DEVILS DUE

I was disappointed with this because it's just so much of the same. Paranormal Activity doing the whole cam pov I can take. That's it's schtick but it just gets annoying in this film. It was that and the lack of more paranormal/supernatural happenings. There were hardly any scares to speak of in this film. It kind of crescendos at the end for about 10 minutes but even then it's still underwhelming. Rated R? Rated R for what. Please tell me. It wasn't gory. Those silly F bombs. Shame on them. If you gonna go R, go R. Finally, I liked the two main actors in the film. They're okay/good, but this film just was repetition of stuff we've seen while adding nothing new or interesting to it. OH, a freaky symbol...big whoop.

What I did notice was the brushed aluminum dining table and chairs. That was nice choice of set design.

Grade - C

The influence of Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, and almost every other film concerned with possession and/or a demonic child can be felt throughout Devil's Due, the story of a newlywed couple who, after a strange encounter while on vacation in the Dominican Republic, return home to the States to discover she, despite her use of birth control, is with child. The road to delivery is a sinister one for the couple as her mental and physical health deteriorates and mysterious figures observe and menace them from afar. This is a found-footage film in the stylistic vein of The Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity franchise, though there is no based-on-a-true-story artifice nor any indication as to who has edited the footage together or why. It instead plays as a fictional story presented via the protagonists' personal cameras and also other sources, including security footage. Just because. In the film's corner are a pair of strong lead performances, both confident, natural, and capable of generating legitimate rooting interest. There are also a handful of intense sequences. We may quietly groan as our smiling heroes drive into the Dominican night with a taxi driver they do not know who claims he has a fun surprise for them, but the sense of dread and isolation is still potent. Undermining the film, on the other hand, is the rote trajectory of the plot and also the lower-than-expected number of jolts and bump-in-the-night set pieces, particularly during a second act which is no doubt meant to slowly burn with supernatural suspense, but is instead just sleepy.

C

disappointingly conventional

Devil's Due

I just love found footage movies. While this wasn't scary at all, and the reason for using camcorders and other non-motion picture recording devices was totally stupid and staged, the movie was kind of just ok. Acting was terrible, but I didn't hate it.

C

I didn't think it was bad. Really enjoyed the leads. Found them charming together. Didn't like when it went full-on horror in the end. I enjoyed the film the most, oddly enough, when it wasn't as horror focused. Still an enjoyable time waster.

7/10 (B-)