Horror Movie Review: Bedeviled (2016)

Directed, written and produced by Abel Vang and Burlee Vang, Bedeviled is a supernatural horror that sees a group of young adults terrorised by a demon that attacks through a phone app.

It sounds like a dumb premise and it is but thanks to some decent acting and creepy visuals it turns out to be a fairly entertaining watch.

Mr. Bedevil is a Siri-like app but one that is very advanced. A group of friends all get an invite to download the app following the death of their friend. Once they do, they find it to be quite remarkable, able to do things and engage in conversations on par with a human person.

It’s not long though before each once is tormented by the demon that resides in the app. Mr. Bedevil takes the things that they fear and uses that to attack them. At first the group dismiss the incidents as nothing but active imaginations and day-dreaming but they soon to come to realise that Mr. Bedevil is out to kill them all.

It’s not as simple to solve as deleting the app or destroying their phones though. Mr. Bedevil has marked them all.

There’s little in the way of originality here and the film is extremely lazy with its jump scares. They come thick and fast and few will get any reaction but Bedeviled does have some creepy moments. Use of lighting, camera angles and character reactions help sell the horror vibe and while the fears of the characters are a bit one-note some are effective. The make-up, costumes and effects stand up well especially with the modern sheen of the movie.

The acting is hit and miss from a fairly unimaginative bunch but there are a few scenes that stand out aside from the horror. One particular exchange on a bus is memorable as it also deals with real life issues between races.

The pacing holds the story together up until the finale where things get bogged down with a bland culmination. The predictability of it will leave a sour taste but the journey is nowhere as bad as you might have expected.

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