The Devil Inside (DVD)

If there is only one thing you learn from The Devil Inside, let it be this: apparently becoming possessed by a demon is easier than catching the common cold. With the common cold, it takes a day or two for the symptoms to show up at all. But, not so with possession by demons. Apparently, you just have to be in the same room / car as a possessed person for like, three and a half minutes, and BOOM! Possessed. Who knew it was that simple?

So, The Devil Inside is a bland and assanine study in horror movies, namely exorcism flicks. It sets itself up as a documentary because, thanks to Paranormal Activity, those are oh so hip again. So, in the late 80s, this woman Maria Rossi kills three clergy people in her home and is committed to a mental hospital and eventually transfered to a ward in Rome. In 2009, her daughter, now 25ish, finds out from her father that her mom killed those people during her own exorcism. So, Isabella flies to Rome to meet her mom, sits in on a few classes at Exorcist University (I wonder what their mascot is??), meets a few shady priests and eventually takes part in an unauthorized exorcism with these virtual strangers.

While I won't go so far as to say this was the worst movie I've ever seen, it is definitely the worst this year and even in the recent few years. I had an inkling it was going to be bad (but, hey, I need movies for my end of the year worst of list!), so my expectations were extremely low. This movie could very well have had me saying, "Hmm.. not as bad as I was thinking." But, no, it was much worse. I seriously don't even know how this movie made it into theaters. At best, this should have been a straight to DVD release. There's just nothing about this movie which is good. The acting is poor. The script is poor. The direction, if you can even call it that, is poor. This movie wants to be original and shocking but it's the exact opposite. It just seems no one will ever be able to make an good exorcism movie again (even though I didn't hate The Last Exorcism... there was something there even though the movie wasn't executed well enough for it to matter). There are so many cliches it's not even funny. Plus, as horror movies go, it just wasn't scary.

But what do I know?? The people who made this movie don't give a shit that it was so bad. They somehow managed to make a crap load of money because this movie ended up being semi-successful. So, I'm sitting here griping about one of the worst movies I've ever seen while they are drinking champagne and flying on their jets to private islands.

Grade: F