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Poster artwork for the supernatural horror thriller film Devil.
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Lucifer’s
Lift
by Linh
Devil is
based on a concept inspired by Agatha Christie’s novels from director, producer
and writer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth
Sense, Signs) and is the first
installment of The Night Chronicles,
a series of supernatural horror stories to be filmed as a trilogy. Shyamalan
hand-picked his creative team of writers, producers and director for Devil, and opted for new, up-and-coming
talents to give his film a raw yet fresh sense of edginess to the horror genre.
Delegating the tasks for Devil,
instead of directing it himself, enabled Shyamalan to take a back seat and see
how this film has struck a chord with many viewers and horror fans. There is
still some influence from Shyamalan, but the cast and production team make this
film a cult hit.
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HELLISH
HEIGHTS: Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) investigates the
elevator shaft in the film Devil.
Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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Devil is
set in Philadelphia and opens with an ominous and spooky music score playing
over what appears to be a dark underground cavern, but slowly emerges as water
when the screen brightens. Ramirez, a character who also appears in the film,
narrates throughout. As the camera pans across the water, we see the reflection
of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and the city buildings, are all appearing
upside down. This may be the first sign
something very wrong is about to occur in Philadelphia.
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SHIFTING
SUSPICIONS: Sarah (Bojana Novakovic), Jane (Jenny
O’Hara), Ben (Bokeem Woodbine), Tony (Logan Marshall-Green) and Vince (Geoffrey
Arend) feel uneasy in the trapped elevator in the film Devil. Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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The film’s premise is simple but the story becomes
spookier as five strangers enter an office-building elevator and become trapped
for six hours. A security guard, a former marine officer/mechanic, a mattress
salesman, a middle-aged woman and a young woman, all unknowingly experience the
wrath of the Devil’s presence, with bizarre deaths when the lift lights go out.
As more horrible events occur in the elevator, they each suspect one another,
and everyone in the lift becomes a threat. There is only one-way communication
between the detectives and the trapped five, where the detectives can be heard
over the speaker inside the lift, but no sound is transmitted from inside the
lift to the detectives. The fear intensifies and the suspicions shift from one
character to the next. As the Devil takes each victim from inside the lift,
Detectives Bowden (Chris Messina) and Markowitz (Joshua Peace), and the
security team work as fast as they can to save them.
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SCATTERING
SHARDS: Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) attempts to shield herself from
the glass shards in the elevator in the film Devil. Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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The cast of mostly unknown actors are superb and bring
all the fears and emotional experiences to the surface. The tight and small
space of the elevator, in which they all share, intensifies the anxiety and
panic among the characters, as the Devil starts to carry out its deed.
Chris Messina (Greenberg,
Julie & Julia) is Detective
Bowden, who is still mourning the deaths of his wife and son in a hit and run
accident, where the perpetrator left an apology on the back of a car wash
voucher. He must learn to move on but
his anger and sorrow prevents him from forgiving the person responsible for his
family’s death. Messina places the perfect balance of scepticism and belief in
the Devil within his character and brings sincerity in his final act of forgiveness.
Serbian-born Australian actress Bojana Novakovic (Drag Me To Hell, Edge of Darkness) is Sarah, the young wealthy trophy wife who has a
knack for blackmailing and lying. She is the first to be attacked in the lift
and the one who is most suspicious of everyone else. Novakovic gives Sarah
innocence and vulnerability, but Sarah’s ability to cause rifts among the
others makes her appear conniving and cruel.
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WATCHFUL
WITNESSES: Detective Markowitz (Joshua Peace), Detective Bowden
(Chris Messina), Lustig (Matt Craven) and Ramirez (Jacob Vargas) see the result
of the Devil's work in the film Devil.
Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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The narrator and true believer is Jacob Vargas (Jarhead, Death Race) who portrays the cool and calm security guard Ramirez,
whose eyes are glued to the monitors that captures everything in the elevator.
Ramirez provides the links between the Devil’s actions and the detectives’
effort to rescue the trapped five through his narration. Ramirez appears as the
bigger threat to the Devil but his faith protects him from harm.
Logan Marshall-Green (Across
The Universe, Lonely Hunter) is
excellent as the rugged and reserved mechanic Tony, whose past catches up with
him while he is trapped in the lift; Jenny O’Hara (Mystic River, As High As the
Sky) is conservative, cold and distant as Jane the middle aged woman who
not only steals material objects but also other people’s identity; Bokeem
Woodbine (The Host, Riddick) is convincing as the beefy and
bullish security guard Ben, whose claustrophobia decreases as the body count in
the lift increases; Geoffrey Arend (500
Days of Summer, Garden State) is
delightful as the cocky and annoying mattress salesman Vince, who is the comic
relief as the trapped five struggle to stay calm in the confined space.
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FLICKERING
FRIGHT: Tony (Logan Marshall-Green) and Sarah (Bojana Novakovic)
prepare as the elevator lights flicker on and off again in the film Devil. Image: Universal Pictures, Media
Rights Capital.
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Devil manages
to effectively depict how it is possible to prey on the fears of every person
in the elevator who has “sinned” in some way, and how they are being tested
then punished by the unseen Devil for their wrong-doings. Although the Devil is
frequently referred to as “He” in the film, the eventual appearance of the
Devil may come as a surprise. The film has all the key elements of a
supernatural horror thriller that is well-paced, wonderfully performed and the
music is used to both accompany and intensify the drama as the Devil approaches
the final victim.
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DEVILISH
DARKNESS: Ben (Bokeem Woodbine) and Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) use
mobile phones to light the elevator in the film Devil. Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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Elliot Greenberg’s editing seamlessly overlap the cause
and effect of the characters’ actions from one scene to the next; the
cinematography by Tak Fujimoto is brilliantly filmed with various angles, shots
and scenes looking foreboding and sinister even under bright lights; composer
Fernando Velázquez’s original music deftly creates the chilling atmosphere for
the Devil’s arrival, the elevator horror scenes and the Devil’s departure;
Brian Nelson’s (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) script is excellent and
the narrative hits a crescendo with an impact that continues to linger after
the final credits and director John Erick Dowdle (Quarantine, The Poughkeepsie
Tapes) shows flair in keeping the viewers intrigued enough to satisfy their
curiosity while sending some chills down the spine. This may be not be M. Night
Shyamalan’s film, but he did oversee a talented team of emerging performers and
production crew bring his story’s concept of faith, fate and forgiveness to
life.
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ELEVATOR
ESCAPE: Tony (Logan Marshall-Green) attempts to find a way out
of the trapped elevator in the film Devil.
Image: Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital.
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Director:
John Erick Dowdle
Writers: Brian
Nelson (screenplay), M. Night Shyamalan (story)
Cast:
Chris
Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Logan Marshall-Green, Jacob Vargas, Jenny O'Hara, Bokeem
Woodbine, Geoffrey Arend, Matt Craven, Joe Cobden, Joshua Peace, Zoie Palmer,
Caroline Dhavernas, Robert Lee, Rudy Webb, Vincent Laresca, Craig Eldridge,
Jonathan Potts, Genadijs Dolganovs, Killian Gray, Joe Pingue, Stacy Chbosky,
Alice Poon, Jay Hunter, Michael Rhoades, Kelly Jones, Lee Oliveira, Kimberly
Ables Jindra, Gage Munroe, Riley Jones, Dana Jones, Sue Parker, Peter Yan,
Spencer Jones, Peter Schindelhauer
Producers: M.
Night Shyamalan, Sam Mercer, Drew Dowdle, Trish Hofmann, Ashwin Rajan, John
Rusk, Joseph Boccia
Original
Music Composer: Fernando Velázquez
Cinematographer: Tak
Fujimoto
Film
Editor: Elliot Greenberg
Production:
Martin Whist (Production Designer), Patrick M. Sullivan Jr., Nigel Churcher
(Art Directors)
Costume
Designer: Erin Benach
Running
Time: 1 hour and 26 minutes
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