While THE DEVIL INSIDE is attracting droves to theaters (debuting last Friday to the tune of $16.85mil, on track to $34mil for the weekend), reports are coming in of audiences reacting strongly to the film in an unusually negative way. BleedingCool is just one of many sources reporting crowd backlash ranging from booing, to throwing things at the screen, to folks storming out in disgust and demanding refunds. Why such an uproar?
Reviews have made note of near-unwatchable shaky camera cinematography, laughable dialogue, frustrating editing, and a character (“Michael,” played by Ionut Grama) so distracting in his annoyance that people are mocking him out loud. Above all else, though, there is the ending…
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
(stop here if you care about preserving any element of surprise)
We won’t give the abrupt ending away, but will say it has infuriated a great number of people. After the final act, the last thing you see on screen is a web address, THIS web address, where you will find information, pictures, artifacts, and several videos that supposedly wrap up the story for you.
Hollywood has been desperate to find a way to make money with the web, so it is only natural that an attempt to cross pollinate from screen to computer should happen sooner or later. The apparent problem is that audiences aren’t so ready to take the leap yet to having to do homework in order to get the full experience with a film, and the unorthodox route THE DEVIL INSIDE expects ticket buyers to take, while potentially groundbreaking historically, only frustrates now.
Decide for yourself. Check out the trailer below and join the masses in paying a visit to the land of the convulsing possessed before it leaves theaters. Who knows what week two will look like after all the anti-buzz we are being deafened by at the moment.
i enjoyed this film. the ending was abrupt but made sense as micheal was strong enough to exorcise them so they had to do what they did.