Documentary moviemaker Michael King loses his wife in an accident (a'la SIGNS) and decides to explore the afterlife as his next project, proving there IS no afterlife since he's always been an atheist at heart. Of course, he's obviously soul searching, wanting to confirm his wife is in a better place. So Michael decides to invite the Devil or demons into his life to prove they're not real, embarking on a journey to conjure one up. He meets various unsavory individuals (Satanists, psychics, demonologists, channelers, mental patients, wacky priests) in hopes of opening himself up to be possessed. Naturally, we the viewer go along for the ride in this fake documentary "found footage" movie that kind of merges THE DEVIL INSIDE with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Early scenes generate some suspense and uneasiness, especially some of the strange rituals and ceremonies that King undergoes in order to "get possessed" (and disprove the reality of demons, possession, God, and the afterlife). Predictably, of course, he DOES get possessed and the entity controlling his body is not only EVIL, but refuses to go away. Up until this point, the movie felt kind of fresh and interesting- you weren't quite sure where it was going, but it's during the final act that everything becomes rather predictable, dull and routine. Now possessed, King struggles with self-mutilation and resists demonic whispering to kill his young daughter. Under demonic spell, King ventures into his shapely sister's room (she's staying with him to help out after the wife died) and feels her up quite nicely---(under the panties, I might add, nice camel toe footage here, some near digital penetration for all you pervs like me out there). The demon changes King's personality, his appearance, and throws his body all around the house and suddenly the movie just has that "limited to one location" PARANORMAL ACTIVITY vibe and feel for the latter half, like we've seen it all before. And actually, we HAVE seen it all before, as the ending pretty much has King trying to resist the demon's murderous impulses and the closer and closer he comes to killing his young daughter, well, the filmmakers borrow liberally or completely plagiarize the ending of THE EXORCIST---take your pick. (And don't even bother to question all the cinematic camera set-ups in today's "found footage" movies.) Overall, not a great movie but not a bad one either, all things considered, if you like the "fake documentary/found footage" approach, which admittedly, is becoming very, very tired these days. For diehard possession fans, you're best off rewatching AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION or Friedkin's classic EXORCIST director's cut...There's very little new here.
Documentary moviemaker Michael King loses his wife in an accident (a'la SIGNS) and decides to explore the afterlife as his next project, proving there IS no afterlife since he's always been an atheist at heart. Of course, he's obviously soul searching, wanting to confirm his wife is in a better place. So Michael decides to invite the Devil or demons into his life to prove they're not real, embarking on a journey to conjure one up. He meets various unsavory individuals (Satanists, psychics, demonologists, channelers, mental patients, wacky priests) in hopes of opening himself up to be possessed. Naturally, we the viewer go along for the ride in this fake documentary "found footage" movie that kind of merges THE DEVIL INSIDE with PARANORMAL ACTIVITY. Early scenes generate some suspense and uneasiness, especially some of the strange rituals and ceremonies that King undergoes in order to "get possessed" (and disprove the reality of demons, possession, God, and the afterlife). Predictably, of course, he DOES get possessed and the entity controlling his body is not only EVIL, but refuses to go away. Up until this point, the movie felt kind of fresh and interesting- you weren't quite sure where it was going, but it's during the final act that everything becomes rather predictable, dull and routine. Now possessed, King struggles with self-mutilation and resists demonic whispering to kill his young daughter. Under demonic spell, King ventures into his shapely sister's room (she's staying with him to help out after the wife died) and feels her up quite nicely---(under the panties, I might add, nice camel toe footage here, some near digital penetration for all you pervs like me out there). The demon changes King's personality, his appearance, and throws his body all around the house and suddenly the movie just has that "limited to one location" PARANORMAL ACTIVITY vibe and feel for the latter half, like we've seen it all before. And actually, we HAVE seen it all before, as the ending pretty much has King trying to resist the demon's murderous impulses and the closer and closer he comes to killing his young daughter, well, the filmmakers borrow liberally or completely plagiarize the ending of THE EXORCIST---take your pick. (And don't even bother to question all the cinematic camera set-ups in today's "found footage" movies.) Overall, not a great movie but not a bad one either, all things considered, if you like the "fake documentary/found footage" approach, which admittedly, is becoming very, very tired these days. For diehard possession fans, you're best off rewatching AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION or Friedkin's classic EXORCIST director's cut...There's very little new here.
