The Devil Inside
Release Date:
January 6, 2012
On the Big Board |
| Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
| 169/169 |
Max Braden |
We're, what, four decades past The Exorcist? How was this supposed to be shocking or unpredictable at all? |
The Devil Inside, the devil inside, every single one of us, the devil inside. Not to be confused with the truly heinous INXS song (I sincerely apologize for the earworm), The Devil Inside is Paramount Pictures’ latest horror release. As is ordinarily the case with teen slasher flicks, the cast is comprised of virtual unknowns. To wit, the most recognizable name is Simon Quarterman, and only a handful of our British readers know who that is. Almost none of the cast has a North American presence at this point, but there is always a chance that one of them could wind up in a situation akin to Johnny Depp in A Nightmare on Elm Street. No, the odds of this are not good with The Devil Inside, though.
The format for The Devil Inside is a documentary regarding the investigation of a daughter into the troubling events surrounding her mother. Exorcisms are ostensibly the methodology through which Isabella Rossi researches how her mother, Maria, came to commit three murders as clergymen attempt to rid the woman of demonic possession. Given the above, I think we all agree that the odds are virtually 100% that in the course of her investigation, Isabella winds up possessed herself. Of course, that is simply giving the audience what they want so as long as the payoff is satisfying, The Devil Inside should meet expectations.
Director William Brent Bell discovered modest success in 2006 with the release of Stay Alive. The “Your videogames are trying to kill you!” premise proved to be a clever niche property, appealing to gamers who were feuding with hypocritical crusader attorney Jack Thompson at the time. Stay Alive earned a respectable $27.1 million at the box office against a frugal $9 million production outlay. While I have no idea why he went six years between horror projects (these things can be churned out in six weeks), his ability to turn a profit with a saturated premise makes him a fine choice for this release.
Given the otherworldly popularity of the Paranormal Activity franchise, it is easy to ascertain why Paramount would want to entertain other potentially lucrative horror franchise opportunities. Whether The Devil Inside proves to be sequel-able (I think I just made that up) remains to be seen. What I can say for sure is that the themes of this movie are similar to The Exorcism of Emily Rose, at least on the surface level. That 2005 release opened to a massive $30.1 million on its way to a $75.1 million domestic performance. If The Devil Inside manages even half that total, it will be incredibly lucrative for a million dollar production. (David Mumpower/BOP)
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