Devil

As a feature-length film, Devil doesn’t quite hold up. A bunch of people board an elevator, get stuck and find themselves in a possible encounter with the devil … yes, the devil. M. Night Shyamalan produced and apparently thought up the story for this, and the film is better than anything he’s personally released since Signs—but it still isn’t good. The pacing makes the film feel long, even though it clocks in at a mere 80 minutes, and it has that low-budget, hastily produced feel. There are moments when the lights go out, and things get scary enough, but the film is not consistently effective. This is supposedly part of a series that Shyamalan will have a producing hand in, and the film does have a good cast that puts in solid work. It’s directed by John Erick Dowdle, who made the better Quarantine a couple of years ago.