The Devil Inside

4.5/5

There are many movies about exorcism and very many of them will appear very similar. Generally I'd say movies that take on this type of theme, are driving themselves heavily on the shock value and using it to pull their viewers in. William Brent Bell's "The Devil Inside" is a prime example of that, but it also delves deep into religion and science and does a great job of expressing realism.

The Devil Inside is a fictional documentary inspired by true events based on exorcism. It centers around Isabella Rossi who's mother was committed to a sanitarium in Rome after she was convicted of killing three members of clergy, while they were trying to exorcise her back in 1989. After 20 years Isabella travels to Rome to reunite with her mother, as well as create a documentary behind the study of exorcism. After spending some time in Rome she meets two young priests David and Ben, who are attending a school where priests are trained in the theory behind exorcism and mental illness. After allowing her to sit in on one of their sessions with a possessed young teenager, Isabella enlists the aid of both David and Ben to attempt to exorcise her mother and cure her of her demonic essence.

I highly recommend this movie to both horror enthusiasts and those who also like to delve into the satanic side as well. That being said apparently the Vatican did not endorse this movie(go figure) so if you're really religious then this movie might shock and appall you. Though if you've seen "The Exorcist" and didn't have a cow then you'll manage. What I really like about this movie though, is that it keeps you on edge throughout the whole film. With Most documentaries you'd expect there to be some slow parts, where it sort of brings you back to earth. This movie though rarely does that and given how intense it gets at times, you might like that little bit of a breather. Fans of the "Paranormal Activity" series will know what I mean and I think would like this movie. 

The other interesting thing is that while this movie is heavily religious based(I'm not religious at all) it doesn't really bore you, or put you off it. If you're like myself, you definitely need to suspend your beliefs, for many people that could be by a lot, but once again its a movie, not reality so if you're that critical then don't watch this. It's only 83 minutes which I'd say is a good length because it keeps you going long enough to enjoy it, but not so long that it starts to get to be too much. The effects in this film and the way it was shot were done really well.... The scenes in which they show the exorcisms are done superbly, they look very real and if you find the sounds of popping bones makes you shudder then this will make you go "ouch". This film's budget was estimated just over the million mark, but my guess would be most of that cost would have been geared towards the travelling and filming in Europe, because there's not really any huge movie magic going on and it looks pretty realistic.

My only complaint throughout this movie is that the audio is sometimes a bit on the low side. There were times where I really had to crank my speakers because the talking would get a bit quiet. That being said though it doesn't really take away from the movie and I know that when you do film a movie like this, there are bound to be some parts that may sound a little less audible then others.

I streamed this movie off Netflix so you can go check it out there, or if you are in a small town that maybe still has video stores, I'd strongly recommend giving this a rent. Either way check it out!

Here's a chilling trailer of the movie: