Writer: Nicholas McCarthy (Screenplay)
Starring: Ashley Rickards, Nick Eversman, Michael Massee, Mark Steger, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera
Plot: A real-estate agent finds herself caught up in something sinister when she has to sell a house with a dark past and meets the troubled teen who used to live there.
Tagline – It’s looking for a home.
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Messy & Confused
Story: At the Devil’s Door starts as we see teenage runaway Hannah (Rickards) planning to run away with her boyfriend, only to find herself in the middle cult like environment. Moving away from this situation Leigh (Moreno) an ambitious real-estate agent gets the chance to sale a house with a history, only to learn Hannah is haunting those hallways.
Hannah has been taken over by a dark force who has set her sights on her latest target, only this time it isn’t Leigh, it is her artist sister Vera (Rivera). What have they gotten themselves into, that is the question.
Thoughts on At the Devil’s Door
Characters – This was a hard film to figure out who the main character was until the end, so I will talk about the three biggest characters in no particular order. Hannah is the first one we meet, she is a runaway that finds herself in the middle of a demon worshiping cult, walking the halls of a house up for sale, she has a secret waiting to reveal. Leigh is the real-estate agent that is trying toe sale the house only to learn that there is a force in the house trying to control certain movements. Vera is the younger sister of Leigh, an artists that becomes the target of the presence that is haunting the land.
Performances – While I don’t think the actors do a bad job in anyway in this film, the scorecard is being harsh on them, most of this complaint that the characters don’t become the main until late in the film which doesn’t give us enough time to get behind the actors. The three actresses do well with what they have without having that one moment that makes them stand out.
Story – The story follows a potential demon being born into the world, I think, it would be fair to say this movie does put forward all the generic ideas that something is off with each scene, but as I was saying with the characters, we follow ones events only for the to mean nothing and these scenes go on for a healthy 20 odd minutes before we move onto the next character’s story, which only leaves us confused and feeling withdrawn from where the story is going.
Horror – The horror is the normal, people walking around the empty houses following or running from noises, the only scene that stands out is involving the hospital.
Settings – The film keeps us in a few houses that always seem to be empty, nothing is overly interesting with the locations being used.
Special Effects – The effects are the strongest part of the film, it does have a couple of stand out moments which will make you look away but also make you want to watch.
Scene of the Movie – Hospital time.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not knowing the main character early on.
Final Thoughts – This is a messy confusing movie that does try to break the mold because of the source material of demon trying to be born, we skip over the been there scene that parts but it takes too long to get there.
Overall: Not good enough horror movie.
Rating