Review: Devil (2010)

John Erick Dowdle's Devil, starring Logan Marshall Green, Chris Messina, and Bokeem Woodbine (I don't know them either) introduces its audience to a group of not-so-great people who are forced to put up with each other on the same elevator. The longer the wait continues, the more they suspect and detest each other, and things begin to seem a bit supernatural. A detective (Messina) viewing from an outside perspective, is becoming more and more apprehensive to the idea that one of these individuals may be the devil himself. This may sound like a premise nearly incapable of being dull, but somehow the cast and crew accomplishes just that. Although the phrase "from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan" used to mean something, that time has long since passed; it's a shame the producers didn't realize this. Devil is initiated with a splendid idea, however tumbles the rest of the way. The sub-par acting and slack directing of the film only made matters worse. There have been many successful slow building classic horror films (i.e. Rosemary's Baby, The Shining), but what makes such films classic is their ability to finish with a forte of an ending, which Devil far from delivers. Entering the cinema, I was sort of expecting a sluggish film, yet received even less. Leaving the theater, I was deeply unsatisfied as a horror fan. For a mystery horror flick about a demon aboard an elevator of strangers, Devil is monotonously stale and otherwise not fulfilling. I give Devil 11/2 stars.