If only this was a sit-com, what an uproarious work The Devil Inside would be. From this critical angle, (perhaps after proper lubrication, Alamo Drafthouse why aren’t you near me?) you could settle in for solid camp. Sober, the comparisons to Rick Santorum’s stance on abortion are uncanny – oops – spoiler alert.
Of course I can spoil this film all I want to. It is, as the Blues Travelers say, the hook that brings you back. The hook here is similar to many a film in this genre; people freaking out, bleeding and a lot of “the power of Christ compels you!” Holy water is spilled and things go boom in the night (thanks to Dolby surround sound).
Directed on a modest budget by William Brent Bell, who previously made the decent PG-13 horror flick Stay Alive, there are some sick pleasures to be found in The Devil Inside, a film with a structure similar to the hit sitcom The Office. However, there are a lot of problems with the documentary ethics of such a film. A documentarian is introduced to us, Michael, who has spent time recording commentary, as if to anticipate a “making of” DVD of his own ill-fated projects (again, spoiler alter).
He’s following a gorgeous daughter, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley), who in the late 80’s lashed out and killed three members of her church as they attempted an exorcism on her. Exorcism, we learn has been banned by the “Holy C” for what we are told are bureaucratic reasons; perhaps they have bigger problems covering up sex scandals. Maria’s daughter, Isabella – played by Fernanda Andrade – heads over to Rome with documentary filmmaker Michael (Ionut Grama), where she teams up with two underground exorcists, Ben and David (Simon Quarterman and Evan Helmuth, respectively).
I contend there is a great comedy to be made about underground exorcists, and if the movie proves to be a hit this weekend I expect Funny or Die to jump on this. This will provide hipper audiences with some laughter as they speak directly into the camera in interviews (hence The Office reference), intercut with absurd action.
It is through the demons that we learn additional information about Isabella, but less so about her mother, Maria, including her own aforementioned sins. The film does deliver a few shocks and scares along with a few pleasures but breaks no new ground, and the ethics of the “doc within a doc” are only mildly troubling. I question: had filmmakers been around documentarians, there could be a fascinating case for building a “movie” within a “movie” dealing with documentary ethics. Michael, although unknown, seems to be somewhat of a professional filmmaker.
Does this film pander to the masses? I’m not so sure. It is easy to dislike a movie because you or Pedro Almodovar would have made a very different film. It is what it is, which is an awfully lazy diagnosis for a film review, but I must confess, I did enjoy it as camp. As a horror film, it’s moderately successful.
The Devil Inside is now in wide release.