In Theaters: Devil (2010)

"I was living in a devil town,
didn't know it was a devil town.
Oh Lord, it really brings me down about the devil town."
-Daniel Johnston

Got around to seeing Devil Monday after finally emerging from the basement I spent all weekend in playing Halo: Reach. It wasn't a film I was dying to see but the trailer and hearing the director & producer duo of the film (John and Drew Dowdle respectively) talk about it at Chicago Comic Con was enough to get me to see it in theaters, and I am glad I did.

The general premise of the film is that five people become trapped in an elevator and one of them may or may not be the title character. Not an overly complicated idea but greatly done in this film as a thriller/mystery with a dash of police procedural. It would fall flat on its face though with out the excellent cast. Headlined by Chris Messina and Logan Marshall-Green, this ensemble of recognizable performers, but non-house hold names really hold their own. Although with any film, movie magic played quite a large role as well.

Watching a film take place in primarily a small elevator would become boring and tiresome fast if not for the creative and interesting techniques the film utilizes. Ranging from multiple point of view shots, getting inside each character, to total black outs of the screen, bringing about the fear of the unknown, the viewer is constantly wondering who is perpetrating these events and why. These combined with the excellent sound mixing sustain the thrilling atmosphere all the way to credits.

I really enjoyed the film, enough so to give it a 4 out of 5 stars and as long as your next expecting the greatest film of all time I think you'll enjoy it as well. To those out there who have been staying away from it after not enjoying Shyamalan's last few films (The Last Air Bender, The Happening, The Village), keep in mind he only wrote the story and produced, so he didn't control anywhere near as much in this film and its more reminiscent of his earlier better films (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Lady in the Water.)