Devil

M. Night Shyamalan started off fairly well, although personally I didn't like '6th sense'. My favourites are 'The Village' and the much maligned but in my opinion utterly charming 'Lady in the Water'. He's well known for appearing in his movies, arrogantly assuming himself to be in the same category as Alfred Hitchcock. I'm increasingly worried for M. Night's safety as he's in danger of disappearing up his own lift shaft. Devil is mainly set in an elevator. There are five people trapped in the lift. All of them, it is revealed, have done dreadful things. There are people from the building trying to rectify the problem. Really inept people. The handsome Detective (last seen in Julie and Julia, Chris Messina) has a horrific past and is assigned to the case when strange things start happening as the lights sporadically go out in the lift and people start losing their lives, and marbles. Now I haven't had a huge amount of dealings with the police, but in Australia none of them looklike they do in American movies. I like to think all Police Officers look like filmstars in the US. A very religious security guard, viewing the shenanigans in the lift from a web cam is convinced it's the devil at work, and weaves the story into the film. How will it all end as one by one, the lift users begin to regret not taking the stairs. The acting is quite good, although they all seem so shifty and awful you almost sigh with relief when you don't have to hear them talk any more. The film has a surreal quality, which actually detracts from the tension and horror. The ending is satisfying, though predictable although you do almost feel as if you should be hearing a chorus of angels as the car drives off into the night. Apparently M. (is the M for something really embarrassing like Muriel?) Night is planning another eleven of these type of films. At least he keeps them quite short, and apart from the odd moment of boredom setting in during the lift scenes, quite entertaining in that predictable horror genre kind of way. The film isn't particularly gory either. There are some clues in the scenes and some red herrings, although when you watch one of M's films you're usually looking out for a sign of some sort aren't you? Devil: It's in the detail. 5/10.