Before I attempt to review this movie I will explain my stance on its writer M. Night Shyamalan: Like most people I didn’t see his first two movies Wide Awake (1998) and Praying with Anger (1992), I did however see The Sixth Sense (1999) like everyone else, but unlike most people I talk to I didn’t like it. To be blunt, I think it is the most overrated movie of recent years, like so many movies with twist endings it succeeds or fails by its twist. Most people I know who like it didn’t see the twist coming, I unfortunately did. Unbreakable (2000) by far the directors best movie, if you apply the same principle as above, I didn’t see the twist coming. Signs (2002), Dull boring and pointless. The Village (2004), Got some bad press and word of mouth but I actually enjoyed it mainly for the great acting by a great cast, the twist was pretty lame and very obvious though. Lady in the Water (2006) I didn’t see. The Happening (2008) I wish I hadn’t seen, everything I said about signs is also true of this movie. The Last Air bender (2010), Haven’t seen this one either.
Okay so the truth is I can’t be bothered to review this movie properly, here are a few thoughts: Five people become trapped in a lift, it quickly becomes clear that something is very wrong. A security guard watching events unfold on a security monitor believes that one of the passengers is the Devil who has taken human form. The greatest flaw of the movie is that it uses the supernatural/Satanic twist as a substitute for tension and claustrophobia. There are certain names before a that make you want to see it, “M. Night Shyamalan Presents’ nearly put me off seeing this one, I wish it had! The story is dull and contrived, I had no empathy with the characters and really didn’t care what happened to them. The direction wasn’t bad but was happened by the story and the editing.
One Star out of Five
Fandango Groovers Movie Blog 
Well.
Well well well.
Theres always people like YOU! ha ha ha!
Sixth Sense – you saw the twist coming … and thats the ONLY good thing about this film? what about the the look, the feel, the actors, the story, the subtext …
Unbreakable – you like this one. Well done.
Signs – Dull and Pointless???? what the hell??? If anything it had TOO much of a point! My personal favourite tying with …
The Village – possibly his best film. No 2 in Cahiers Du Cinema of films of 2004. Incredible soundtrack by Newton-Howard (and go through all of his soundtracks … all incredible really!)
Lady in the Water – For all the negative cirticism, this came No6 in Cahiers Du Cinema’s top films of 2006. I don’t like it myself … but many do. My better half Sarah loves this film. But if you ain’t seen it, don’t mock it.
The Happening – flawed but for a patient end-of-world film made in this way (opposed to 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow…), it is great to see such a classical approach to filmmaking.
Airbender – completely flawed, but like almost all of Shyamalan criticisms – not as bad as they say …
which brings me to your 1 out of 5 star review…
Devil …
Cinematography – looks fantastic! Fujimoto is a incredible cinematographer.
Actors … all bad? methinks not…
Sound/Soundtrack – no huge clunking thuds and problems… no awkward noises that simply jar …
Story – consistent with its intention and snaps along …
religious allegory – to be expected (it opens with a bible quote for godssake!) but again, consistent within the story …
“The direction wasn’t bad”, so I guess thats the one star… implying EVERYTHING ELSE was horrendous???? That is simply crazy-talk.
ONE star! that is mental. If you don’t lilke it back up your point! Is the editing worse than in QUANTUM OF SOLACE? No. Is the acting worse than CRUEL INTENTIONS 2? No.
So COME ON! One star is completely off.
“uses the supernatural/Satanic twist as a substitute for tension and claustrophobia”
So, pitch black, shuffling noises and awkward screams mean nothing? everytime the lights flickered preceding a blackout no tension into (a) who would be picked off and (b) how they would be picked off. Not to mention the simple tension into the simple case that SOMEONE is the killer inside that lift.
Right man, I’ll leave it at that…
First off – the attack-tone of this comment is merely in jest. Semi-sarcastic…
Secondly – as a Shyamalan fan (who can see his flaws but is amazed at the diversity of his fans … and the fans who love, to some extent or another, all of his films or, more importantly, his style of filmmaking…), I have decided (following this post and discussions with close film-obsessive friends who feel the same about Shyamalan) that I shall now wander the [film blog] world and stand-up for M. Night because every other critic in the world sure as hell ain’t!
Simon, Thanks for the comment,
I feel kind of guilty for Shyamalan bashing as it is a popular bandwagon since Airbender, my defence, I have been doing it for eleven years! I would also like to point out that I didn’t criticise the movies I haven’t seen, just mention that I hadn’t seen them.
My star ratings are new for this year, I don’t give stars as a cumulative thing for different elements of a movie, they are for the overall movie. I tend to be quite generous with my ratings (more so than mainstream media) of the 80, 2010 releases I have seen (77 at the cinema 3 on DVD) I have given 3 movies 5 stars, 29 have 4 stars, 33 have 3 stars, 12 have 2 stars and just 3 have 1 star. I reserve the right to give a movie no stars but haven’t done that yet. To give it some kind of context: My 1 star movies are Devil, Repo Men and Shelter, although the more I think about it the more I think I was too generous with The Wolfman. My 5 star movies are Inception, The Secret in Their Eyes and Winter’s Bone. Kick-Ass and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo came close.
My review of devil was lazy and cheep because I just couldn’t be bothered although I stand by my rating. My criticism of the editing is no poor (or to many) cuts as is becoming a common problem, it was the way it kept taking the action away from the people in the lift for too long destroying what little tension they manage to create.
“So, pitch black, shuffling noises and awkward screams mean nothing? everytime the lights flickered preceding a blackout no tension into (a) who would be picked off and (b) how they would be picked off. Not to mention the simple tension into the simple case that SOMEONE is the killer inside that lift.”
You have made my point for me there, firstly when the lights going out was signposted to the us, Second: I just didn’t care enough for the characters to care who would be picked off, finally: we already know the killer is the devil so the form it has taken is irrelevant if you don’t care for the characters. And the twist they used is so overused that it even made it into an episode of the crappy 80s TV show “Matt Houston”.
Go and continue your battle in defence of M. Night, I fear it will be a losing battle. I think this comment is longer than my original review!
I think I am the only person who loves “The Lady in Water”. It’s a fairy tale, it’s not supposed to make the most sense. Also, “The Village” is great. When is Bryce Dallas Howard going to do something else I actually want to see?!
But did you see Devil?
Well … turns out that I you are not the only one who feels this way. Though I completely disagree with you and your ‘one’ star you got a huge mention on this weeks podcast whereby your opinion preceded Jo’s opinion on the film … having watched it after my recommendation the week before!
I hope you have a listen!
Simon
Just listened to the pod cast, great show and I feel totally justified in my opinion now, thanks Jo!
See I think the story was ok but it was the editing that helped the movie along. This film could have been terrible but it worked because of the quickened pace which didn’t linger longer than it needed to, the mostly unknown casting, and the misdirection. This, I thought, wasn’t going to be a movie that banked on the a-ha ending. Instead it built well and the success (I perceive it as one) is that you look on it as a whole and not “woah I didn’t see that coming”.
Also, great to see that Simon isn’t the only one who picked up on Fujimoto’s work:)
While DEVIL was a pretty interesting full feature Twilight Zone episode, I think it worked because of all the negative hype surrounding it. Basically this movie (while not even close to fantastic) was just solid and is a very decent movie. I’m not defending any bad parts I simply feel there weren’t any weak or lacing elements. To me this was a win. And right now, M. Night (who only offered creative support) could use one right now. Take a look at my review if you are interested.
I’ve got to disagree here a bit. First- I was also turned off by the Shyamalan name as he is in for a stern shin kicking if I ever see him on the street, but I think what’s hurting his career isn’t his writing so much as his directing. There is no way I will ever get back the combined 4 hours of my life that “The Happening” and “The LAst Airbender” stole from me, but “the Happening” could have been good. He is a prime example of a director getting in his own way.
Second- “Devil” is exactly what it promises to be- a quickly thrown together, stupid, gore fest. With the exception of the heavy handed religious tones, I thought it was pretty okay. Of course, seeing any horror movie in a packed theatre with slightly drunk people always makes it better 🙂