Suzan Crowley in "The Devil Inside"; photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

“The Devil Inside” (Paramount Pictures) 

“The Devil Inside” aspires to be another “Blair Witch Project” or “Paranormal Activity” but it misses that mark by a mile. This movie is filmed in the “documentary” style those films utilized so we get the jerky motion of the camera as it is hand held, but the interest of the story quickly wanes as one unexplained occurrence after another transpires. People who love all things pertaining to exorcisms might be fed by this movie, but all others will leave the theaters unimpressed.

The film purports to be a true telling of the making of a documentary about a young woman named Isabella (Fernanda Andrade). Her mother Maria (Suzan Crowley) was charged with murder when Isabella was a very young girl. Two priests and a nun were killed during what was purported to have been an exorcism. Maria was charged with their deaths but was found not guilty due to reasons of insanity.

She was hospitalized in the United States but then was transferred to a church in close proximity to the Vatican. Isabella now hopes to make a film about her mother and what is wrong with her. She and a cameraman go to Rome where she visits her mother. Later she engages two priests to help her stage another exorcism.

All of this sounds fairly interesting but it isn’t. The only time the viewer gets interested is when there is something scary or shocking on the screen. In between these adrenaline charges the movie is deadly dull. Plus, the acting in the film is borderline amateurish except for Crowley who has a field day playing the “possessed” woman.

The movie is rated R for profanity and violence.

The trailer for this film makes it appear more shocking and scary than it really is. The only real positive is that the movie is short. It doesn’t take long for the demons and devils to make themselves known and then do their thing.

“The Devil Inside” plays like a straight to video production, but somehow it managed to make it to the big screen. It shouldn’t be around for long.

I scored “The Devil Inside” an outside 2 out of 10.