Scheduled for a September 17 release, “Devil†is M. Night Shyamalan’s newest thriller.
So, as the case with every one of his films, what’s the twist here?
After a near three-minute trailer, one’s guess is as good as anyone’s. Five people get in an elevator, super-natural junk of some magnitude occurs, people die and that seems to be it. The tag line “Bad Things Happen For A Reason,†makes you think that the plot of this movie will be tightly constructed, a film that you’ll have to watch more than once to get the complete gist of. That’s got to be a good sign, especially since Shyamalan’s recent stretch of films haven’t had the same staying power as the first few he put under his belt in the mid-90s.
Unlike his big successes however, the cast of this flick are relative unknowns, consisting of Chris Messina [“Julia and Julia,†“Monogomyâ€], Geoffrey Arend [“(500) Days of Summerâ€], Caroline Dhavernas [“The Cry of the Owlâ€], Jacob Vargas [“Jarheadâ€] and Joshua Peace [“Survival of the Deadâ€]. How they perform in this one could dictate not only their future success, but obviously the overall quality of the movie itself.
After a few stinkers the past few years, Shyamalan definitely needs a slam dunk here.
From the look of the trailer, all the suspense and thriller elements are there, but who knows what else is going on here. With a name like “Devil,†you’re expecting something pretty damn scary. In all honesty, five unknown actors trapped in an elevator of a skyscraper doesn’t seem all that scary, it seems a tad boorish.
Shyamalan has proven us wrong before though.
Overall, this film may find a niche in theaters this fall, as long as the trees don’t come alive again.
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