Devil

Year: 2010
Director: John Erick Dowdle
Screenplay: Brian Nelson, from a story by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green, Jenny O'Hara, Geoffrey Arand
Running Time: 80 minutes
Genre: horror, supernatural

Summary: In present day Philadelphia five complete strangers enter an elevator in a modern high-rise office block. However, the elevator becomes trapped between the floors. As the security and maintenance staff struggle to release the trapped passengers, the occupants experience intermittent power failures and find that, while they can hear their would-be rescuers through the intercom system, they are unable to be heard by anyone on the outside. As the tension between the passengers increases, a series of bizarre and violent events begin to happen in and around the elevator. As the police, who are investigating the suicide of a man who jumped from the same office block earlier that morning, are called in, it soon turns out that everyone in the elevator has their own dark secrets. In fact it begins to appear that one of the occupants of the elevator is none other than the Devil himself.

Opinions: This film forms the first of a projected trilogy called The Night Chronicles that deals with the supernatural in modern, urban society. The movie is a very effective horror thriller. The supernatural elements are downplayed for the most part, with most of the events in the movie seeming at first to have a completely non-supernatural rationale. Most of the horror and tension comes from the very real fear of being trapped in a confined space with potentially hostile strangers. Also the fact that most of the crucial events in the elevator take place in complete darkness works well. The film alternates between the plight of the trapped passengers and the increasingly desperate attempts of the security, maintenance staff and police in trying to free them. The mostly unknown cast all do well in their roles, and there is a real feeling that anyone can die at any time. A few of the climatic revelations can be guessed well in advance but there are still more than enough surprises to keep this a well-above average shock show.



Calm before the storm: Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O'Hara, Bokeem Woodbine, Logan Marshall-Green and Geoffrey Arend in Devil