On this, the first flick or skip of 2012, we look at the latest and perhaps raunchiest religious horror films to come around in some time. As always, we're judging the film by the trailers alone. This week's subject is The Devil Inside.
Let's get to it.
The concept is a familiar one to anyone who has seen a recent exorcism film. The Devil Inside suggests that there is an underground ring of licensed exorcisms because the Catholic Church is afraid of seeming archaic or outdated. They deny them in the process but pursue them as quietly and rigorously as possible. They are common, not rare, and the papal state is a cover for the whole operation.
The twist of The Devil Inside is not the questionable truth of the "true events" or the POV horror twist. The novelty comes from the inclusion of science in the exorcism ritual. It's science and faith versus the devil and there could be some fun there for a fan of the genre.
With that said, I'm not sold on this film at all. How many post-Paranormal Activity horrors will come out where the scares are going to be hidden under the guise of "this is realistic." No, it's not. It's a supernatural horror film.
Once you introduce ghosts or the devil, you've lost the right to claim "realism" as a goal. You need to establish logic that seems plausible to a wide audience, create believable characters, and convince the audience that what's happening on the screen is the scariest thing they've ever seen. Logic, not realism, is the goal. Pointing a shaking digital camera at a swinging chandelier or a contortionist does not a horror film make.
The Devil Inside does seem to have created an interesting protagonist for the religious horror genre. Typically, this film would have a mother concerned about the well-being of her child. The concept is flipped here. A mother is taken away after an exorcism goes horribly wrong and the daughter, now an adult, wants to find out what happened to her mother. I don't know if there's enough substance in that change to result in a good film, but they're trying.
If you guide yourself on over to the Red Band trailer, you'll see a very different looking film.
The red band trailer of The Devil Inside suggests this is not a standard exorcism film. It looks more like a body possession or paranormal slasher film in the vein of The Thing or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The gimmick appears not to be the "true events" or the POV horror but an epidemic of possessions. Perhaps the demon is skipping from body to body to torture the female lead. The goal of the entity appears to be murder.
It's a shame that's the case. Paranormal slasher films are notoriously difficult to pull off. The best of the genre, like A Nightmare on Elm Street, put their focus on a clearly identifiable villain. Once the audience knows the danger is real and follows certain rules, it becomes a guessing game of who is next. Here, the red band trailer suggests that there is no simply identifiable trait in this guessing game. How much does a creator care about his film if menstruation is used for shock value?
My suggestion is to skip The Devil Inside. It looks like a puddled mess of horror cliches orchestrated by someone who doesn't understand how the genre works.
Will you be seeing The Devil Inside this weekend? Sound off below.