REVIEW: ‘The Devil Inside’ is more silly than scary

For some reason, Hollywood producers and young, inexperienced directors look at demonic possession and see dollar signs. The exorcism sub-genre has grown substantially in recent years, and with the surprising success of The Devil Inside, it shows no signs of slowing down.

But proliferation is not the same thing as potency. Ever since William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, these movies have declined in value and worth. The fact that they almost always spawn sequels shows the oddity of the film industry (and movie-going public).

The Devil Inside is the latest found-footage thriller to hit the big screen, following the monumental success of the Paranormal Activity franchise. It runs a quick 87 minutes, but it’s truly not quick enough. The acting is decent. The scares are genuine. But the script, or lack thereof, is abominably contrived.

Fernanda Andrade plays Isabella Rossi, a 20-something with a dark past. Her mother, as we learn in archival news footage, murdered two priests and a nun during a botched exorcism when Isabella was a little girl. Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) was found not guilty by reason of insanity. It didn’t take long for the Vatican to step in and bring the troubled lady to Rome for some examination.

Isabella and a documentary crew (there always seems to be a documentary crew at the ready) head to Rome to see her mother and find out exactly what happened.

Up until this trans-Atlantic flight, The Devil Inside creates a palpable sense of eeriness. The police investigation and media coverage of the homicides are creepy and sets the mood down a dark, dark path.

But when in Rome … everything goes wrong, both for the characters and actors. Isabella meets with two priests who bend the Roman Catholic Church’s rules to help people they believe are possessed, even though the official decree is they are suffering from mental illness.

Fathers Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth) don’t even deserve character names, because they’re not really characters. They are mere plot constructs created with the sole purpose of helping this twisted tale come to fruition. Isabella needs some helpful clergy, and they rise to the occasion. Isabella has some questions, and they have the answers. Isabella needs to sneak into the hospital to find her mother, and they somehow have the key and the gall.

There’s no logic behind much of the action in The Devil Inside. Shame on me for expecting some sense and sensibility. Of the many questions that pop up during the film’s duration: Why doesn’t the filmmaker simply drop the camera and run? If these priests are acting outside the domain of the church, but still wish to retain their collars, then why would they agree to have a camera nearby? If Isabella’s mother has not hurt anyone in the intervening years, why throw gasoline on that fire?

The worst example of convenient storytelling is when Isabella simply stumbles into an official Vatican class on exorcism. No one questions her. No one asks for credentials or identification. Even though this is top-secret information, no one seems to care that a young American woman just entered the room and sat down next to the priests and nuns. Worse yet, the instructor is going over the precise lessons that will help Isabella in her investigation. Talk about good timing.

For believers and non-believers alike, The Devil Inside will frighten. It knows how to turn the screws of intensity and emblazon images on the mind. There are quite a few disturbing sequences. But, if you’re after anything other than cheap tricks, the movie will disappoint.

It’s a problem when the subject matter and execution of a film are both terribly, terribly scary.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Devil Inside

• 2012

• Directed by William Brent Bell

• Written by Brent Bell and Matthew Peterman

• Starring Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth and Suzan Crowley

• Running time: 87 minutes

• Rated R for disturbing violent content and grisly images, and for language including some sexual references

• Rating: