There’s a goof in “Devil’s Due” so obvious, I can’t believe the writer and two directors didn’t realize what they’d done. I have to think they were trying to see if they could slip it past audiences. Bear with me as I work my way to it.
“Devil’s Due” is one of those now innumerable “found footage” horror movies, in which all of the footage was shot by people with video cameras. The co-directors and the writer skirt some of the issues that arise from this approach, such as people shooting video at improbable times, by occasionally attaching a tiny camera to the shirt of one of the main characters, but I still found myself frequently thinking, “No one would video that.” When you’re arguing with your wife’s OBGYN as he hurries away, or when you’re chasing the people who have been stalking you and your wife, you usually put the camera down. Or maybe that’s just me.
In “Devil’s Due,” video shot by several cameras - including those owned by the main character, those placed in a house by a cult, those in grocery stores and other public places, and those owned by bystanders - is used to tell the story of Zach and Samantha, newlyweds who have an unusual encounter during their honeymoon in Santo Domingo and return home to learn she’s pregnant. Soon, Samantha is acting strangely, odd things are happening to her body, weird people are hanging around outside her and Zach’s home, and her baby doctor disappears and is replaced by a creepy old dude who all but comes with a neon sign on his forehead flashing “Satan worshipper!” Think of “Devil’s Due” as the love child of “Paranormal Activity” and “Rosemary’s Baby.”
As “Devil’s Due” slowly works its way to an ending audiences should see coming long before Zach and Samantha do, there are a few good scenes, including one in which Samantha rage punches the windows out of an SUV that nearly hits her in a parking lot, and another in which a group of unfortunate teens encounters Samantha in a forest. I found the camerawork throughout “Devil’s Due” to be slightly nauseating (imagine you gave your video camera to your uncle, who’d gotten drunk BEFORE your wedding, and he insisted on whipping the camera around and shoving the lens in everyone’s face), but in these scenes, the found footage concept is masterfully used, and in one scene, delivers a horrific point-of-view death.
Long stretches of “Devil’s Due,” however, are dull, and do little to advance the plot or scare viewers, who will have seen most of this in other movies and should be able to predict every jolt and plot revelation long before it happens. Also, certain story points are too clumsy to accept, such as the husband not watching the weird video his shirt camera shot while he was knocked out during a cult ceremony in Santo Domingo until months later. I like the idea of following a husband and wife after they randomly encounter a cult in a foreign country, but I think the story would have worked better with a traditional rather than a found footage approach, and I would have had an easier time swallowing the plot without the awkward bits.
Especially the big one. “Devil’s Due” needlessly begins and ends with a scene in which two detectives interview Zach in a holding room about a murder. They clearly think he did it; he clearly thinks he didn’t. “Tell us what happened,” they say. “I’ve already told you,” he says, “I didn’t do it.” What he doesn’t say is, “Go look at the wacky footage on my home computer, and you’ll see I’m telling the truth.”
Anyway, “Devil’s Due” has its moments, but not enough of them to warrant seeing it in a theater. Once it hits rental and VOD outlets, you could do worse if you’re in the mood for something scary.
Two stars out of four. Rated R for language and bloody images.