"Devil's Due" follows a young newlywed couple who find out they're expecting a child after returning home from their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Shortly into the pregnancy, mother-to-be Allison begins having unusual symptoms, and it appears that she and her husband are being watched by some sort of secret society who are awaiting the birth of one of the "many" antichrists.
Cleverly prefaced with scripture from John, "Devil's Due" sets out on a road oft-followed in the found footage sub genre of horror films, charting terrorized couples and Satanic magic wreaking havoc on suburbia. That said, the film has a few interesting aspects; first off, it's not really a "found footage" film. Although much of the narrative is dispensed through home video footage which is recorded by the couple themselves, the film also utilizes surveillance footage from public spaces as well as the cameras secretly placed in their home to help tell the story. In other words, it is not a film claiming to be a "true story" "discovered" as a cohesive piece of found footage. It's in all actuality a fairly standard horror movie that is told through the medium of hand-held video and surveillance without the claims of being real or "found", and for that, I found the film mildly refreshing. I roll my eyes every time I see a found footage horror film claiming to be reality ("The Devil Inside" comes to mind), but "Devil's Due" makes no bones about anything of the sort, and in that sense is very much aware of itself and doesn't rest solely on its pretensions.
Secondly, I can't not praise the acting in this film. The other downfall of most "found footage" films is that they star unknown actors who often have little experience and/or talent, and thus tend to have less-than-stellar acting, which just cheapens films that are already cheap to begin with. That's not the case with "Devil's Due". Zach Gilford plays the concerned husband role both behind and in front of the camera, and is convincing in the role; however, Allison Miller is the one who really carries the film. Her performance in this was wonderful in general, and especially wonderful in a film of this type. Very naturalistic and totally believable. My praise even goes for the minor roles; all of the acting in the film does feel genuine, which really elevates this above other hand-held horror fare.
Narratively, the film is definitely imperfect. Some people have claimed the film is boring, which, while it does take time to get going, the slow burn nature of it allows for some subtle scares to creep in over an extended period (also, there isn't much for jump scares here either, which I was really surprised by). That said, the film does lack steam at times, and propels itself into a conclusion that doesn't reveal as much excitement or surprise as the preceding 80 minutes would lead you to believe is coming. The finale is pretty weak, and follows a pattern that's been done before in other found footage genre films. That's not to say that a horror film requires a twist ending to be worthy (which this film surprisingly doesn't have), but there's not a whole lot of payoff in terms of anything truly shocking or nuanced occurring in the film's final act, and for that, it is predictable. There's a lot of build-up for a pretty mediocre ending.
All things considered, "Devil's Due" is an oddball in the sub genre in which it's been placed. The film doesn't make any claims to reality, doesn't ascribe to jump scares or a surprise ending, has shockingly worthwhile performances, and, most importantly, isn't actually a "found footage" movie at all. The references to "Paranormal Activity" and "Rosemary's Baby" are indubitable, and despite the film's burnout ending, I still was mildly happy with it, probably because it did the opposite of what I expected it to do in a lot of ways. The flip side of that is that the film doesn't have much in way of surprises, but the above-average performances and a handful of crafty scenes elevated it above any other hand-held and/or found footage horror film to come out in the past five years. 6/10.
Cleverly prefaced with scripture from John, "Devil's Due" sets out on a road oft-followed in the found footage sub genre of horror films, charting terrorized couples and Satanic magic wreaking havoc on suburbia. That said, the film has a few interesting aspects; first off, it's not really a "found footage" film. Although much of the narrative is dispensed through home video footage which is recorded by the couple themselves, the film also utilizes surveillance footage from public spaces as well as the cameras secretly placed in their home to help tell the story. In other words, it is not a film claiming to be a "true story" "discovered" as a cohesive piece of found footage. It's in all actuality a fairly standard horror movie that is told through the medium of hand-held video and surveillance without the claims of being real or "found", and for that, I found the film mildly refreshing. I roll my eyes every time I see a found footage horror film claiming to be reality ("The Devil Inside" comes to mind), but "Devil's Due" makes no bones about anything of the sort, and in that sense is very much aware of itself and doesn't rest solely on its pretensions.
Secondly, I can't not praise the acting in this film. The other downfall of most "found footage" films is that they star unknown actors who often have little experience and/or talent, and thus tend to have less-than-stellar acting, which just cheapens films that are already cheap to begin with. That's not the case with "Devil's Due". Zach Gilford plays the concerned husband role both behind and in front of the camera, and is convincing in the role; however, Allison Miller is the one who really carries the film. Her performance in this was wonderful in general, and especially wonderful in a film of this type. Very naturalistic and totally believable. My praise even goes for the minor roles; all of the acting in the film does feel genuine, which really elevates this above other hand-held horror fare.
Narratively, the film is definitely imperfect. Some people have claimed the film is boring, which, while it does take time to get going, the slow burn nature of it allows for some subtle scares to creep in over an extended period (also, there isn't much for jump scares here either, which I was really surprised by). That said, the film does lack steam at times, and propels itself into a conclusion that doesn't reveal as much excitement or surprise as the preceding 80 minutes would lead you to believe is coming. The finale is pretty weak, and follows a pattern that's been done before in other found footage genre films. That's not to say that a horror film requires a twist ending to be worthy (which this film surprisingly doesn't have), but there's not a whole lot of payoff in terms of anything truly shocking or nuanced occurring in the film's final act, and for that, it is predictable. There's a lot of build-up for a pretty mediocre ending.
All things considered, "Devil's Due" is an oddball in the sub genre in which it's been placed. The film doesn't make any claims to reality, doesn't ascribe to jump scares or a surprise ending, has shockingly worthwhile performances, and, most importantly, isn't actually a "found footage" movie at all. The references to "Paranormal Activity" and "Rosemary's Baby" are indubitable, and despite the film's burnout ending, I still was mildly happy with it, probably because it did the opposite of what I expected it to do in a lot of ways. The flip side of that is that the film doesn't have much in way of surprises, but the above-average performances and a handful of crafty scenes elevated it above any other hand-held and/or found footage horror film to come out in the past five years. 6/10.