Devil

I'm not really the religious type. I go to church because my parents usually take me along. Granted, I never told them that I really don't care for religion but then again, religion is a touchy subject. Anyway, what's interesting about the concept of the devil in a movie is that I don't really have to take the story seriously to enjoy the movie.

In movies, and pop culture in general, Satan is usually characterized as the all powerful master of evil, and in movies, that basically means he's Freddy Kruger on a wider playing field, where as Freddy only attacks in dreams while Lucifer can attack ANYWHERE. Even inside an elevator.

And that's where Devil takes place. Five people are stuck inside an elevator in "inspection mode" and one of the surveillance guys suspects that one of them may be Damian's Father. Predictably, the passengers are all a bunch of sinners and periodically the lights go off so that der Teufel can pick them off one by one.

One thing I like about the movie is that they don't give us the characters names right away. While the elevator thing is going on, a detective is lead to the building investigating a suicide, and then he stumbles onto this story. They try to figure out how to get the passengers out and they find files of all of the passengers and their back stories. So basically, the investigators are the "exposition brigade".

There are some gripes. Apparently, Beelzebub likes his toast butter side down. Also, the writers seemed to have forgotten that the movie they were making is just a simple movie where the devil kills people and tried to make it preachy.

That doesn't really work when He Who Has Way Too Many Names is choosing the hands on approach instead of being subtle like he usually is (or would be).

All aside, it's no Exorcist, but I enjoyed it.