REVIEW: The Devil Inside

The horror genre is over saturated. There are too many films that use the hand-held, "found footage" style (see The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, The Last Exorcism and REC) and there are also plenty of religious horror films about the devil and exorcisms (see The Last Exorcism again, The Exorcist, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Rite).

So, what does The Devil Inside have that these films do not? Well, nothing really.

In a market that has to tread the difficultly thin line of giving us (the audience) what we want in a horror film (scares, jumps, gore - maybe - a few moments of light relief and some romance) while not being completely repetitive of what's come before it. The Devil Inside fails to really do any of this. It's not really a horror film, because it's not scary enough in the slightest, and it's not really giving us anything new (for a religious exorcism film we have body contortions, speaking in tongues and the demon tormenting the young priests through cursing at them). It's just all been done before.

The film follows young Isabella Rossi (Fernanda Andrade) who is visiting her Mother, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) at a mental institution in Rome after she has been locked away for murdering three people during an exorcism. What follows is more of a documentary than a horror film, as Isabella, her cameraman friend Michael (Ionut Grama) and two young priests practice their exorcisms rites and attempt to free Maria of the multiple demons that have possessed her.

For the first half of the film I was really losing interest. The film was marketed as a straight up horror film, promoting the creepy Mother, Maria fully in the forefront and even having one of those 'audience reaction' trailers to show us how scared people were when watching it. Well, I wasn't scared. I was bored.

I didn't want to be told all about the religious beliefs behind exorcisms. I'm not religious and I got all that I needed to know from watching The Exorcist. The idea of a mental hospital for the "religious insane" in Rome was an interesting idea, but it really wasn't developed at all. The most we got was Isabella staring out of the window at a few "crazy" inmates for about 30 seconds. I wanted to know their stories too, as well as Maria.

I've noticed too that the "hand-held" genre is a good way for studios to hide a multitude of sins in their filmmaking. The shoddy camerawork can hide a lot - bad sets, bad acting, bad costumes, bad props etc. However, the camerawork was so bad in this film at some points that I was honestly getting dizzy and feeling a bit ill. The amount of times that the camera was zooming in and out and then loosing focus was mind-blowing. Also, there was absolutely no point for this film to be found footage. At times it was just unbelievable for even the little things, which truly took away from the "real" feel of the film. One example is when Michael, the cameraman, is filming Isabella from far away as she knocks on the door of the priest's house and then it cuts to a close-up when they answer it. Another one would be the completely awkward scene when Isabella meets her Mother for the first time - the doctors at the institute leaves Isabella with her dangerous Mother alone with only a stranger holding a camera as company...

The film also fails to hide some really dire acting. Some lines can't help but feel staged (a bad thing in a found footage, "real" film), but the acting from Suzan Crowley (Maria) is pretty spot on throughout. Also, the staging of some scenes just felt awkward (I've already mentioned the tag along cameraman, but the whole idea of the exorcism school came across as a bit cheesy. Our characters enter a classroom just as the teacher mentions how demons can jump from body to body... hmmmm, is this a clue for later on in the film?!!)

However, it's not all negative. When the film gets towards it's finale and they have performed the exorcism on Maria, it really kicks it into the horror gear. There is a pretty tense (but very short) scene where one of the possessed is trapped in a bedroom upstairs and the Italian police raid the house. But, the police verge on being bumbling and idiotic - one of them looses their gun in a matter of seconds.

The final scenes with Isabella in the hospital at the end is also pretty tense. I don't want to say what happens because it will be a major spoiler, but it's pretty predictable. I guessed what would happen within the first few minutes. But, it's not too bad, because it's pretty entertaining, it's just over far too quickly.

All you need to do is do the most basic online research and you will see that a lot of people are not happy with the film's ending. In America, apparently it ends with a title card telling the audience to visit a website to fill in the blanks - how lazy is that?!! However, I didn't see this title card when watching the film in the UK. Instead, we just got a smash cut to the end credits after a rather bleak and sudden ending to the film.

So, overall the film isn't exactly what it makes itself out to be. I can't help but feel cheated from the promotional advertising of this film, because it's most definitely not a balls out horror film that it makes itself out to be.

** / *****

REVIEW: 21 Jump Street

Comedies are very difficult to make. The balance between getting the joke right and having enough jokes is really difficult - I'd say even more difficult than making a good scary horror film.

When watching comedy films, I often find them to be very hit and miss (mainly misses though.) I like them because they are "feel-good" films, but I never rally watch many comedy films and laugh out loud all the way through.

Until I saw 21 Jump Street. I laughed. I laughed, a lot.

Apparently, the film is a remake of an 80s American TV show of the same name, but I don't really have any idea what that's all about. But to be honest, that doesn't really matter, because the film stands very well on it's own.

The film revolves around Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) who went to the same school together, but never hung out. Schmidt was a bit of a loner and a geek, whereas Jenko was a jock type and quite popular (nothing like high school stereotypes, eh?!) However, upon leaving school, they both join the police force and find themselves helping each other out in either the physical tests or the academic tests. Once they have become policemen, they are soon demoted to the undercover department, where they have to go undercover as high school students and bust open a drugs ring that has recently killed off a student.

The comedy in this film mainly comes from the quick timings of Jonah Hill and the stereotyped air-head quips from Channing Tatum. The pair work together really well, which is surprising since my last review of Tatum in The Vow wasn't very favourable. However, here in this film, he really finds his feet and shows that he has actually got some talent that can shine on the screen (just not in some schmaltzy romantic comedy!)

School has changed a lot since the pair graduated (2005 - don't I now feel old!!) So, a lot of the comedy comes from the fact that the film flips these stereotypes on their heads. Dave Franco (brother of James Franco) also plays a very good job walking the thin line between annoying and loveable with the popular kid role, Eric Molson. In fact, he wasn't really loveable, but I think I'm biased because I'm a big fan of James Franco and Dave just seemed like he was following in his brother's footsteps very well!

Like I said, the film was very funny and there wasn't much of a time during the film when I was sat twiddling my thumbs. However, there are some jokes that fall flat. Having said this, it doesn't really make much of a difference, because the jokes are laid on so thick, that if you didn't appreciate the joke, then another one will be along in a matter of minutes to cover up for it.

Overall, 21 Jump Street was a very good time with enough laughs to feel like you haven't completely wasted a couple of hours of your life! Tatum really does redeem himself from the pedestrian acting in The Vow and Hill continues to show us why he is one of the most popular comic actors to come out of Hollywood from recent times. Even though he has lost a lot of weight, he hasn't lost any of his comedic timing!

**** / *****

REVIEW: Wanderlust

Jennifer Aniston. She's one of those actresses that you just know exactly what you are going to get. Just look at her resume - Just Go With It, The Bounty Hunter, Marley & Me and The Break-Up.

It usually involves a middle-aged couple going through some difficulties and need to "find themselves" in order to carry on or finally call an end to their relationship. They're quite light-hearted, usually light on laughs and will never ever feature Aniston naked.

So, let's have a look at the plot for Wanderlust. Linda (Aniston) and George (Paul Rudd) are forced to move out of their studio apartment in New York City after he looses his job and forced to live with and work for his annoying brother Rick (Ken Morino), in order for them to get their finances back on track.

So far, so good.

On their road-trip to Ricks, Linda and George stumble across a hippy community, called Elysium, who live in the woods with a carefree and open lifestyle. (This is the part where the couple will need to "find themselves"!) Instead of living with Rick, they both decide to give the Elysium lifestyle a chance and see if it's for them.

However, where Wanderlust is different to other Aniston vehicles is that this one is actually quite funny. The hippies are quite stereotyped in the film - non-violent, guitar playing, pot-smoking and in one case, nudist (with the worst CGI penis' ever committed to screen... something I thought I would never say!!) But, the comedy from the complete differences to George and Linda's previous lifestyle in NYC to the new carefree lifestyle is quite funny. Oh, and Anniston also gets topless in a protest against the uber-company wanting to build a casino on their land. While her breasts are pixelated, in a complete "bloke moment", this will be the closest we will probably ever get to seeing Aniston topless!!

The main issue I had with Wanderlust is the difference in acceptance of Elysium from George and Linda. While George struggles to be so carefree and open, Linda just completely accepts it with open arms. When George tells her that they can be open sexually at Elysium (as the rest of the hippies live this way and have sex with whoever they please), Linda then sleeps with someone that same night.

She then blames her choice on George. Call me wrong and call me a "bloke" for not understanding, but surely her sleeping with someone else was her choice. While George "OK-ed" it to make his wife happy, she still could have said no.

So much like the character of Summer in (500) Days of Summer, Linda became a bit of a cold-hearted bitch - something I wasn't expecting off Anniston! When George was trying everything to get her back, I was thinking "why bother?!"

However, this didn't really get in the way of the laughs, and like I said, I was surprised at how much I laughed during Wanderlust. I was expecting a light-hearted but dry American rom-com, but it was actually a bit deeper than I expected and a lot funnier. I shouldn't have been surprised though, because if I'd have researched the film properly beforehand, I would have realised that the film was produced by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

It seems that this time, Aniston was not just in it for an "easy ride" and actually made a film to be proud of!

*** 1/2 / *****

REVIEW: Project X

Times have certainly changed.

I often find myself reminiscing about my past and when I was younger (a sure sign that I am indeed getting older and now a fully fledged adult with a full time job...)

I like to remember the times of Sixth Form College and University where going out most nights was pretty standard. I wouldn't always get absolutely blotto, but alcohol was usually involved (probably the number one cause for my out of shape body now.)

It was fun. I loved every second of it. Don't know if I could cope with it again now, but it was great at the time. American Pie was the teenage film of my era and I remember comparing early nights out to those house parties in American Pie. It was all about drinking, drunkenness and loosing the virginity.

For this generation, their teenage film of the moment to live their lives by is Project X. Unfortunately.

I just can't get over how shallow and hollow this film was and how much of a bleak outlook it gives for the teenage youth of today. Everyone seems to be drinking until they vomit (not content with the idea of underage drinking anymore, it has to be underage binge drinking.) Most people are kissing and sleeping with every single person they laid their eyes on (not holding out for that special someone as evident in American Pie.) And finally, absolutely every teenager seems to be a marijuana smoking, pill-popping druggie (in one scene of Project X, a heap load of Ecstasy is spilt on the floor and every single person surrounding it suddenly dives in and starts taking the pills.)

It's a vapid look on the supposed hedonistic lifestyles of the teenage youth of today, and I blame Skins. While I'm not denying that there must be teenagers who binge drink, there must also be teenagers who have copious amounts of meaningless sex or take drugs and there might even be some teenagers who do all three... But it's nigh on impossible that every single one of them is like this. In this case, Project X is so far stuck up a fantastical view of a teenagers lifestyle, it's hard to accept what is happening on the screen (unless I'm looking too far into it, and I probably am...)

Which brings me on to my next point. This film had absolutely no plot, whatsoever. If you've seen the trailer, you've basically seen the film. Young Thomas (Thomas Mann) is convinced by his friends, Costa (Oliver Cooper) and JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown) to throw the "ultimate" house party while his parents are away. Oh, and Dax (Dax Flame), the weird gothic high schooler, films it for them.

That's it. That really is it. There is a small subplot of Thomas fancying the girl who he has known for years and is thrown together for a very weak happy conclusion for the end of the film, but all the film really is, is an extended trailer of a big house party.

Thomas doesn't seem like he is the kind of kid to throw such a house party, which is why Costa spends the entire film moaning and whining at him to "let loose" and that it's all for them trying to have sex. It gets old, quite quickly.

Because of this constant pressure to throw the party from Costa, the film also comes across as quite mean spirited. It caters solely to boys aged between 13-21 - a midget is put in the oven and then punches everyone in the crotch when he is let out, a dog is attached to lots of balloons to make it fly and the fat strange friend (JB) is accused of having "special needs", because he is a virgin and fat... need I go on? Which is strange considering the film is rated 18 - it seems that the key targeted audience for this film are being cut off by the age rating.

So overall, unless you are a immature boy aged between 13-21 without an attention span of more than 10 seconds, I'd give Project X a massive miss. Because let's face it, if you've over 18, then why would you want to watch 90 minutes of other people drinking and having "fun" when you could be doing it yourself?!

* / *****