I’ve decided to approach this from the point of view of the every man. Yes, I could do research and learn about the plot, setting, development, et cetera, but I’m writing about a commercial. People don’t do research when they see a commercial. They make a knee jerk reaction to see a movie or not see a movie. That is to say, people not terrified of seeing a bad movie and wasting $12 at a theater, do that. But, if Hostel, taught us anything, it’s that people will part with their money with a smile if it means having flashing lights to stare at for 90 minutes.
The ad in question is the 30 second TV spot for the movie; The Devil Inside. It’s not a lot to go on, but it's what the majority of the public will go on. Those 30 seconds are the film’s opportunity to make the viewer move from indifference to willingness to part with their hard earned. So what happens? A camera dead set on giving me a headache staggers like a drunk at a party, for one. I understand that the whole “record the movie like it was done with a handheld camera” thing is popular now, but even a rudimentary film maker understands the usefulness of a tripod when people are talking. This film maker, however, is Hell bent on getting their cardio, because it appears that they jog in place at all times while shooting.
To be fair, not every scene was shot by a winded asthmatic in their death throws. Several shots were done with stationary, wall-mounted units designed to look like surveillance cameras. You know, the same style we saw in Paranormal Activity 1-3, The Fourth Kind, and every other ghost MacGuffin film in the last 6 years.
The right angles and camera work will make or break a horror movie selling itself on atmosphere. Would Psycho have been so unsettling if every angle was perfectly eye level? Would Hellraiser have been so tense if not for eerie shots from the ceiling of light and dark? Having a camera that controls like its being held by a person is gritty. It’s engrossing. In some ways it breaks the fourth wall and makes the audience feel like they’re a part of the action. The problem is, many film makers have realized this. The Blair Witch Project, Quarantine, and Cloverfield are just three examples of major blockbusters that worked the handheld style into the ground; and that’s not to mention all of the independent films that didn’t gain recognition.
At this point you could be saying that those are all movies based around the fact that one of the characters in the film is literally holding a hand held camera. The operator speaks to the other characters, the camera changes hands, when the camera’s paused the movie jumps ahead to when it’s unpaused. But that’s the problem. From what I can tell, The Devil Inside is trying to do that with in every way save the additional character. At one point there’s even a handheld cameras spot light shining in a dark room while the characters deal with their demonic predicament. It’s like they wrote in a cheeky sidekick character with a camera, but forgot to give him dialogue.
Hand-held shooting is a good tool to have, but don’t exaggerate it when you’re not basing the entire movie around it. And as for the stationary, security cam style shots, Hollywood, can we please leave this dead horse to rot rather than beating it too enthusiastically? I was already sick of them even before I finished Manhunt back in 2007.
The second deficiency I found in this short lived trailer is the fact that it’s about botched exorcisms. Yes, if you hadn’t guessed by the shockingly generic title, The Devil Inside is about exorcisms. I want to take a moment to point out that as satisfyingly dark and broody as this title will no doubt seem to the apathetic, Hot Topic clad, high school audience that it appears to be targeting, those of us with fully changed voices will find it forgettable. I forgot it three times while writing this article, as a matter of fact.
Title notwithstanding, the 14-19 year old crowd seems to be about the target audience for this movie; maybe as far as 23 for the slow ones out there. In the ad, characters talk about “non-sanctioned exorcisms” while contorted human figures with expressions of agony have their bones broken by an unseen, diabolic force. I’m not even exactly sure what the movie’s trying to prove with all of this. Possibly that Catholicism can be corrupt and heartless? Ooh, edgy.
The Exorcist did a phenomenal job of making The Church look weak and powerless and they made a priest the hero. Subtlety is the frosting that separates your movie from being a satisfying cake and dry, vanilla, bread. I know it’s easy to sit in a theatre with snacks you had to take out a second mortgage to afford and enjoy lights dancing on the wall; all of the subtlety removed, all of the thinking done for you, but it’s so much less fulfilling. Some people seem to genuinely like that though. And while I’m perfectly okay with declaring that my opinion is right, I’m not okay with telling everyone that their opinions are wrong. If I did that I’d be no better than the corrupt and heartless Church that The Devil Inside is straining so hard to vilify.
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