THE DEVIL INSIDE

Isabella Rossi is an American girl who grew up with the conviction that her mother, Maria, had killed three people because she was mentally ill. After discovering that her mother committed the murders during an attempt at exorcism, Isabella decides to shed light on the story and hires Michael, a documentarian, to accompany her on her journey to Rome, where Maria is still hospitalized: the goal is to film everything with her equipment and make a documentary. Upon arrival, Isabella meets Father Ben and Father David, two seminarians who are following a specialization course for exorcists taught by the Vatican. The two will accompany the girl on her journey of discovery of what really happened to her mother and will make her attend their practices of clandestine exorcisms. "The Other Face of the Devil" is Paramount's response to "The Last Exorcism", which, this time, blends with the themes of "The Rite" for a story that takes as a pretext the making of a documentary to explore once again the dynamics of Vatican-made exorcism rituals. The intention of Paramount Pictures, after the resounding success of their franchise "Paranormal Activity", is to create a new "phenomenon" in cinema at a low cost and, of course, the best way to contain the budget is the use of the mockumentary technique for a film that can target an audience of horror enthusiasts. This time, however, the novelty factor is missing and not only because the language of the fake documentary is very inflated, but above all because "The Last Exorcism" has recently been released and tells a similar story and in a better way. William Brent Bell, whom some of you will remember directing the video game horror "Stay Alive", directs and writes with the faithful Matthew Paterman "The Other Face of the Devil", losing a bit of sight of the peculiarities of the mockumentary. Let's clarify, there are no errors and easy ways that make the nature of the false documentary excessively evident, but it is a story of such broad scope and so many characters that it seemed more suitable if told with the language of traditional cinema. Instead, the forcedness of the mockumentary approach is noticed in frequent pseudo-documentary skits that tend to reiterate more than once what an exorcism is, how and why it is practiced, and the fact that the Church is often reluctant to do it. Not real script requirements, but rather moments intended to remind that the boys are making a documentary, a device that in the long run is also harmful to the rhythm of the story itself. The characters, with the exception of the protagonist Isabella, played by Fernanda Andrade of "Sons of Anarchy" and "Fallen Angels", are poorly defined and especially the two priest co-protagonists seem to need more characterization, especially in relation to their behaviors. Appreciable, however, the way their clandestine work is described and documented, mixing religion and science, and praiseworthy above all the first exorcism, practiced in a basement with the contortionist Bonnie Morgan ("Fright Night - The Neighbor from Hell") as the protagonist, who brings to the screen one of the most terrifying possessed women seen in cinema in recent years. Less memorable is the one that should be the main exorcism, the one performed on Isabella's mother, which has the peculiarity of taking place in a hospital room ("The Exorcist III" docet). Curious the post-exorcism twist that, however, only ends up complicating and making the story less credible. For the rest, nothing new under the sun: a prologue that seems taken word for word from the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", a fundamental scene that takes place in an apartment reminds very much any of "[REC]" and a somewhat messy ending that perhaps arrives too hastily. Unlike "The Last Exorcism", "The Rite" and other recent films on the subject, "The Other Face of the Devil" does not seek to show conflicts of faith and the secular-realistic aspect of possession: the Devil is there and no one questions it. Some cuts and greater narrative cohesion would have benefited this film that presents itself as a too derivative product and unable to really stand out, despite a really good exorcism scene. Recommended especially for hardcore fans of the exorcist genre.