I am not quite sure exactly when M Night Shyamalan's name became a byword for cinematic crapness, but it is pretty safe to say he has definitely earned that tag.
For some people it was Signs, for me it was The Village (the most angry I have ever been inside a cinema) and as for The Last Airbender – well the less said the better.
Now, before anybody starts getting all pedantic on me and tries to point out that Devil is in fact directed by John Erick Dowdle, consider the fact that Shyamalan has his grubby paws all over the screenplay and production duties and you can see this was very much his baby.
I suppose the obvious question is just why did I bother to rent this, especially after the blink-and-you've-missed-it cinema release back in September.
Well, the truth is Shyamalan has nearly always had an interesting idea at the centre of his films, only to stumble on the execution side of things, and Devil is no different.
Supposedly the first segment of a 'Night Chronicles' series of flicks, this opus follows five random strangers who all happen to board the same lift in an office block.
The lift grinds to a halt mid-floors, lights flicker, tempers and fears rise and all sorts of strange goings-on begin to occur as the passengers realise that one of them may not exactly be who they say they are.
Sounds OK right?
And for the first half or so it is, with a nicely-paced build-up with the various characters introduced, along with some religious talk of the 'Devil's meeting' from a suitably over-the-top security guard.
Cleverly using a cast of little-known actors (Chris Messina, Bokeem Woodbine and Matt Craven for example) you never know who to root for, who to look out for and who to pigeonhole as the obvious suspect.
But, sadly, as the film progresses what is for sure is that you will find them all very annoying in their own way, with a host of character shifts, some truly inane dialogue and plenty of ridiculous decision-making.
For example – at one point one of the characters (the most athletic one), attempts to open the ceiling of the lift, explaining to everyone that he will look for another way out.
However, as he attempts to climb out he is hauled back in by the group who 'do not want him getting away', which certainly left me scratching my head, and that slightly nonsensical vibe infuses the latter stages of the film.
Drafting in some detectives to allow the action to stray away from the lift itself is a decent touch, but in actuality all that does is set up a horribly groan-inducing ending that literally had me shouting 'oh not you didn't' as the realisation of just where they were going with it dawned.
As you can probably tell by now, my summary of Devil is a pretty simple one – great idea foiled by stupid, stupid film-making.
And as for the supposed further parts of the Night Chronicles, well I shall probably give them a miss.
DVD EXTRAS: A handful of deleted scenes and three pointless five-minute 'documentaries'.
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