The Devil InsideMovie Reviews

Oh No!
Avg. Critic Score: 18 out of 100 Overwhelming dislike Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
16 Iffy for 16+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 58
    Entertainment Weekly | Clark Collis

    While this religio-horror effort does contain some nice scares, and a memorably unnerving turn from Crowley, The Devil Inside's biggest shock arrives when it abruptly ends - just as it hits its stride. The result is a found-footage movie whose third act remains missing. Read full review

  • 50
    The Globe and Mail (Toronto) | Jennie Punter

    All hell breaks loose and it's a heck of a lot of fun to watch. Read full review

  • 40
    Empire | William Thomas

    Even with The Exorcist in the world, there is still scope for a contemporary, shocking and thrilling film to be made on the subject of possession. But this is not it: some found footage should really just stay lost. Read full review

  • 40
    Movieline |

    The reality of The Devil Inside is that it's a half-hearted patchwork of ideas blatantly lifted from better films, with characters who have to act increasingly foolish in order to allow the action to go forward and an ending so anticlimactic and abrupt that the audience at the screening I attended erupted in enraged boos as the credits rolled. Read full review

  • 38
    Slant Magazine |

    The film's contradictory and nullifying dilemma of wanting to be both scripted and vérité at once, a plight that affects so much contemporary TV, is temporarily quelled in heated scenes of curse-laden levitation and Linda Blair contortion, which dutifully deliver the scares. Read full review

  • 30
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    Never gets off the ground, trotting out the same predictable twisting heads and psycho-babble without a whiff of originality or discernible visual flair. As a result, the would-be thriller proves as scary and unsettling as a slab of devil's food cake - only considerably less satisfying. Read full review

  • 25
    Washington Post |

    It's a pestilence of infectious claptrap. Read full review

  • 25
    Chicago Tribune | Michael Phillips

    The Devil Inside joins a long, woozy-camera parade of found-footage scare pictures, among them "The Blair Witch Project," the "Paranormal Activity" films and certain wedding videos that won't go away. Read full review

  • 0
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    No one onscreen was actor enough to make us believe we were watching actual people commit or require actual exorcisms. Read full review

  • 0
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The Devil Inside manages not only to scrape the barrel's bottom but to drill a hole in said bottom and funnel deeper into the scum. Read full review

View more reviews for The Devil Inside on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+ Fake documentary about exorcisms has gore, strong scares.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that The Devil Inside is a graphic demon possession/exorcist movie presented in fake-documentary style -- much like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, or The Last Exorcism. It pretends to be real and has a website that viewers can visit to find out more about the "victims" and their stories. Expect lots of scary and disturbing sequences (especially one that shows a possessed priest trying to drown a baby), jump-out-of-your-seat shocks, heavy blood, and dead bodies. There's also strong language (including "f--k" and "s--t"), some innuendo and sexual banter, and cigarette smoking in one scene.
  • Families can talk about The Devil Inside's violence. Is all of it scary? Is it necessary to the story?
  • Does the movie seem real? If so, what gives it that quality? Why do you think the "fake documentary" format is popular?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Two young priests try to help people whom the church can't or won't help. To do this, they're breaking the rules, though they continually weigh the pros and cons of their actions.
  • rolemodels true0 Positive role models: The main character doesn't do much; she's mainly interested in helping her mother. But two young priests who perform unsanctioned exorcisms argue that they're helping suffering people whom the church has ignored.
What to watch for
  • violence false4 Violence: In the most shocking sequence, a possessed priest tries to drown a baby during a baptism. Also lots of dead bodies and bloody wounds; a man shoots himself in the face on camera. There are scary, disturbing scenes with screaming, sudden shocks and violence. Possessed characters are twisted up like pretzels. A violent car crash is shown from inside the car. A possessed woman is shown to be bleeding from her vagina.
  • sex false2 Sexy stuff: Some sexual banter and innuendo. A man on the street "checks out" the heroine as she walks by.
  • language false4 Language: "F--k" is used about half a dozen times. "C--k" appears once in subtitles; other language includes "c--t," "s--t," "hell," "oh my God" (as an exclamation), and derogatory homosexual slurs. In terms of religious discussion and exorcisms, God and Jesus Christ are mentioned several times.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false1 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A priest is seen smoking a cigarette in one scene. Another priest is shown with a glass of wine.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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