“Devil”
Directed By: John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle
Starring: Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Geoffrey Arend, Logan Marshall-Green, and Bokeem Woodbine
Studio: Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, thematic material and some language including sexual references
Universal Home Entertainment has released the M. Night Shyamalan-produced horror / thriller “Devil” just in time for the Christmas holidays! Doesn’t that sound funny? I thought so. As I stated above, “Devil” has hit Blu-ray and DVD and there’s not much I can say about it that I didn’t in my previous review of the film. It’s a great mystery and keeps you going throughout the entire thing.
Simply put, “Devil” tells the story of ” five people (who are) trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia. They discover that the Devil is among them – and no one can escape their fate.”
“Devil” as a movie takes M. Night Shyamalan back to where you wished he would have stayed with filmmaking. Remember “The Sixth Sense”, “Unbreakable,“ and even “The Village?“ Well, storywise and tonewise that’s what you get here. You actually get what many critics and moviegoers have wanted and suggested for a long time – the genius and twisted story ideas of Shyamalan coupled with an outside director other than himself to bring the vision to the bigscreen. He found this in the great atmospheric direction of The Dowdle Brothers (“Quarantine”, ” The Poughkeepsie Tapes” ). The only way I can describe “Devil” is that it’s like a horror version of “Ten Little Indians” set on an elevator that ends as a lesson in morality, forgiveness, and redemption. The movie definitely has no problem wearing it’s religious and Christian overtones on it’s sleeve.
I am a big fan of “Devil” and would suggest it to anyone who likes a good mystery or thriller. There are definitely horror elements throughout so viewers be aware of that. Although he doesn’t direct it, M. Night Shyamalan’s influence can be felt throughout this entire film. If you miss the director’s earlier work I would highly recommend this.
“Devil” comes in two different formats. You can get it in a single disc Blu-ray format and in a single disc regular DVD version. Both versions pretty much have the same Special Features which include three Deleted Scenes; The Story Featurette; The Devil’s Meeting Featurette; and The Night Chronicles Featurette. The Blu-ray does come with a code so you can download a digital copy if you want.
Technical Specifications for the Blu-ray version of “Devil” include 1080p Video Resolution; 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio; English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS 5.1, and Spanish DTS 5.1 Audio; and English SDH, French, and Spanish Subtitles.
The regular format DVD Technical Specifications include Animorphic Widescreen; 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio; English, Spanish, and French Dolby Digital 5.1 and English DVS Dolby Digital 2.0 Languages; and English SDH, Spanish, and French Subtitles.
You can buy the Blu-ray version of the movie right here .
You can buy the regular format DVD right here .
