Devil – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

One of the most terrifying pieces of celluloid never seen is The Dowdle Bros. [John Erick and Drew] cinema vérité punch to the abdomen, The Poughkeepsie Tapes. Set for release by MGM in 2007, the film was all but abandoned for reasons unknown. Many insiders say it was due to the studios crumbling financial situation, but my theory is they did not know what to do with a movie that was real in a Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer kind of way.

The Poughkeepsie Tapes deals with a police department’s discovery of over eight hundred videotapes shot by a killer which show a visual record of his murders in grisly detail. Not only does he capture the atrocities, he also films the random abductions, painful torture, postmortem mutilations of innocents, and bizarre fetishes that would give Ted Bundy a run for his money.

The flick is still collecting dust in the MGM vaults and has only found its way into people’s homes courtesy of ‘alternative’ means. The Dowdle Bros. next venture was Quarantine, a remake of Spanish sensation, [REC].Although it was almost a shot-for-shot redux with different actors, it proved once again that they know the horror genre well and can make a polished film scary as f*ck.

The Dowdle Bros. obviously have brass balls as they joined everyone’s whipping boy at the moment, M. Night Shyamalan, for The Night Chronicles: Devil, the first in a trilogy of pictures which involves the supernatural within modern urban society.

The story begins with what appears to be a suicide jump from a high rise building in the heart of a large metropolitan city. Heavy-hearted Detective Bowden, a man who lost his wife and son in a car accident [think Signs] five years prior, is dispatched to solve the crime and get to the bottom of things. Going about their daily lives, random strangers converge in a Hellevator inside the glassy skyscraper and become trapped. Something is amiss, every time the lights go out someone meets their demise as the Devil has come to collect overdue debt from a group of sinners.

Like The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shyalamlan’s best work has always been taking the ordinary and making it extraordinarily scary. I always get the heebie-jeebies when I go into a metal box with a group of people who I don’t know. Haven’t your animal instincts ever told you not to get into an elevator with someone and you still did? The evil here is not horns and a tail as Satan takes a more cerebral approach and manifests himself in human form so he can watch us turn on ourselves. Based on a short story by Night, screenwriter Brian Nelson has crafted an old-fashioned tale of morality that plays like a superior episode of The Twilight Zone. It’s a well crafted whodunit that takes the paranoia of Cube, the setting of Dick Mass’ The Lift, and the sensibilities of classic Alfred Hitchcock and spins an original chiller that masterfully shows seedy souls who get their comeuppance.

I know this is a pretty big matzah ball to hang out there, but Devil will do for elevators what Jaws did for swimming. I am sure I have put a target on my back for giving such superlatives to anything involving M. Night Shyamalan, but I call them like a see them, and Devil is a front runner for the best horror film of 2010.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Universal Studios offers up their usual great HD presentation. The film had a moody, muddy look to its setting and while it won’t sparkle and ‘wow’ viewers, the transfer handles it all well enough. Knowing its intentions, the transfer is clear and detailed. The DTS track is mostly dialogue driven with a few good moments of stingers and bass, but again, knowing the directors’ intentions, the track is adequate enough.

All the extras are quick little featurettes. Deleted Scenes run about three minutes and are just character moments wisely cut. The Story, The Devil’s Meeting, and The Night Chronicles all cover M. Night’s ideas and script. Each run about three minutes and are minimally interesting. BD-Live features round out the slim extras.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: