The Devil Movie Review

The Devil

A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.

Director:  John Erick Dowdle

Writers:  Brian Nelson (screenplay), M. Night Shyamalan (story)

Stars:  Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, and Bokeem Woodbine

My Review:  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

THE DEVIL, a M. Knight Shyamalon movie, is a sleeper that didn’t get that many great reviews at the box office. You might remember Shyamalon movies of the past like SIGNS, SIXTH SENSE, and THE VILLAGE. The movies he’s made over the last six years have not done well. This movie doesn’t have any big stars in it. The actors are all unknown.

So considering all that, why would I rate this horror flick so high? It’s because this movie surprised me. It had a Christian worldview of the devil that was more accurate than some of the Christian movies I’ve watched. There is so much to like about this movie.

First, the symbolism is great. A suicide gives enterance to the devil to come and torment a group of people bound for Hell before he kills them. The suicide victim falls on a “Bethel Bakery” truck. The building is located at 333 Locust. Then there’s the cop whose family was killed by a hit and run driver on Bethlehem Road. I’m sure I missed some of the symbolism. There’s a lot of it there. But I plan to watch it again, and I’ll keep my eyes open to it.

Next, there’s a lot of doctrinal truth in this movie. The movie begins with the Bible verse 1 Peter 5:8. The last line in the movie is brilliant. “If the devil exists, than so does God.” I also love that the way the devil gains access to a person is because that person decieves himself about how bad his sin really is. There’s no man is basically good garbage in this movie. While I don’t want to give it away, there is also a thread of redemption running through this movie.

I also loved that the movie was able to surprise me. It shouldn’t have. When it happened, I had a moment of “Of course”. But I got so involved in the movie, I didn’t see it coming. That doesn’t happen often, but M. Knight movies seem to be able to do that to me.

This movie is great for adults who don’t mind some violence and a little language (a couple of S words), but I wouldn’t recommend it for children or young teens.