Devil (2010)
I can't even remember the first time I heard about this movie, but it was a while ago. My friend Tamara sent me a link for the trailer on imdb.com (I tried to put the link in, but Blogger seems to be having some issues. Or maybe it's my compter. Either way, I can't do it!). It was right around the time I was writing all my Devil-made-me-do-it stories, so she thought I would be interested. She was right.
The story was written by M. Night Shyamalan and focuses on five people who get trapped in an elevator. The narrator tells us that his mother used to tell him stories about how the Devil would sometimes take human form to torment souls before he collected them. These five people are his next collection, and we watch as they are tormented and killed. A detective and security officer are trying to save them, both physically and spiritually, but in the end, they are the ones who have to save themselves.
The movie was pretty good. It was only an hour and a half, which was just right because there is only so much you can do with people trapped in an elevator. It didn't rely on CGI or the creation of a monster to scare you, it played on religious beliefs and your own imagination. The tension was very well done in the film. You felt the characters' fears and unease and really wanted the fire department to hurry up.
It had its share of old-fashioned jumps and twists. The relationships between the characters was very well drawn, even if you didn't have extensive backgrounds for each. The reaction to being stuck in that type of situation played out very nicely on the screen, and they did a great job introducing the paranormal without it seeming hokey. If you haven't already seen it, I recommend checking it out.
