The Devil Inside
Theatrical release poster
Directed by | William Brent Bell
Produced by | Matthew Peterman Morris Paulson Executive Producers: Lorenzo di Bonaventura Steven Schneider
Written by | William Brent Bell Matthew Peterman
Starring | Fernanda Andrade Simon Quarterman Evan Helmuth Suzan Crowley
Music by | Brett Detar Ben Romans
Cinematography | Gonzalo Amat
Editing by | Timothy Mirkovich William Brent Bell
Studio | Insurge Pictures Prototype
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures
Release dates | January 6, 2012 (2012-01-06)
Running time | 83 minutes[1]
Country | United States
Language | English
Budget | $1 million[2]
Box office | $101,386,096[3]

The Devil Inside is a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed by William Brent Bell, and written by Bell and Matthew Peterman. It is a documentary-style film about a woman who becomes involved in a series of exorcisms during her quest to determine what happened to her mother, a woman who murdered three people as a result of being possessed by a demon. Produced by Peterman and Morris Paulson,[4] the film stars Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, and Suzan Crowley, and was released theatrically on January 6, 2012.

The film topped the US box office on its opening weekend, yet dropped drastically in the second week, before disappearing completely from the box office top ten.[5] This might have been caused by the fact that there was no preview screening for the press, which subsequently panned the movie after its premiere.[6] Additionally, the audience reception was very negative. Despite this, the film was a huge commercial success, grossing roughly $100 million.

## Plot[edit]

Based on the "real" life events of Maria Rossi and her daughter Isabella Rossi. On October 30, 1989, Maria Rossi (Suzan Crowley) committed a triple murder during an exorcism performed on her. The Catholic Church became involved, and she has since been in a Catholic psychiatric hospital in Rome. The film shows a news story and police investigation showing the three members of the clergy whom she murdered. Her daughter, Isabella, learned of the murders from her father, who died three days after telling her.

Twenty years later, Isabella (Fernanda Andrade) is in the process of filming a documentary about exorcisms and, to find out more about her mother, she visits a school in Rome. She meets two priests, Ben (Simon Quarterman) and David (Evan Helmuth). Ben and David take Isabella with them on an exorcism performed on Rosalita (Bonnie Morgan). They bring along medical equipment to determine if it's possession or mental illness. Rosalita attacks the crew after spouting out obscene remarks in different languages and accents. She calls Isabella by her name, despite not knowing her. Eventually, they get her under control.

When Isabella goes to visit her mother, Maria, in the asylum, she finds that her mother speaks in different accents and has paintings all over the walls. She has inverted crosses carved into her arms and her bottom lip. Maria tells Isabella that killing a child is against God's will, then lets out an ear-shattering scream. Isabella tells David and Ben that she had an abortion years ago and her mother had no way of knowing that?another sign that showed possible possession. As the crew prepares to perform an exorcism/analysis on Maria, David worries about losing his job, since the Church does not authorize exorcisms without undeniable proof that the patient is indeed possessed. During the procedure, Maria mentions knowing what Ben did in the past, as well as Isabella's child. She breaks free of her restraints and sends Ben flying into the door, also knocking David to the ground. The doctors rush in shortly after.

After analyzing the data from the video and audio files, they present the evidence to the Church. David shows many signs of stress, as Ben plays the audio files over and over, listening to the part where Maria says "I know what you did". Ben then finds that there are four different demons speaking in unison in a different clip. David is to perform a baptism at his church, in which Michael tags along to record. The service starts without incident until he holds the baby to start the Immersion Baptism. He then mutters some lines from the Bible and starts forcefully submerging the baby in the holy water, staring blankly at the camera. The crowd of people rush up to save the baby as he passes out.

Soon after, Ben finds David at home with blood all over his forearms, eyes rolled back into his head, much the way Maria was during the exorcism. The police arrive, and though it doesn't show on film, David acquires an officer's handgun and holds it in his mouth. Ben tells him to fight it, but he begins to weep, reciting The Lord's Prayer, stopping; forgetting the last few words. He laughs and then shoots himself. Just then, Isabella begins having a seizure.

Ben hysterically comes to the realization that Isabella is possessed. As they wait in the hospital, nurses rush into the emergency room and find a nurse on the floor, blood spewing from her neck as other nurses fight to restrain Isabella. Ben and Michael drag Isabella into the hallway and restrain her. They leave with Isabella in a car, heading to get help for a potential exorcism. While Michael drives, Isabella speaks of also knowing the horrible act Ben committed, scaring Ben. She then tries to strangle Michael and Ben is able to pull her off before Michael loses control of the car, but not before she breathes into Michael's mouth. He instantly shows signs of possession, and acceleration can be heard as Michael speeds into oncoming traffic, headlong into another car. The camera goes black, and cuts in with short sequences of chaos, most likely of Michael, Isabella and Ben flying through their car windshield, leaving the outcome unknown. After the screen finally cuts to black and the credits start rolling, a title card is shown informing that the case of the Rossi family is still unresolved, followed by another title card directing viewers to a website (www.therossifiles.com) "for more information on the ongoing investigation."

## Cast[edit]

- Fernanda Andrade as Isabella Rossi
- Simon Quarterman as Ben
- Evan Helmuth as David
- Ionut Grama as Mike
- Suzan Crowley as Maria Rossi
- Bonnie Morgan as Rosalita
- Brian Johnson as Lieutenant Dreyfus
- Preston James Hillier as Male Reporter
- D.T. Carney as Detective

## Background[edit]

Principal photography began in 2010 in several locations, including Bucharest (Romania), Rome (Italy) and Vatican City. The film is of the "found footage" genre, and so is shot in documentary style despite being fictional. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider took the movie to Paramount Pictures,[4][7] who ultimately produced it through their low-budget company Insurge Pictures, who acquired the film as their first release hoping it would replicate the success of Paranormal Activity.[4]

## Reception[edit]

The film was not screened for critics, and was subsequently almost universally panned. It received an F from CinemaScore, which tracks audience reaction. Despite that, it topped the box office its opening weekend, the first after the New Year's Day holiday, displacing Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol, which had held that position for three straight weeks.[5] In its second weekend, however, the film dropped 76.2%, which was the largest second weekend drop for a film since Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (77.4%) in early 2009.[8]

Based on 76 reviews by Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds an approval rating of 7%. "The Devil Inside is a cheap, choppy unscary mess, featuring one of the worst endings in recent memory,"[9] said Peter Howell of the Toronto Star who felt that the film was a candidate for the worst film of 2012.[10] Matt Rorie of Screened.com gave the film zero stars, citing the film's lack of atmosphere and ending as the two major negatives. Stephen Witty of The Star-Ledger opined that "after The Blair Witch Project got by with sticks and stones and offscreen noises, filmmakers started thinking they didn't have to show anything. Well, no. It's better when you don't show too much ? but if your story is about the supernatural, eventually you're going to have to come up with something.The Devil Inside can?t."[11] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune felt that the film "joins a long, woozy-camera parade of found-footage scare pictures, among them The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity films and certain wedding videos that won't go away."[12] Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "proves as scary and unsettling as a slab of devil's food cake ? only considerably less satisfying.[13] The Rehash Critics gave this film a 1 out of 5.

The film's ending, in particular, came in for heavy criticism. "Is it the worst movie ending of all time?" David Haglund asked in Slate, citing various negative audience reaction to that aspect of the film online. What upset them even more than its abruptness, he suggested, was the title immediately following it that urged audiences to visit a website to learn more. "[It's] a marketing twist that makes audiences feel taken advantage of," Haglund observed.[5]

Besides the preponderance of negative reviews, there were a few critics who gave the film a "thumbs up". Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton of Dread Central had a positive review of the film stating, "The Devil Inside is home to moments that will shock, scare, disturb, and leave you gasping. It's a trip to the dark side that's well worth taking."[14] Joe Leydon of Variety felt that the film "generates a fair amount of suspense during sizable swaths of its familiar but serviceable exorcism-centric scenario."[15]

## See also[edit]

- Exorcism in Christianity
- The Last Exorcism
- The Exorcist
- The Exorcist (film adaptation)

## References[edit]

1. ^ "THE DEVIL INSIDE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
2. ^ Movie Projector: 'Devil Inside' challenges 'Mission: Impossible' ? latimes.com. Latimesblogs.latimes.com (2012-01-05). Retrieved on 2012-02-06.
3. ^ The Devil Inside (2012). Box Office Mojo (2012-04-24). Retrieved on 2012-04-24.
4. ^ a b c Kit, Borys (February 3, 2011). "Paramount Bets 'The Devil Inside' Is Its Next 'Paranormal Activity'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
5. ^ a b c Haglund, David (January 9, 2012). "Does The Devil Inside Have the Worst Ending in Movie History?". browbeat. Retrieved January 12, 2012. More than one of `|website=` and `|work=` specified (help)
6. ^ "The Devil Inside bei Rottentomatoes.com". Rotten Tomatoes. 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2012-03-12.
7. ^ Goldstein, Gregg (April 23, 2011). "Big players eye more low-budget fare". Variety. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
8. ^ Weekend Report: 'Contraband' Hijacks MLK Weekend. Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved on 2012-02-06.
9. ^ "The Devil Inside". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
10. ^ Howell, Peter (January 05, 2012). "The Devil Inside: The Devil didn't do it.". Toronto.com. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
11. ^ Witty, Stephen (January 06, 2012). "'The Devil Inside' review: It came from Hell.". NJ.com. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
12. ^ Phillips, Michael (January 06, 2012). "'The Devil Inside': Don't blame the pope for this one ? 1 star". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
13. ^ Michael Rechtshaffen (January 06, 2012). "The Devil Inside: Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
14. ^ "The Devil Inside (2012)". CraveOnline. Dreadcentral. Retrieved January 06, 2012.
15. ^ Leydon, Joe (January 06, 2012). "Variety reviews The Devil Inside". Variety. Retrieved January 06, 2012.

## External links[edit]

| Film portal
| Christianity portal

- Official website
- The Devil Inside at the Internet Movie Database
- The Devil Inside at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Rossi Files

@demon