Devil

Let's face it: M. Night Shyamalan's reputation as a filmmaker hasn't exactly been glowing recently. After wowing the world with The Sixth Sense way back in 1999, many of his films have been disappointing. Amid some bright sparks such as Unbreakable and arguably even Signs, there have been Huh?? moments like The Happening and critically panned (although fairly commercially successful) fare such as The Last Airbender.

This brings us to the latest film to bear Shyamalan's once-illustrious moniker, Devil. Written by Shyamalan but directed by John Erick Dowdle, this rather short film tells the tale of five strangers getting trapped in an elevator. The kicker is that one of them is... (wait for it) THE DEVIL. It sounds hokey, but it actually works quite well. The overall feel and pacing of the movie was quite satisfying and the "twist" was interesting if not wholly unexpected.

***Minor spoilers follow***









A quiet day at a high-rise office building is shattered (along with a window) by a jumper who lands on a van conveniently parked below. Still recovering from the deaths of his wife and young son, Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) arrives on the scene. At the same time, by (un)happy coincidence, five strangers end up in an elevator which gets stuck between floors. After the initial panic, the group gets in touch with security guards Lustig (Matt Craven) and Ramirez (Jacob Vargas, also the narrator at the beggining and end of the movie). The guards - who can see but not hear them - assure them that things will be fixed soon (uh-huh).

The group comprises (yes they have names, but they're credited like this and it's more fun this way):

1. The Mechanic (Logan Marshall-Green)
2. The Guard (Bokeem Woodbine)
3. The Salesman (Geoffrey Arend)
4. The Old Woman (Jenny O'Hara)
5. The Young Woman (Bojana Novakovic)

Already getting on each other's nerves, things take a turn for the worse when the power goes out and strange things start to happen. Then people start to die. Each time the power goes out, one more person dies. This naturally creates some tension as the survivors (as well as the guards and detectives watching) are left guessing as to who the murderer is. Ramirez however, firmly believes that it is the work of the Devil himself, based on an old story his mother used to tell him that says the Devil occasionally gathers sinners together and kills them personally. Reluctant to believe in fairy tales, Bowden continues to investigate while getting help to break them out of the elevator. He soon finds out that they each have a less-than-savoury past and the Devil has reason for wanting each of them. It's a race against time to get them out as the remaining survivors dwindle.

The tension in the film is palpable. The writing is tight and the shock moments are effectively used and not overused. The lighting (or lack of it) and camera work nicely convey the claustrophobic environment of the elevator and the fear that comes with each power outage. The actors, all unknowns (to me at least), play their parts well. The Salesman is especially annoying.

In the end, the moral of the story is that Shyamalan should perhaps stay off the director's chair once in a while and just write. Oh, and be wary of your elevator mates...




PS:
Blogger messed up and deleted my post halfway when I made that numbered list. Not cool, Blogger.