Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be checking out a found footage film from 2014. That movie is "Devil's Due".
Now, I understand that a lot of people have said a lot of mixed things about the found footage genre. They either say it's a groundbreaking work of art, and they absolutely love this style of filmmaking. Others will say that it's a stupid gimmick that has outworn it's welcome and should just die off completely. As for myself, well, I really can't gauge an opinion there, because I've only seen about 3 found footage movies in my time. Those movies being "The Blair Witch Project", "Chronicle", and "Grave Encounters". The first two movies weren't as amazing as everyone made it out to be, but they were still pretty good. And as for "Grave Encounters"...well honestly, I don't remember what the fuck happened in that movie, because I saw it through someone's livestream of it years ago. I, vaguely, remember it being kinda boring, but that's about it.
So really, my experience with this sort of genre is very limited. So I figured that I would break new grounds for this series by covering my first found footage movie for "Reaction & Review". And I chose this movie. Now as for the film itself, I don't really know much about it, outside of a couple of things. I know that the plot has something to do with a couple going through an early pregnancy. And the woman, apparently, might be giving birth to an evil baby or something. It sounds kinda stupid, but I am a little bit intrigued to see where this movie might go with this premise.
The only other thing I know about this movie is that it was made by a couple of filmmakers known as Radio Silence. And I've only seen one other movie that they've made, which I ended up covering for this series. That movie being "Ready or Not". And if you read my review for it earlier this year, you will know that I really enjoyed "Ready or Not". So, I'm having hopes that these guys will be able to strike gold twice with this movie.
However, my hopes of this thing being good are a little bit dwindled. Because I haven't heard a single positive about this movie from anyone. So, I am gonna be a little bit cautious with this one. However, I've also gone into movies before with negative reputations and they actually turned out to be OK. So, who knows? Maybe this movie will wind up being decent, or actually pretty damn good. Or, it could totally suck. I will not know, unless I quit stalling and I actually watch this thing. So the only thing left for me to do at this point, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Devil's Due".
3 minutes later
OK, I know this is supposed to be a found footage movie, but was it really necessary for him to film himself climbing, what looked to be very unsteady pipes, while trying to sneak into his girlfriend's house? I mean, it looked really unsafe, and, for all we know, he could've dropped the camera while he was climbing that. Which would, pretty much, kill the purpose of this entire movie. I totally understand that this is all trivial and stupid, but it was something that kinda bugged me a bit, you know?
3 minutes later
OK, I have a really stupid question here that I'm probably not going to get an answer to. So, Zach and his now wife are having their wedding ceremony. Who the hell is filming all this? Furthermore, I'm seeing multiple angles from different perspectives from the gallery, which begs the question on how many people are filming this ceremony? I understand that I'm probably thinking way too hard on this one, but I'm really sorta curious here.
8 minutes later
Whoa, wait a second here! So this cab driver is gonna take them somewhere that they're gonna 'really like'. Mind you, he doesn't say WHERE he's taking them, and our married couple decides that they're gonna accept his offer without even asking what this really cool place is. I'm sorry, but any retard with common sense would ask him where he's taking them. Or, they would just get out of the car while they try to find their way back to their motel room. But I guess these two weren't born with common sense, now were they?
11 minutes later
You know, guys, I was just thinking about something. So earlier, when Zach and his wife were unconscious, Zach's wife was put in the middle of this strange circle and, I guess, magic just happened to impregnate her. We saw that, because Zach's camera was still on while that was all taking place. What exactly happened to that camera that got the footage? Unless if it was destroyed, then don't you think Zach and his wife would've overlooked the footage to see what exactly happened to them? I'm really curious about this now, and I hope this movie attempts to explain that at some point. Otherwise, I'm gonna be left with a huge plot hole that's, possibly, never gonna get answered.
6 minutes later
Wait, so Sam was at the grocery store just a moment ago, and she was eating uncooked meat. And NOBODY at the store bothers to report her for essentially stealing food? She was caught on the security footage while doing this, and now, suddenly, she's at home! So basically, she gets away scot-free. Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with this movie?!
14 minutes later
OK, I have a really stupid question, which, again, I'm probably not going to get an answer to, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. So, if Sam, which is Zach's wife, thinks that there's something wrong with the baby, then why doesn't she consider getting an abortion? I get that this is her first baby and all, but if she REALLY think's that there's something wrong with the baby, then she should just get an abortion, and that would solve, pretty much, everything! I swear to God, guys, the people who wrote this don't know ANYTHING about writing intelligent characters. And I got another...fuck, less than 45 minutes of this crap to go!
7 minutes later
So hold on a fucking second here! Zach is ACTUALLY viewing the stuff he taped during the recent wedding ceremony on his laptop. If that's the case, then where the fuck is the rest of the footage he took during his vacation with Sam and the passed 8 months that he was filming?! Jesus Christ, why the fuck did he not do this shit earlier when his girlfriend was acting all weird and shit? Jesus Christ...I'm not even gonna question this anymore. This movie is clinically fucking retarded, and I am just waiting until this stupid thing ends!
12 minutes later
You know, guys, I totally understand that this scene is suppose to be all 'tense' and 'scary'. But at this point, I have just stopped caring about what's going on in this movie. Thankfully, there's about 25 minutes to go, and I cannot wait to rip this stupid thing to shreds.
The Review
Oh...thank fucking god it's over. Well, guys that was "Devil's Due". And we're closing out with some...really inappropriate music. You guys can't hear this for obvious reasons, but this music does not fit the tone of this movie whatsoever. Doesn't matter, I see ending credits, so I'm just gonna shut this shit off...OK. Holy shit, where do I even begin?
Well...let's start with the biggest sin that this movie commits, which is the writing. Now, as the movie trudged on, because it's honestly that boring, I looked at the writing credit on the back of the DVD case, and I noticed that there was one person who was credited for writing this turd. And this person goes by the name of Lindsay Devlin. I'm going to assume Lindsay is a female. And if I'm wrong on that, then so be it. But anyway, I'm going to assume that Lindsay Devlin does not know ANYTHING about writing characters. Or correction, she doesn't know how to write intelligent characters. Because everybody in this movie is stupid as shit. Especially our two main characters, who I'm going to go over right now. Let's start with Sam, since she's pretty much the star of this thing. She is the one who gets kidnapped, along with Zach, as she gets taken to some underground dark area involving a bunch of satanic bullshit where they put her unconscious body in the middle of this symbolic circle. And through the power of fuck you it's magic, she gets impregnated and starts going through some dark, weird bullshit. Where she starts going through some changes in her life and is slowly descending into madness the closer she gets to having this baby. By the way, the buildup to where we see this baby, gets taken away by these satanic fuckheads. And what they plan to do with the baby is never properly explained. I'm going to assume it has to do with some religious bullshit that I'm not an expert on. But anyway, that reveal is completely squandered. So, going back to talking about Sam. As I just stated, Sam starts going through some weird changes, and she, at one point, thinks that it has something to do with her baby. So, I brought this up earlier, but why didn't she consider getting an abortion? If she thought that this baby was giving her problems, then why not just go to an abortion clinic and solve this problem really quickly? Now, I don't know if it would've actually worked, but it would've made some sense to actually try it. But no, that never happens, because neither she or Zach ever thought about that.
So not only is she an idiot, but she gets away with all of her crimes scot-free. She is guilty of stealing uncooked meat from the grocery store by eating it, she is guilty of destroying public property when she destroys the glass off a van at one point, and she is also guilty of murder, because she kills Zach's sister off-screen. And she kills a few other people that, I'm going to assume, are friends of Zach and her. So...yeah, she gets away with ALL of her crimes until her death when she eventually has her stupid baby. Now before you suggest that I'm spoiling this movie, they actually do admit at the beginning of all this that she's dead, because we see Zack in an interrogation room while being interrogated by the police. I'm gonna talk more about that in a moment, but first, I want to mention a couple of other things about Sam. I brought this up earlier, but when she was eating the uncooked meat at the grocery store, NOBODY bothers to report her. Because not only was she caught on a security camera, there were at least several people who saw her doing this. One of them bypassed her as she was opening the meat, and then we see a mother and her child watching Sam eating the meat. But they don't bother reporting her ass! Instead, the mother just covers the child's eyes and they begin to walk away from this. I guess the people who were in charge of the security cameras at this grocery store don't fucking care that their product is being consumed without pay. And guess what? It's NEVER brought up again in this movie. Nobody bothers to inform her husband about this, because then he would've asked what the hell she was doing eating uncooked meat, despite the fact that she is a vegetarian. But again, that plot point never gets brought up again, and Sam gets away with theft. She also never has to pay the damages she made when she smashed the glass off a van. Which I didn't think would be possible for a woman of her stature to do, but what the hell do I know? Anyway, one other thing I want to mention is when Zach, her, and a couple of friends are at a river, and they notice that a couple of animals had been skinned alive. And when they notice Sam eating the raw meat from a buck, I believe, she starts having psychic powers as a couple of people start flying away at will. And after she either injures, or, most likely, kills the friends, Zach never bothers to go to a police station to report any of this, because he's too worried about his wife and, basically, she gets away with murder as well, because Zach is just as much of an idiot as Sam is.
Speaking of which, let's actually talk about Zach, shall we? And I'm gonna have to spoil this movie because of how ungodly bad this thing actually is. So, if you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading right now and click away. Because there's no way I can get around this if I don't talk about the big problem with this movie's writing. So...anyway, for those that are still reading, let me talk about Zach, our main character. So, he's the guy who's been filming this entire movie...well, sort of, but I'll talk a bit about that when I get to camerawork. So, at the beginning of the film, he's seen being interrogated by the police, because they think he's the one who killed his wife. And near the end of the movie, when they show Zach again, the police state that the house that Zach investigated towards the end of the movie has been abandoned for many years. Basically, Zach stumbles upon this house that was being controlled by these satanic people that have been watching Zach and his girlfriend at home during the time that they've been living together. But somehow, the police discovered that it was abandoned for many years. Not only that, but the second doctor that they went to see, the one that Zach and Sam went to have their baby checked up on, was all made up in Zach's mind and that he never existed. Really? So...then why didn't the police bother to go and check any security cameras that were at the hospital during that time? I'm pretty sure that you'd be able to run a make on the guy that was at the hospital. I mean, this is basic fucking police work that any cop should know right from the word go! Better yet, why didn't they check all of the cameras that Zach and Sam set up around their house? That's also never brought up at any point. Now, I would've said that they should go check the footage that Zach had taped, but this movie gives the most copped-out excuse I have EVER seen. So earlier, I bitched about Zach not actually checking all of the footage he took during their vacation together while viewing what had happened during the second time that we see him and Sam at church. Well, the moment that I complained about that, Zach actually DOES go and recheck all of the footage that he took from his vacation up until recently. And when he finally sees for himself what had happened, he calls a friend over to go look at the footage with him. And when his friend gets there, Zach goes to show him the footage, but, out of ALL the coincidences that should happen, the footage is gone. It's missing, and we NEVER find out what happened to it. And that is bullshit!
Guys, this movie has some of the most illogical, retarded writing I have ever seen in a LONG time. And I had just finished watching the "Killjoy" films last month, but even they didn't make me feel this fucking stupid. Holy shit...now, I'm gonna try to move past the writing, because I could be her for another day talking about all of the illogical bullshit that went on in this movie. However, I've said plenty about it as is. The writing is just that fucking terrible. Now, what about the acting? Well, being that is a found footage movie, a lot of this acting was probably improvised. So honestly, I can't really say much about the acting, but most of it was decent. I will say, though, on a few occasions, Zach's actor sounds pretty wooden. But honestly, for the most part, he did OK, even if his acting could've improved on a few more takes. So overall, the acting is decent, but it's nothing amazing.
I will say, though, that the special effects are great. But then again, this is from the same team that made "Ready or Not", so I guess I was expecting really good special effects from them. And sure enough, that is most certainly the case. There isn't much CG involved, outside of a couple of shots involving this bright orange light, and that looked fine. Stuff involving blood effects are really good, and this movie definitely doesn't shy away from the blood effects. There is a lot of it here, especially towards the end of the movie. So, I can honestly say that the blood effects are definitely a positive for me.
I want to talk about camerawork for just a moment. For the most part, the found footage camerawork is really fucking good, but I do have a question about something that bugged the shit out of me. So, when Zach and Sam are getting married and are having their wedding party afterwards, who exactly was filming their wedding? Better yet, how many people were filming that wedding? Because if this is suppose to be a found footage movie, then how the hell did Zach obtain this footage? Because it definitely looked like there was more than one person filming their wedding, so who exactly was filming it? Was it someone from Zach's family? I can't say it was Sam's family, because the movie stated at one point that her parents were killed in a car crash, and, as far as most people know, she has no other family. So was it someone from Zach's family that filmed the wedding? And furthermore, the wedding itself looked like it was being filmed at several different angles, which sorta kills the idea that this movie was suppose to be found footage. I mean, with films such as "Chronicle" and "The Blair Witch Project", there was, at least, one camera that they had to work with. In "Devil's Due", I had a feeling that there was more than one camera being used during the wedding scene. And again, I know this may sound trivial, but it's something that really did bother me, and it sorta made me question on whether or not this movie was made to be a found footage film? But whatever, camerawork here, for found footage standards, is really good. So, at least, we have that. Lighting here is decent for found footage standards, though admittedly, there is a bit of darkness in a few scenes that is hard to make out. But overall, it's not too bad. Sound-mix here is fine. There really isn't a whole lot of music, outside of some bullshit party music that generally sucks to begin with, and then there was that oddball song that played at the end that sounded REALLY out of place for a movie like this. It sounded really upbeat and comical, which, as I just stated, doesn't fit the tone of the movie itself. So that song was totally out of place here.
So...with all this in mind, am I able to recommend "Devil's Due"? Hell no! This movie sucked ass from top to bottom. It is filled with logic issues and plot holes that never get resolved. The characters are all stupid as shit. And this movie is, quite honestly, the WORST found footage movie I have ever seen. I know that's not saying very much coming from me, seeing as how I have only seen a handful of found footage movies, but this shit is so fucking bad that it pretty much stands as the lowest point for any found footage movie ever made. If you ever see this movie anywhere, do not waste your time picking up a copy. I'm pretty sure that this movie is also running on Disney+, seeing as how they own FOX and all, and if you ever find this movie on there, do not give it any kind of viewing, even if it's out of sheer curiosity. Just avoid this movie as best you can. Not only is it horribly written, but the movie's also boring as shit, too. So much so that I need to watch a better movie to make me forget that I ever watched this stupid thing. And seeing as how this was directed by the same people that directed "Ready or Not", I'm gonna go watch my copy of "Ready or Not" right now, because I need to feel happy after watching...this pile of turd that I had to sit through for 89 minutes. Seriously, don't bother watching this movie. It is 89 minutes that you will NEVER get back.
Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.
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