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Devil’s Due is another of those ‘found footage’ films which, quite frankly, I’ve seen way too many of – and that’s only a handful, but it’s enough. They all tend to be the same and come across as a thriller without much in the way of thrillers. In this film, a woman is about to give birth to a child who, is clearly, the devil. So it’s a bit like The Omen.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, it stars Zach Gilford, Allison Miller and Robert Belushi and the synopsis is as follows:
Devil’s Due is a chilling combination of Rosemary’s Baby and Paranormal Activity. This suspenseful horror film is shot as “found footage”, from a first person perspective of the lead character, Zach, combined with surveillance and hidden cameras. Devil’s Due tells the story of Zach and Samantha, a newlywed couple who experience a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon and shortly after find themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. When Samantha starts showing odd behavior, she and Zach initially write it off to nerves, but as the months pass, it becomes evident that the dark changes to her body and mind have a much more sinister origin.
A couple of points came to mind as I was watching the trailer. Firstly, while I love a film in a ‘scope’ ratio (i.e. 2.35:1), I don’t think it suits a film that’s meant to be showing camcorder footage. That’s because camcorders generally shoot in 16:9, so 1.85:1 is the closest general cinema ratio to that. Also, while it looks like it was intended for release around Halloween, it’s been bumped to February 2014, and January/February isn’t just a Barbara Dickson song, it’s the time of year where films get dumped.
If found-footage films are your bag, though, Devil’s Due goes on general release in the UK on February 14th 2014.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.