Devil’s Due (2014) – Review

Where to watch Devil’s Due

1 Star

Do you remember when camcorders were new to the market? Everyone became an instant videographer and people were subjected to hours of agonizingly boring home movies. Devil’s Due is like watching all the worst footage from a stranger’s honeymoon video, interspersed with a few ‘jump’ moments. The problem is the couple is too bland to make an impression and the film takes far too long getting to the creepy parts. Hardworking leads Allison Miller and Zach Gilford do their best but the movie is so formulaic and obvious that it becomes a rudimentary checklist for genre requirements.

Zach (Zach Gilford) and Samantha McCall (Allison Miller) are newlyweds on their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic. Under the influence of vast quantities of alcohol, they visit a fortune-teller who keeps repeating to Sam, “they’ve been waiting for you”. Naturally, this offends the woman and she flees the reading with her husband, who records everything on his camera. Lost in an unknown area, they are picked up by an pushy cab driver who insist on taking them to an underground party. As it’s their last night on the island, the couple reluctantly accepts.

Soon the drinks are flowing and both pass out drunk. While unconscious they are dragged into a chamber deep in the bowels of the club where Sam is exposed to a demonic force in a satanic ritual. The next afternoon, Zach and Sam wake in their hotel with vicious hangovers and little recollection of the previous night. But, the events were caught on Zach’s ever recording electronic devices.

Now, back home and seemingly safe Sam starts to experience bouts of morning sickness, alerting her to a pregnancy. The couple is at first overjoyed, but then strange events begin signaling the oncoming arrival of a demon-spawn. Gradually, Sam becomes overtaken by a presence that enables her to eat raw meat in a grocery store aisle without embarrassment, throw her husband across the room in mid-sleep, and walk across broken glass without noticing. Looking for an answer, Zach goes to his tapes and discovers the missing hours of that night in the Dominican. The expectant father is torn between preserving the life of his wife and unborn child, or killing the devil’s child and its host.

Devil’s Due has been filmed in the found footage format, once a novel idea back in 1999, although this is a far cleaner affair visually than its Paranormal Activity counterparts. Thankfully it doesn’t rely solely on static placed cameras, the visual design integrates handheld cameras, store security footage, family and friends film, and police interview tapes. However, even at a scant eighty-nine minutes, Devil’s Due feels labored and remains a un-involving exercise in repetition.

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Stars: Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, Sam Anderson