Shame the Devil (2013) User Reviews

Tell the truth

[stemal-1 · 4/10 · 24 April 2015]

Paul Tanter hasn't got a great CV. In fact it reads like a list of crimes against British Cinema.

So it pains me to say that Shame The Devil isn't truly terrible. Its ideas aren't original, but to condemn it as Saw-lite is unfair. The influence of Saw and Seven is clear, not that there's anything wrong with that. I'd be surprised if anyone could point me towards an original serial killer movie made in the last 10 years.

There are many ridiculous moments. A favourite was when a character hands over a note he has received from the killer - 'I think he could be sending us a message.' Another was when the cop from London is in the presumably yet-to-have-internet-access city of New York, and he phones his partner in London to ask him to google something for him. Then there's the pointless Transatlantic commuting.

And the end. Because my fast forward doesn't work, I had to watch 40 minutes again to find out who the hell Victor was!

Yes, it wasn't original, I laughed in the wrong places and the end made me want to kick the cat. But it kept me watching, and I didn't look once to see how long was left. I'd have gone 5 if it hadn't been for the lazy way the mystery was wrapped up.

Gets boring

[iainmcleod_800 · 3/10 · 17 March 2021]

The acting wasnt bad. The first half of the film wasnt bad. But then zzzzz nothing. And then finally you think, "really"?

Shame alright

[bjornrhein · 3/10 · 1 April 2024]

Some joker gave this garbage 10 stars and wrote a review how fantastic it was , dude just wait until you see the saw movies you will freaking levitate

This is of course a idea stolen from saw , even if people say its not but it is , and that subject is drained , you cant do much more of it , its stupid even try, but for the one who like that kind of movies well this is for you

This is a bit boring, bad direction and the story dont work , what is good then , well the acting is pretty ok actually , and some good looking girls , but thats it on the plus side

Also the headcharacter is annoying, one of these guys who screams all the time.

Wants to be Saw and fails on every level

[kitrhod · 1/10 · 24 November 2014]

This is the first time I have been driven to write a review for IMDb but have done it purely as a public service to warn people off wasting 90 minutes of their lives on this bilge.

From the opening scene one imagines a second rate, British version of Saw. Sadly it is not even 3rd or 4th rate. Where as Saw has real menace, even if the franchise grew more tired as it wore on, this lack believability, tension, emotional depth and any sense of a real narrative to drive it forward.

None of the actors is bad mind you, they have simply been given dialogue that is at best clunky and at worse downright nonsensical.

Avoid.

Awful

[James-Bancroft · 1/10 · 30 December 2014]

A film that thinks it would be a good idea to copy Saw, then try to copy s7ven (but work through the 10 commandments instead!)

Very predictable, very repetitive and absolutely nothing new.

From the opening rip off scene to the closing "twist" this film fails to present the viewer with any innovation.

I am not sure how I made it to the end. I suppose I wanted to see how they could fit the deaths in associated with the ten commandments. They didn't even manage that!

This film would be good if you were playing cliché bingo. You would have a full house after 30 minutes. Lead cop taken off the case and continues to investigate it ... You know the score.

Avoid.

Low budget is no excuse

[mike-janice · 1/10 · 2 December 2014]

Poor script, weak and inexperienced acting, unforgivable direction skills....the list goes on....the cameraman managed to shoot it in focus but the weird inserts during a poor edit did little to save this awful production. I'm sure someone, somewhere would have gained from this dire movie...except of course us. How on earth did they manage to raise the three million dollars to make this? It uses techniques from other more successful films to give it a big budget feel a d fails at every level. Its a great pity that a British film made in 2013 avoided using experienced people, what a shocking waste of an opportunity to do something memorable.

shame the director

[trashgang · 2/10 · 19 August 2014]

What is it with me the last weeks seeing flicks that i didn't like at all and let this one be filed under that name, a real shame. To be honest, it's the name Doug Bradley that attracted me but face it, he's just the voice that you hear off camera. So don't think that you will see Doug in this flick, you will never will except for a few seconds.

The opening of Shame The Devil did ring a bell, did anyone of you geeks has seen the Saw franchise well then you will recognize the rip-off. But okay, I could live with that fact. But once things go wrong it goes awry wrong with this flick. You just couldn't care if someone survives or die or what is going on. While I was attending this flick I picked up a few times the remote to skip or even stop this nonsense.

There's no gore or horror to spot after the opening sequence. It's just a lot of blah blah and for the viewer a lot of yawning. Shame the director and sad to say, shame Doug!

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 3/5 Story 1/5 Comedy 0/5

Shame on this film

[bowmanblue · 2/10 · 6 August 2014]

If you claim to be even just a mild fan of the horror genre then you probably know about the 'Saw' films by now. From the opening scene in 'Shame the Devil' you'll probably be thinking, 'Oh, this is a Saw rip-off.' And you'd be right. Although, maybe Shame the Devil isn't anything like Saw at all, because the Saw franchise was well-done and successful whereas Shame the Devil is total rubbish.

Sorry to be blunt, but there isn't much going for this film. It's a British version of Saw, only nowhere near as good on any level.

Yes, it's a horror film and anyone who's ever watched one probably isn't expecting amazing performances from the characters. However, the actors here take bad acting to new levels. In fact, sometimes the performances are so bad that you could be excused for thinking that they're a bunch of students, playing at being professionals.

However, maybe I'm being a little unfair on the actors. They really don't get much to work with. Every line they're forced to speak is filled with clichés and sounds like it's been copied and pasted from one generic cop movie or another. With acting and dialogue like this it makes it impossible to care for any of the characters as they sort of bumble about, trying to catch a killer who's hell-bent on making his victims confess to their darkest secrets or murdering them if they lie.

Simple verdict: don't bother. There's absolutely nothing positive about this film at all (with the possible exception of the quite breath-taking establishing shots of London, which I found quite nice!).

http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Truly dreadful

[dylangoddard69 · 1/10 · 9 December 2014]

The worst film ever made. Awful acting, and even worse plot. The first 6 minutes are OK-then you are plunged into a tortuous display of poor poor acting of the poorest type & omg the continuity issues too!!! I reckon real actors weren't interested in this film-neither were 2nd rate actors-neither were 3rd rate actors like ex EastEnders & I'm a celebrity get me out of here losers. To the director-you should be ashamed of yourself-please hang your head in shame-shame on you! It says on the front of the DVD -British version of Saw-i'd say Appalling British version of Saw! I'm only telling the truth...to shame the devil. Don't waste 90 minutes of your life on this.

Shame this got beyond concept.

[Saiph90 · 1/10 · 1 December 2014]

I usually enjoy British films, they usually are interesting, clever, witty and well written, 'shame the devil' has none of these attributes. It is classed as horror, sorry I have experienced more horror opening the cupboard and discovering we are getting low on coffee, at one point my wife asked in all sincerity "is it meant to be a comedy?" With most films you have to suspend a bit of logic but with this you need a lobotomy to skip the massive holes in the plot. Why after 7 years does she decide to get back with the most boring man in the world. Who is Victor? Who killed the taxi driver? she was with James and Victor was in London. A British policeman travels across to New York, obtains an illegal gun, breaks in to someone's house, shoots him dead and the New York police do not take him into custody? Lie detectors do not operate in this manner. etc The term wooden is over used but Simon Phillips makes Keanu Reeves look like Orson Welles, he must have been taking direction and being told "look bored senseless in every scene" the dialogue is weird everyone seems to go from 1 to 10 and missing the steps in between. Then we have the continuous flash backs for no apparent reason, then the overused camera flashgun effect. At the end of the film if he had not jumped from the wall there would have been a queue of viewers to help him bring an end to this abysmal offering.

The Devil is In The Details

[drhall-672-138129 · 8/10 · 14 July 2017]

Shame (The Devil) ... this movie had limited release, limited good reviews, and wayyy better script, acting and photography than the "competition" so highly regarded by other reviews. The premise of telling the truth or dying opens an incredible venue of potential and I see nothing this effort fails on! The individuals targeted to Tell The Truth or Die, expose our everyday routine of moral, social and mental weaknesses, failures and consequences often never realized ... until now. The Devil? Hell'va good flick. Again, great photography, directing and acting.

Clean up aisle six

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 23 February 2018]

James (Simon Phillips) is a detective investigating the strange deaths of a "you lie you die" serial killer. The killer uses a lie detector as a trigger mechanism to kill its victims. The killings start to center around James who is released from the case. Determined to still solve the crimes, James flies to NY to see a crime profiler who happen to be an old girlfriend (Juliette Bennett). His pregnant wife (Lucy Clements) doesn't want him to go.

The opening scene made me chuckle. The killer had a Saw-like attitude and feel. This is a crime/thriller with a touch of horror. Film includes your basic twist, nothing fancy, and an ending I might have done differently.

Good rental.

F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

Just plain rubbish

[mjsreg · 1/10 · 14 August 2014]

Well – I was really disappointed by this film, and I didn't have that many expectations.

I am not sure where to start – seriously. From the outset it just didn't seem 'right' and progressively became more 'not right'.

From the outset the dialogue doesn't seem to fit together properly – let alone flow naturally as the story progresses. The same with character interactions – they just don't make sense at all. It is like the bits that explain the characters interaction is missing and they are straight into heavy emotional or dramatic dialogue for no obvious reason – very odd.

It could be partly the acting and partly the direction (as well as the awful writing) which doesn't make the characters believable at all. It is a bit like watching a very bad Latin American soap (if you have seen one you will know what I mean).

Then there are the factual inaccuracies. Whoever wrote this did not do their research well – if they did any at all that is. Some things are just plain ridiculous – like the lie detector machine and the 'psychological profiler' speaking absolute (bleep) about nearly everything to do with psychology.

There are so many unbelievable and plain stupid scenarios in this film that it is best to watch it for yourself – if you have nothing better to do such as laundry, or there isn't much interesting on the shopping channels.

The cinematography and lighting are OK though – mostly.

This could have potentially been a decent film if someone had taken time to write decent dialogue and made sure the story flowed naturally - and got their facts right – and the actors were better and not a mixture of wooden overly dramatic pensiveness.

The ending was rubbish too.

Shame this movie!

[zondaar-887-733837 · 2/10 · 5 January 2021]

This movie was so boring and stupid that it hardly deserves two stars. But since it was a notch better than Agent Jade Black and The Turning, it gets two stars. Deep down, I'm embarrassed about it.

SAW series ripoff

[heirman_steven · 1/10 · 3 January 2019]

Saw is a way better movie and this movie just trying to be like saw

An Acceptable Junior Entry into the "Saw"/"Seven" Family of Films

[mamakin202 · 4/10 · 3 February 2015]

The film starts out with the main gore and pulls you in with a familiar "Let's play a game..."-type unseen villain. The rest of the film proceeds more like a psychological thriller. The story does have some plot holes and moments that a lot of viewers will spot and not be able to get around. Also, some scenes seemed to have extraneous dialogue slowing the pace of film, which may have been trimmed in a more high-end production. Introduction/explanation of some characters may also come across a little sloppy unless you are really paying attention. Nice use of locations. Decent performances by actors. Of note, Juliette Bennett pulls off the requisite balance of smart and sexy in her role. While not exactly treading new territory in the genre, it probably has enough to keep a casual viewer interested.

The truth shall set you free

[alec_walker-64427 · 10/10 · 27 February 2021]

For a low budget movie, this was not bad. In fact I'll give credit for where it's due. Excellent performances especially from Simon Phillips and Peter Woodward.

A neat TV thriller without horror

[sorendanni · 7/10 · 20 June 2020]

Shame the Devil is yet another case of a DVD with a bloody image on the cover, without the movie having much to do with horror. Buyers looking for films from the specific genre will be disappointed. And you can see that in the woefully low score.

What Shame the Devil is is a well-kept low budget TV thriller. This film indeed has similarities in plot with Seven and to a (much) lesser degree SAW, but Shame the Devild is never scary, unlike Seven of SAW.

The biggest flaw in the film is quite a gap in the plot. "Victor" plays a major role in the closure of the film. The problem is, not only is this character not deepened, he has no previous screen time at all. He is mentioned only once in the course of the story, and the viewer can only guess what Victor's motive was? Money? Revenge? Love? This error is so obvious that I suspect there were once plans to shoot a longer film with a more elaborated plot, with room for Victor to play his part, but the budget didn't allow it.

That been said, the story was very neat with a main character that is being explored. The film also manages to deliver mild suspense, which keeps you watching. The camera work is neat for a film with little budget and the great advantage of unknown actors is of course that they automatically get something realistic.

I was able to buy my copy of the movie cheaply and I was not bored watching it. That is why I give the film 7/10.

Can't understand everyone else's problem with it.

[sicklittlebunny · 8/10 · 30 November 2022]

I really enjoyed the film. It is in no way a Saw rip off. The only similarity is that the killer spoke to his victims to explain what was happening. If you've seen and understood all the Saw film, it's obvious that the killers in the two films have nothing else in common. There are lots of cases, in film and real life where a killer with a twisted morality is trying to make some kind of point.

Almost everyone has secrets and "If you lie, you die" was an interesting approach to the question of how far people will go to protect those secrets.

It was a good film and I will be watching it again.

The truth will set you free.

[parry_na · 6/10 · 2 May 2016]

'The truth will set you free. Shame the devil'.

A disembodied, distorted voice ingeniously fits various torture devices to its victims and then encourages them to tell the truth and 'shame the devil'. If they tell a lie, something messy happens to them. This is most successfully employed at the very beginning of the film, when a hapless grocery store manager manages to scrape through the test unscathed by admitting to an affair. When his wife arrives on the scene and finds him strapped to chair with a rifle pointing at his face, and a lie detector strapped to it, she vows to get help. "I love you," she says. "I love you," he replies. BANG! The store manager no longer has a face. It's a gruesome and darkly hilarious moment. It's also the most horrific scene in the film – something Director and Writer Paul Tanter seems aware of, as there are interminable flashbacks to that scene throughout.

The rest of the film is more of a detective thriller, with London Detective James (Simon Phillips) intrigued by the case, and then obsessed by it, as events seem to be trailing him around, eventually ending up in New York and the lovely Sarah (Juliette Bennett).

This is a decent film, which could have done with some more gruesome moments. It starts off very much as a 'Saw' type of film, and then becomes something less horrific, but still interesting, with a good twist at the end. It is interesting in a film concerned with making people tell the truth, how the finale sees James defeated by a lie.