https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHR845sZtI

Now this movie has had a lot of buzz since it came out. I even saw it appear on a couple “Top 10 of 2014” lists for horror movies. While in general I really enjoyed this movie, I believe it had some shortcomings that kept it from being out of this world.

As you can probably guess from the title, the Devil plays a large part in this film. It is not so much a possession story as it is a story of the devil trying to work his way into our world. It starts with meeting the young Hannah (Ashley Rickards). You soon learn the sinister way she was tricked into selling her soul to the Devil. Flash forward a bit and you meet Leigh (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a real estate agent trying to sell Hannah’s old house, and her sister Vera (Naya Rivera). The film weaves back and forth between the progress of Hannah’s fate and the present situation with the sisters who may be end up in the same boat.

Despite what the trailer leads you to believe, Leigh’s character is only a small part of the story. She acts more as a pathway that leads Hannah (and the Devil) to Vera. Ashley Rickard’s performance in the movie is very haunting and she often left me with chills. Naya Rivera, unfortunately, was lacking quite a bit in her performance. Most of the film she seemed to have what is commonly known as “resting bitch face” as her only expression. There is even a scene where she is distraught and is supposed to be crying. She has to literally cover her face to hide the fact she isn’t really crying, and when she moves her hands to brush back her hair you can clearly see there are no tears. I love Naya, but her performance was the worst part of the movie.

Despite that, I loved the movie. It created such a feeling of unease leaving me thoroughly creeped out long after the movie ended (without necessarily having any big in-your-face scares). Even the simple line that so accurately describes the Devil as “wearing her like a costume” (as seen in the trailer above) makes you want to sleep with the light on. Overall the movie has really great character development, an intricate and well played out plot, and a couple of fairly decent surprises thrown in.

OVERALL RATING: 7/10