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Movie Reviews:

Devil
Universal Pictures - 2010

Directed by John Erick Dowdle
Screenplay by Brian Nelson
Story by M. Night Shyamalan

Starring
Chris Messina
Jenny O'Hara
Bojana Novakovic
Bokeem Woodbine
Geoffrey Arend
Jacob Vargas
Matt Craven

I liked everything about DEVIL from the first to the last closing credit.  Right from the start I was hooked; beginning with the amazing upside down helicopter shot flying towards the skyline of Philadelphia with Fernando Velásquez's aggressive score supporting it.

Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan because his track record over the past five years has been spotty at best, but he wrote a real captivating story and sought out the right filmmakers to make this movie.

I didn't necessarily love QUARANTINE (because it was almost a shot by shot remake of REC) but I guess Shyamalan saw the Brothers Dowdle film THE POUGHKEEPSIE TAPES and felt they had the right approach for the this movie.  John Erick Dowdle''s direction was mature, creative and stylish without being gimmicky.

I really appreciate a movie that focuses on adults, who were written with depth and complex problems.  Nothing in DEVIL is just the surface level (like ninety percent of Hollywood product).  You've got to dig deeper to uncover the layers of mystery to get to the answers.

Brian Nelson's screenplay for DEVIL is a major achievement in writing because not only is it filled with super intense suspense, twists and turns but more importantly brings up thought provoking questions that may even slightly touch your spirituality.  Any film that can reach that deep personal level is cinematically important.

I thought the cast was impressive across the board.  Chris Messina has star qualities as a lead actor.  You had a real mix of sex, nationality, race, religion all thrown together for 90 minutes in one of the tallest skyscrapers in Philadelphia.  I really like how the characters were intelligent, thinking things out and pondering choices.

Tak Fujimoto's cinematography was one of the film's pillar's of strength and I also thought the film was magnificently edited by Elliot Greenberg.  He helped put all the story ingredients together.

Altogether you've got a mature thriller that is surprising, maybe a little shocking, rides like a roller coaster and is the best film I saw in 2010.

www.universalpictures.com/devil