audience much. Cinematography, by Gonzalo Amat, is alright. Tony DeMille’s production design is ordinary. William Brent Bell and Tim Mirkovich’s editing is average.
On the whole, The Devil Inside is a poor fare that will do little business at the Indian box-office.
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