Devil's Due (2014) Blu-ray Review

By Michelle Koesten   X Formly Known as Twitter
2 Min Read

Overall, Devil's Due was just not unique enough or interesting enough to be on the same level as a The Blair Witch Project, whose success they clearly hoped to mimic.

The Devil's Due, starring relatively unknowns Zach Gilford and Allison McCall, was filmed in a manner that to say the least is not my favorite—found footage. The film reminds me of Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, although it is thankfully a little less shaky than the latter. Shot on what is supposedly home video and hidden cameras, the film has the same feel of the other two with parts of the storyline seemingly ripped from Rosemary's Baby.

In the film, Zack and Samantha, a young couple, film everything in their lives: their engagement, wedding, honeymoon, and so on. It is on their honeymoon that they travel to the Dominican Republic and blindly follow their taxi driver to a secluded location where there is a party. They wake up the next day not knowing how they got back to their hotel room and rush to catch a plane for home. A few weeks later, Samantha (McCall), finds that she is pregnant despite swearing that she never forgets her pill.

As her pregnancy progresses, Samantha's behavior seemingly becomes more and more bizarre and violent, with Samantha responding to any perceived threat to her or her baby with unexplained strength. As for bizarre, it continues with a scene in which you see her eating raw meat at the grocery story (reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby) which is supposedly caught on camera by the grocery store's hidden cameras. Enter the mysterious neighbors, who are caught watching the house with their own hidden cameras and found staring at the house for no apparent reason. Next up is the local priest having a physical reaction to Samantha's presence during a church service, and a glimpse of the taxi driver sitting watching the service. The whole film progresses until the baby is ready to be born into a bloody mess and the husband being questioned by the police (which is also how the film opens).

There is not much to draw you into the film and the storyline just doesn't flow well so that you feel scared or that interested. The DVD box cover has a comment, "Very, Very Scary," on the cover, but it's more gory than scary at the end.

The Blu Ray itself has standard film quality; again, for myself, it was hard to watch as I just do not like films with a home movie quality to them. There are the standard deleted scenes and extended footage with an alternate ending. There is also a commentary by the film's director and producers, which may have been more interesting had the movie itself not been so bad. They even discussed using iPhones for some of the film footage, and handing over the cameras to the actors for some of the filming. It was a creative way to film, but for the lack of success in the end result. Instead, the director and his "friends" came across like beer buddies who decided to make a film together. To add to it, some of the extra features were pranks they pulled on each other as part of the comedy group they belonged to.

Overall, the movie was just not unique enough or interesting enough to be on the same level as a The Blair Witch Project, whose success they clearly hoped to mimic.
Cast:
Directed By:
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 89 minutes
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox

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For more information about Devil's Due visit the FlickDirect Movie Database. This release has been provided to FlickDirect for review purposes. For more reviews by Michelle Koesten please click here.

Devil's Due images are courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.


FlickDirect, Michelle  Koesten

Michelle Koesten has been a lover of film of all genres from the time she was old enough to fit in the seat at the movie theater! It has been her favorite pastime as long as she can remember and she now runs two Movie Meetup Groups including South Florida Movies and the Palm Beach Movie Club. As avid film watchers, her groups have thrown an annual Oscar Party the last few years to celebrate along with the stars. As a relative of the creator of Superman, she likes to believe creativity is in the blood and will one day write her own character into a script!




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