THE DEVIL INSIDE REVIEW

  A couple of years ago, there was some excitement for “The Last Exorcism.” Some people liked it, but the ending turned others off. There was some hope for “The Rite” when it kicked off 2011. Unfortunately, it currently appears on several lists of the worst horror movies of the year. Enter 2012, and "The Devil Inside." Could it start off 2012 with a bang?

  Found footage… here we go again! The movie is a documentary, which follows Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade), on her search for what really happened to her mother years ago. Apparently her mother, Maria (Suzan Crowley), killed three people during her own exorcism. At some point after her trial, Maria was taken to a facility in Italy, where they continue to insist that she is just crazy, and not possessed by a demon. Now Isabella wants to see for herself.

  The movie basically boils down to two parts: when exorcism type stuff breaks out, and boring documentary talk. It opens with footage of police documenting the crime scene where Maria apparently killed those people. The people are left brutally beaten, and in a bloody mess. It is a good start to the movie, which could have been better if the audience got to see it happen.

  After a quick glance at Maria going to trial, Isabella is introduced in the documentary. There is plenty of boring set up until she arrives at the facility where they are holding her mother. As the doctor explains Maria’s condition to Isabella, the audience gets to see Maria go nuts in her room. Interesting, but nothing great until Isabella actually visits her mom alone in the room. While there are other attempts to build tension, nothing topped this scene. After seeing what Maria is capable of, the audience is left thinking Isabella is nuts for going in there alone.

  From that point on, there isn’t much more in the movie that horror fans haven’t seen before. After two priests are introduced, there is an attempted exorcism, which contains the typical exorcism stuff: priests hitting the wall, fowl language, and the demon revealing something about someone in the room. If you don’t fall asleep while all the documentary talk is going on, you can quickly pick up on what is about to happen after the exorcism. The characters are completely oblivious to what is happening, which is so obvious it is almost unexplainable how they can’t figure it out.

  All of that leads to the much talked about ending. No worries, I won’t give it away just like I haven’t given away the obvious thing that happens after the exorcism. I guess I’m in the camp of people not liking the ending. It is easy not to like it after feeling that nothing special has happened throughout most of the movie. For the fun of it, let me pretend I liked the ending. I would say, “what did you expect with this being a found footage type movie?” There wasn’t going to be a nice reunion of Maria and Isabella, as they live happily ever after. The movie needed to end suddenly just like say, “The Last Exorcism” did. Maybe if they picked a different sudden conclusion, people wouldn’t be complaining as much.

 Apparently “The Devil Inside” did kick off 2012 with a bang after making over $34 million on opening weekend. Too bad it was all about the marketing, and not about the movie. I would have loved nothing more to say this movie deserved the $34 million, but it just didn’t. It lacks anything new from an exorcism, and found footage standpoint. There are a few bloody moments, but has a lack of scares, and too much boring talk. It really did need a special ending to save it, and that never happens. Maybe “The Last Exorcism” really should have been the last exorcism because I give this movie 1 pool of blood.

  HorrO