Worst – The Devil Inside
You know what, I know I already discussed how a strong ending is necessary for found footage films, but here’s another completely different example of how a horrid ending can be like a negative exclamation point on any movie. The Devil Inside, your typical January horror dud, is the movie in question, bringing us on a religious journey to meet the Devil. Beelzebub. El Diablo. You know, not a nice dude. Despite a story that could have possibly gone somewhere, The Devil Inside can’t even pull off proper jump scares as it bumbles about interviews and priestly duties with a thin veil of danger, until coming to a SCREECHING halt completely out of nowhere. Boom. End of movie.
Where Apollo 18 just ended in wasteful fashion, The Devil Inside exploits such an unfair found footage trope – the ending title card. Seemingly mid scene, one of the characters goes crazy, causes a car crash, and a title card pops up saying she’s never been located since – but that’s not it. Then we’re directed to a website as so, “For more information about the ongoing investigation visit www.TheRossiFiles.com.”
We’re watching a movie. You can’t show us anything about the Rossi investigation? You can’t use your creative juices to crank out some more scenes or offer even a voiceover of the events? YOU TELL US TO GO TO A WEBSITE?! Here’s my interpretations of such an ending – you realized your movie dropped the ball hardcore, and in an effort to clear things up, you explained everything out on a webpage so everyone is less angry about your awful film.
Did I go to the website? No. Did I achieve more understanding? Nope. Was I scared to see what Ms. Rossi was doing or where she was currently? No way. Did I leave the theater feeling cheated, robbed, bamboozled, and used? Abso-freakin-lutely.
This is just one of the most disgraceful found footage films in recent memory, which is disappointing because the trailer (seen below) actually looked alright.