PHOTO COURTESY OF BILLBOARD.COM
PHOTO COURTESY OF BILLBOARD.COM
Devil’s Due can be summed up in one word: unoriginal.
Focusing mainly on newlyweds Samantha and Zach McCall, Devil’s Due lets viewers tag along on the couple’s honeymoon through the lens of Zach’s camera. On the last night of the honeymoon, the two of them take a cab in the hopes of getting back to the hotel after an unfortunate experience with a palm reader but are instead taken to a night club. While initially hesitant, they end up enjoying themselves and wake up the next morning with no recollection of the previous night’s events.
After returning home, Samantha finds out that she is pregnant despite the fact that she’s been taking birth control, and the couple begins to acquaint themselves with the idea of having a family. As the pregnancy develops, however, weird things begin happening. Soon Zach isn’t so sure that the harmless night of drinking and dancing was quite what they’d thought.
This film relies heavily on the use of Zach’s camera, as well as various security cameras, to scare the audience through anticipation of what might be seen next. Although this technique was used successfully in Paranormal Activity, it just doesn’t quite cut it for Devil’s Due.
The plot, which focuses on the Biblical passage 1 John 2:18, is rather unoriginal: The antichrist is coming. Demons and Satan are popular themes among horror movies, and in this attempt the fear is replaced with a slight sense of revulsion. Instead of creepy footsteps and voices, this movie relies on disturbing images that, frankly, can’t quite make the stomach turn. Random attempts at making the film into some kind of exorcism make the film seem choppy and unrelated.
The music does nothing to help the fear factor of the movie; certainly no viewers will walk away scared. The ending credits feature lively songs, possibly in an attempt to reflect the couples’ lives before the events of the film. In reality, it just drives away any lingering feelings of distaste or fear so the audience can leave the theater bouncing on their heels in a little dance.
Although the acting seems fairly solid in the film, there was nothing the actors could do to turn this flop of a script into a success at the box office.
