Devil's Gate (2017)

the audience applauded

That was an excellent one.

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Where is Devil's Gate? I will do you one better .... What is Devil's Gate? I'll do you one even better .... Why is Devil's Gate? Seriously, I have got no idea what this movie is about. It's totally vague and mind aching. The premise feels promising and the title .... at least sounds very good. But whatever happens after that is just irresistibly annoying. It didn't feel so terrible during the first act. It was fine, sets up the movie as a crime thriller-ish stuff, but we all know that wasn't what it was up to. Then, right after the unusual things start to happen, it becomes totally vague and bland. It has all possible plot devices of a horror movie and "anything that happens in a horror movie should be accepted because it's a horror movie" stuff has been taken to next level. It is some kind of "Alien" and "Predator" and "The Conjuring" in its own right - not in a good way, obviously. It gets unnecessarily convoluted and unpredictable. Unpredictable - that's not because it has set up pieces so well that it is exciting. But it is unpredictable because it has not set up anything and hence, you cannot predict or think what's gonna happen next. Every other thing is random. I don't whether "unpredictable" is an appropriate word for it or not. But it definitely wasn't good. There's no character development (resulting in "unpredictability") whatsoever. The writing is boring. It feels like the director was drowsy while giving directions that all his drowsiness were apparent on the film. Poorly constructed story (in which I see a good potential, if done correctly) and just totally random and vague stuffs going on screen. It just went over my head. No, I didn't miss plot points or so. Just got confused a lot and asked myself "why are they doing this?" almost all the time. I see a great actor in Shawn Ashmore, but if he's stuck with movies like this, I won't care for him anymore. On the whole one of the worst sci-fi-ish horror movie I have ever seen. It gets an "F" and a "1/10".

Never mind. all of the milquetoast reviews of this on here. This is a fine scfi-horror in the mold of Coherence (2013) and Spring (2014).This is a story, well worth your time an of extra-terrestrial invasion, portrayed against a background of FBI prowess and regional hubris.

I went into this film with no idea of the subject matter..or cast..basically not knowing what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Not everyone's cup of tea but if you hold a flame for movies that tread ground in the theme of alien abduction you might (like me) find this film a rewarding way to spend your time. Plus the cast are also a great surprise once you become aware they are all very familiar for smaller parts in smaller movies that you have seen before. The FX are of high quality..I loved the juxtaposition of confusion between "angelic beings/demons"..and earths garden variety of interstellar child thieves! I do not want to spoil this for anyone..I almost gave it a miss and was glad I did not. I hope you get a kick from it as I did. And Elizabeth Schull is gorgeous as always.

A mystery thriller with solid acting, solid production (tv-scale) and well, a story that boild down to its core is VERY standard (todays term: generic) and predictable, even the end is a genre cliche par excellence. Anyway, if you like such movies with a little X Files taste, you may dare to watch, it won't kill you, but just don't expect anything outstanding like some of those super-positive (fake!?) reviews try to sell you. An okay watch for a rainy afternoon with nothing else to do.