The concept of the film “Devil’s Due” is a simple one. If viewers have seen “Rosemary’s Baby” then they can go ahead and skip right past the summary, but for those who have not: The film starts with the engaged Zach (Zach Gilford, “Friday Night Lights”) and Samantha (Allison Miller, “Go On”) getting married, then going on their honeymoon to Santo Domingo. While in Santa Domingo they stay out late one night and go to a creepy bar their cabby insists they go to (always a great idea). Sure enough, they get knocked out and while they sleep, we see devil worshippers perform a ceremony wherein Samantha becomes impregnated with the devil. They return home, none the wiser, and Samantha finds out that she has mysteriously become pregnant. The rest of the film slowly shows Samantha become increasingly more devil-esque, as Zach tries to discover what the devil is going on.
At this point, readers may be thinking to themselves “that summary does not make any sense.” Well, neither does this movie. The film attempts to use the same cinematography techniques as the “Paranormal Activity” series by having one of the characters, Zach, constantly filming everything he does. However, “Devil’s Due” feels the need to explain why Zach is filming everything, and the result is that his character never shuts up about why he always has a video camera out. The filming techniques in this movie are an obvious rip-off of the “Paranormal Activity” films, even using many of the same angles, such as when someone in the room doesn’t have a camera and they film from high angles like a security camera.
The plot is rushed at the beginning of the movie, which results in the rest of the movie being ridiculously slow. There is not much plot development, and the worst part is the audience never really finds out what happens. At the end we do not really find out who the devil worshippers are, and what they are doing. We do not even get to see the devil. This movie is a two-hour build up to the worst punchline ever. But do not worry; they leave room at the end to assure us there will be a sequel. Thank goodness for that.
There is not a single thing about this movie that is good. Most horror movies are not Oscar-quality, but they are still fun to watch because of how bad they are and the cheap scares they provide. The only time anyone would laugh in this movie is during the unexplained scene in which Samantha starts eating raw meat in a grocery store while giving everyone around her menacing looks. Hilarious. Please do not see “Devil’s Due.” It will be a waste of time, money, and dignity—people will see you buying that ticket.
