Devon review
An old school found footage experience. God help us…we’re getting old.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Streaming exclusively on SCREAMBOX November 26
Devon
Directed by Jenni Farley
Written by Jenni Farley
Starring Tara Rule, Lauren Carlin, Rotisha Geter, Steven Etienne and Hank Santos
Devon Review
If the plot of Devon sounds familiar…that’s because it is the basic storyline of Halloween: Resurrection. Inarguably one of the worst installments of the Halloween franchise, Resurrection wasn’t without a solid central concept. That dud involved a group of people investigating the Myers house for clues about why Michael Myers is what he is. That’s a fine idea for a film. When it’s watered down with Kung Fu Busta Rhymes and a faux-reality angle more interested in showing us what’s behind the curtain than building an atmosphere in front of it…well…you get Halloween: Resurrection. Devon has a similar set-up. Thankfully, it takes things more seriously.
Five people are chosen to investigate an abandoned asylum for clues about a lost little girl. Her parents have put up a 100,000 prize, to be split five ways, upon discovering useful information. The little girl vanished decades earlier…which makes the timing of the assignment more than a little suspect. It doesn’t make the asylum any less dangerous, however.
The headline for a certain generation of viewers will be found in the name behind Devon’s writing and directing assignment. Jenni Farley, known to Jersey Shore fans as JWoww makes her directorial debut with Devon. She is also the credited writer on the project…something we’ll get to in a moment. Don’t let any preconceived notions about her previous show color your thoughts about this movie. It isn’t a Jersey Shore kind of project in any way. It’s made with a clear love for, and…for better or worse, understanding of the found footage genre. That last part should give you more pause than anything else.
Found footage…our old nemesis. Devon could be considered a throwback found footage film at this point. It strips away some of the innovations made to clean up the proceedings and make them more palatable for public consumption. It’s raw. And again…for better AND worse, more realistic. Shaky cameras. Makeshift staging. Follow the bouncing flashlight. It’s a tried-and-true method. Perhaps, given the amount of tinkering that has been done to hide the style in recent years, it even feels a little fresh. It also feels like it’s a few years too early to be attempting a “vintage” found footage movie, to be honest. Farley commits hard to it. Which means you already know whether you’re willing to give it a shot or not.
What isn’t in doubt, however, is the writing. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about what Farley’s script for Devon looked like on the page. But I can tell you what I think it feels like. And I can tell you that this is meant to be a tremendous compliment. Devon feels like it was created by giving the actors bullet points to hit within their scenes…and telling them to do it how they want to. Which is a long way of saying…these characters feel real. The greatest trick any movie can pull, and the one found footage benefits the most from, is this authenticity. Whether Farley wrote the natural sounding dialog or worked with the actors on finding their way to it doesn’t really matter. The result is what matters. The Blair Witch Project dumped its three leads into the woods with concepts of scenes and things to work into the conversation. I suspect Devon does the same. Because it feels like it in the best way.
The five actors investigating the asylum are uniformly excellent. Their job is to make us believe they are regular people caught in a perilous and mysterious situation. Mission(s) accomplished. We meet Alison (Rotisha Geter) after whatever transpires inside the asylum happens. She’s alive to tell the tale. The footage allows us to experience it. She’s joined on this misadventure by Jared (Hank Santos), Kat (Tara Rule), William (Steven Etienne) and Carly (Lauren Carlin).
Devon is a brisk 72 minutes in length. Farley clearly understands that the format can be a patience tester for viewers. It wastes little time getting down to business. We understand the assignment, that it goes tragically wrong, are introduced to our cast and find them trapped inside the cursed building within an economical amount of storytelling time. The bulk of Devon involves the quasi-investigation into the mystery of the asylum. Any found footage veteran can guess how things will play out from here. Flashlights catching something in the light that the characters fail to notice. Shaky cameras in the dark. Breaks for characters to discuss their situation. Devon isn’t trying to revolutionize the subgenre. It’s attempting to do the opposite. To deliver an old-school found footage ride. Because we’re now all old enough for that to be a thing.
Devon’s haunting moments are sometimes personalized for our characters. Other times…something that should be there will rush out of the darkness. They’re classic concepts for a reason. No matter how you dress them up (or, in this case, down) they work. There’s even an unexpected resolution to the mystery that serves as the story’s inciting incident. That was a nice surprise. Maybe being a serious attempt at the plot of Halloween: Resurrection (with a much larger setting and a lot more bangs and screams) wasn’t that bad of an idea.
Scare Value
Is it the right time for a no-thrills, straight-forward found footage throwback? It’s a question that only you can answer for yourself. What Devon brings to the table is an understanding of how this format works when all the tricks are stripped away. It brings a strong cast together and allows them the space to feel like live in characters in a bad situation. Which, at this point in the subgenre, is an innovation unto itself.
3/5
Devon Link
Streaming on SCREAMBOX November 26
