At Devil's Door Review
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At Devil's Door is a horror film written and directed by Nicholas McCarthy. The film stars Naya Rivera (Glee). Is this film truly a slice of devil's pie or should you ignore the beast that is knocking?
Story - When ambitious young real estate agent Leigh is asked to sell a house with a checkered past, she crosses paths with a disturbed girl whom she learns is the runaway daughter of the couple selling the property. When Leigh tries to intervene and help her, she becomes entangled with a supernatural force that soon pulls Leigh's artist sister Vera into its web - and has sinister plans for both of them.
At Devil's Door does a fine job of giving you what you don't expect. The movie starts off as a typical horror formula. A real estate agent named Leigh is assigned to selling a house. While doing a routine check up on the house, a girl wearing a red hoodie is wandering the house. Who is this girl? Why is she living in this abandon house? However that's not all that's wrong with the house. A mysterious black substance is appearing on the door frames. Something happens to Leigh during her check up and it's up to her sister Vera (Naya Rivera) to find out what happen. For the sake of spoilers and twist and turns I will stop right there. I will say that Nicholas McCarthy did a good job on taking the audience on a ride. When you think the movie is going in a direction he flips the script and takes it somewhere else. The movie wasn't scary for me but the concept had me asking a question. What if evil does what it needs to do to survive?
One thing I took from the movie is evil will pull out the cards to live. The characters are develop enough for you to care about what happens to them. I found Vera to be the emotional focal point of the film, as well as the mysterious hoodie girl. The two characters are well grounded into the script that you can relate to them. I think Nicholas McCarthy did a solid job with these characters. Overall the story is good, I personally wasn't scared by it but some of the concept had me intense. The story tries it's best to be as original as possible and for the most part it succeeds.
Acting - Naya Rivera shines in her first feature film lead role. She brings the character of Vera with emotion, complexity and when the scene gets intense she sells it well. The supporting cast does well Catalina Sandino Moreno is great as Leigh and the scenes with her and Naya work well.
Music - The music for the film works setting the tone. The music is not use heavily, but when it's needed it adds an element that you need for a horror film. It's nothing really memorable or something you can hunt the ost for but it works well.
Final Thoughts: At Devil's Door is a horror film that takes you one direction and then another. It has solid acting, the pacing is good, but scary tactis it has it's moments. Check it out on VOD.
Story - When ambitious young real estate agent Leigh is asked to sell a house with a checkered past, she crosses paths with a disturbed girl whom she learns is the runaway daughter of the couple selling the property. When Leigh tries to intervene and help her, she becomes entangled with a supernatural force that soon pulls Leigh's artist sister Vera into its web - and has sinister plans for both of them.
At Devil's Door does a fine job of giving you what you don't expect. The movie starts off as a typical horror formula. A real estate agent named Leigh is assigned to selling a house. While doing a routine check up on the house, a girl wearing a red hoodie is wandering the house. Who is this girl? Why is she living in this abandon house? However that's not all that's wrong with the house. A mysterious black substance is appearing on the door frames. Something happens to Leigh during her check up and it's up to her sister Vera (Naya Rivera) to find out what happen. For the sake of spoilers and twist and turns I will stop right there. I will say that Nicholas McCarthy did a good job on taking the audience on a ride. When you think the movie is going in a direction he flips the script and takes it somewhere else. The movie wasn't scary for me but the concept had me asking a question. What if evil does what it needs to do to survive?
One thing I took from the movie is evil will pull out the cards to live. The characters are develop enough for you to care about what happens to them. I found Vera to be the emotional focal point of the film, as well as the mysterious hoodie girl. The two characters are well grounded into the script that you can relate to them. I think Nicholas McCarthy did a solid job with these characters. Overall the story is good, I personally wasn't scared by it but some of the concept had me intense. The story tries it's best to be as original as possible and for the most part it succeeds.
Acting - Naya Rivera shines in her first feature film lead role. She brings the character of Vera with emotion, complexity and when the scene gets intense she sells it well. The supporting cast does well Catalina Sandino Moreno is great as Leigh and the scenes with her and Naya work well.
Music - The music for the film works setting the tone. The music is not use heavily, but when it's needed it adds an element that you need for a horror film. It's nothing really memorable or something you can hunt the ost for but it works well.
Final Thoughts: At Devil's Door is a horror film that takes you one direction and then another. It has solid acting, the pacing is good, but scary tactis it has it's moments. Check it out on VOD.
