Devil's Due
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMatt Bettinelli-Olpin
Tyler Gillett
Written byLindsay Devlin
Produced byJohn Davis
Starring
CinematographyJustin Martinez
Edited byRod Dean
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • January 17, 2014 (2014-01-17)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7 million[2]
Box office$36.9 million[2]

Devil's Due is a 2014 American psychological supernatural horror film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by Lindsay Devlin.[3] The film stars Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, and Sam Anderson. The film was released on January 17, 2014.[4]

Plot

Newlyweds Zach and Sam embark on documenting their life after discovering Sam's mysterious past. During their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, a palm reader foretells dark forces waiting for Sam. They unwittingly fall into a trap, drugged and subjected to a ritual.

Back home, Sam's pregnancy unfolds strangely with supernatural occurrences, and ominous figures stalk them. A new doctor raises suspicions, and they realize they're being monitored. A communion reveals the cult's involvement, marked by unsettling events. Zach discovers a plot to summon the Antichrist and tries to expose it.

As the cult intensifies its grip, Zach's sister dies, and Sam succumbs to a disturbing force. The cult steals their baby, leaving Zach accused of his wife's death. The story ends with a chilling cycle repeating as another couple encounters the same cab driver, hinting at a sinister pattern.

Cast

Production

On December 18, 2012, Fox announced that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett would be directing Devil's Due, based upon a script written by Lindsay Devlin.[3] Fox had approached the two directors (who are part of the filmmaking collective Radio Silence) based upon their short 10/31/98 in the 2012 horror anthology V/H/S.[6]

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett had been approached by several other companies for "haunted house projects" but chose to work on Devil's Due over the other projects because they felt that the script was a character based "creepy mood piece" that focused on the deteriorating relationship between its two main characters.[6] In an interview, the directors said they "focused on Zach & Samantha's love story from day one and the horror of watching the person you love degenerate, and being left helpless beyond continuing to love them unconditionally."[7]

The script had been pitched to them as "a found-footage take on Rosemary's Baby," but the directors wanted to find ways to make their movie different from the 1968 film that they both praise and consider a personal favorite.[6] This included instilling "a fun energy throughout" and "a sense of humor into the script."[6]

Along with Allison Miller, Zach Gilford was announced to be in the film, which was shot during April 2013 in the Dominican Republic, New Orleans and Paris.[5]

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett chose to shoot the film primarily with a Sony PMW-EX3, which they chose so that the film's actors could carry it throughout the film. The Canon 5D, Canon Vixia HF G10 and an iPhone 5 were also used in the production.[8]

Promotion

Fox released its first trailer for the film on October 16, 2013, and a second trailer on December 5, 2013. Whereas the initial marketing campaign focused the intimate thriller aspects of the McCalls' love story, later marketing concentrated specifically on the larger horror facets of the film.[9][10]

On January 14, prior to the release of the film, Fox promoted the movie by releasing a video of footage of an animatronic baby carriage and demon baby scaring passers-by in New York City.[11] The video went viral shortly thereafter and has had over 20 million views as of January 17, 2014.[12]

A collector's edition of the Blu-Ray with cover art by Orlando Arocena was released in 2017 alongside 19 MGM & Fox horror films such as Carrie, Joy Ride and Black Swan.[13]

Reception

Critical reception of Devil's Due was negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 18% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. The film's consensus reads: "Derivative and mostly uninspired, Devil's Due adds little to either the found-footage or horror genres that it's content to mimic."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[15]

Much of the film's criticism centered upon the film's similarity to other films such as Rosemary's Baby and Paranormal Activity,[16][17] an element that Fearnet reviewer Scott Weinberg remarked was likely more due to decisions by the film's production company than anything else.[18] Weinberg called the movie "a darkly passionate homage to Rosemary's Baby, the similarities are both intentional and affectionate,"[18] and Bloody Disgusting gave the film a favorable review, praising the acting of its lead characters, the sense of humor and drawing positive comparisons to the directors' earlier work on V/H/S.[19]

However, since initial release the film has found a cult following and director Eli Roth has been vocal in his support of the film and in a series of posts on his official Twitter account, wrote "Don't pre-judge Devil's Due because Rosemary's Baby is a 'holy grail' movie. It's so smart, creative, inventive, and fun. Very very scary. The guys at Radio Silence killed it. Devil's Due is a legit scary, smart, horror film. So many awesome scenes. I loved it."[20][21]

Use of found footage

Common criticism aimed is at the film's use of the found footage technique and asks the question "who assembled this footage?".[16] The film's directors claimed that this was a deliberate choice, stating that "Audiences are way too smart to have the 'this is real' found footage wool pulled over their eyes anymore"[22] and that, much like Chronicle, "Devil's Due doesn't pretend to be footage that anyone has found or compiled, it's simply a story told through cameras that exists in that world. In that sense, it's a bit of an experiment that we were able to have fun with and as the character's [sic] lives spiral out of control, we're able to mirror that journey visually by shifting to different POVs. The movie begins very bright, very intimate and full of movement, but as the watchers close in our couple we shifted to a lot more of the static cameras that exist in the world, like the security cameras, with much wider frames. We hoped to use that distance and coldness to mirror the despair and hopelessness that was tearing the couple apart."[7] The film intentionally breaks many found footage conventions throughout, including the deliberate absence of a framing device (such as "these tapes were found by the police"), the use of an animated opening quote, a recognizable cast, a non-chronological narrative structure, and a music cue becoming the end-credits song.

Soundtrack

The film contains diagetic music from Elvis Presley, The Gaslight Anthem, Alkaline Trio, Brenton Wood, Berlin, General Public, and Laura Stevenson.[23]

No.TitleWriter(s)PerformerLength
1."Once Upon a Time"Robert BradleyThe Gaslight Anthem 
2."I Belong to You"Leon SilverMallory Sands 
3."Bridal Chorus"Richard Wilhelm Wagner  
4."Love Me Tender"Elvis Presley and Vera MatsonJordan Rippe 
5."No More Words"John CrawfordBerlin 
6."As You Were"Daniel Andriano, Matt Skiba, Glenn PorterAlkaline Trio 
7."Tenderness"Micky Billingham, Roger Charlery, Dave WakelingGeneral Public 
8."Be Mine"Herb Alpert and Frank D'AmicoThe McCall Twins 
9."Quieren Brilla"Manuel Ariel CiprianEl Aria 
10."The Oogum Boogum Song"Alfred SmithBrenton Wood 
11."Devil's Alibaba"Adolfo Guerrero and Aliosha MichelenEdgar Molina 
12."Devil's Batucada"Adolfo Guerrero and Aliosha MichelenEdgar Molina 
13."Nadie Pone Pero"Adolfo Guerrero and Aliosha MichelenAdelobo 
14."Melma"Wilson Padilla AlmonteDi Angelo 
15."Eres Tan Barrial"Wilson Padilla AlmonteDi Angelo 
16."Que Lio"Risa EncarnacionLa Bambola Slow 
17."Wakala"Wilson Padilla AlmonteDi Angelo 
18."Cuckoo"L. StuartBuddy Stuart 
19."Shakin' Hands"Sera CahooneSera Cahoone 
20."Eastern Dawn"Midori  
21."Five Treasures"Christopher Lewis, Gaynor O'Flynn and Sachidanand Rauniyar  
22."Home on the Range"   
23."Beets Untitled"Laura Anne StevensonLaura Stevenson & The Cans 
24."I Like the Way You Love Me"Alfred SmithBrenton Wood 
25."Holy Holy Holy"   
26."Across the Wide Missouri" Cash McCall 
27."Chocolat"Graham D.H. Preskett  

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Devil's Due". British Board of Film Classification. December 10, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Devil's Due (2014)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb.
  3. 1 2 Kit, Borys (December 18, 2012). "Fox Developing Female-Fronted Found Footage Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  4. ↑ Uncle Creepy (October 15, 2013). "20th Century Fox Breaks Radio Silence and Releases Devil's Due". Dread Central. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 1, 2013). "'Friday Night Lights' Zach Gilford Lands 'Devil's Due' Lead". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Working on Devil's Due". Complex. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  7. 1 2 "'The Bitter Script Reader: A Chat With Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Co-Director of Radio Silence's DEVIL'S DUE (Part One)'". January 13, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ Jimenez, Christopher (January 8, 2014). "Radio Silence speaks at 'DEVIL'S DUE' event". Fangoria. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  9. ↑ Anderton, Ethan (December 5, 2013). "Second Trailer for Satan's Found Footage Pregnancy in 'Devil's Due'". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  10. ↑ "The Trailer for Horror Thriller Devil's Due". ComingSoon.net. October 16, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Devil Baby Attack". Youtube. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Watch: 'Baby' terrorises New Yorkers in stunt for horror film Devil's Due". EuroNews. January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  13. ↑ Miska, Brad (August 31, 2017). "Celebrate Halloween Early with Unique Blu-ray and DVD Designs for 19 MGM and Fox Titles'".
  14. ↑ "Devil's Due (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Devil's Due Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  16. 1 2 MACNAB, GEOFFREY (January 16, 2014). "Devil's Due: Film review – shock tactics are combined with subtlety and humour". Independent (UK). Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Devil's Due, Mother(s)care". Empire Online. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  18. 1 2 Weinberg, Scott. "Devil's Due (review)". Fearnet. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  19. ↑ "'Devil's Due' Delivers Some Surprisingly Bloody Goods". Bloody Disgusting. January 17, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
  20. ↑ Roth, Eli (December 6, 2013). "Don't pre-judge #DevilsDue because Rosemary's Baby is a holy grail movie. It's so smart, creative, inventive, and fun. Very very scary". Twitter. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  21. ↑ Roth, Eli (December 6, 2013). "The guys at @HiRadioSilence killed it. #DevilsDue is a legit scary, smart, horror film. So many awesome scenes. I loved it". Twitter. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
  22. ↑ "'The Bitter Script Reader: A Chat With Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Co-Director of Radio Silence's DEVIL'S DUE (Part Two)'". January 14, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  23. ↑ Radio Silence (January 14, 2014). "we're excited to have music from @gaslightanthem @Alkaline_Trio & @laurastevenson in devil's due! #DevilsDue". Twitter. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
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