Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORRORSCREAMS VIDEOVAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR
    • Home
    • Film Reviews
      • Films Beginning With Numbers or Symbols
      • A – C
      • D – F
      • G – I
      • J – L
      • M – O
      • P – R
      • S – U
      • V – X
      • Y – Z
    • Book Reviews
    • Franchise Corner
    • Competitions
    • Horror Screams Podcast
    • Contact Us
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    HORRORSCREAMS VIDEOVAULT – SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT HORROR

    Film Review: I TRAPPED THE DEVIL (2019)

    Peter 'Witchfinder' HopkinsBy Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins23rd December 2019No Comments2 Mins Read

    I TRAPPED THE DEVIL **** USA 2019 Dir: Josh Lobo. 82 mins

    Writer-editor-director Josh Lobo’s low-key exercise in dread unfolds almost entirely in one house with four characters. The period is non-specific but with its recurring flickering analogue TV images, we’re guessing the 1970’s or 1980’s. It’s Christmas and there’s what the British call “proper snow” on the ground. Susan Burke drags her husband (the long underrated A.J. Bowen) to visit his reclusive brother Steve (Scott Poythress), some time after the untimely deaths of Steve’s family. Poythress is clearly haunted by Something, seems to be troubled by regular, apparently silent phone calls…and he keeps a man locked in the basement whom he claims is the Devil, having conjured Himself into the shape of a human man.

    Although the movie works hard to sustain the ambiguity around Poythress’ outlandish claims, the house gives an unnerving insight into his state of mind: walls papered with missing posters and newspaper cuttings; covered windows and crosses on the doors; possible communications with the static on the boxy old television set. On the few occasions Lobo allows us to travel down with the characters to the basement, the unseen prisoner veers from tormented pleas to be released to an insane giggle, both entirely credible responses to his predicament.

    With the set-up and lo-fi approach, there are inevitable echoes of Ti West’s THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL – perhaps the best benchmark for the entire subset of nostalgic, 70’s-infused American occult horrors of the last ten years. It feels a little over-stretched: it’s telling that a similar premise worked even better as one of the classic TWILIGHT ZONE episodes, “The Howling Man”. That said, Lobo’s commitment to creeping us out without any obvious back-steps to gore or jump scares is to be commended – and, if you go with it, it’s a genuinely eerie and unpredictable piece of work. Kudos to anyone who can make a horror movie in 2019 where the most alarming moment is a slowly opening, creaking door.

    Review by Steven West

     

    Facebook0Like0Share0Tweet0Pin0
    Frightfest Frightfest Presents I Trapped The Devil Josh Lobo Signature Entertainment

    Related Posts

    The Romford Film Festival Returns For Its 6th Year

    11th May 202205 Mins Read
    Read More

    Interview with THE LAST RITE director Leroy Kincaide

    9th April 202207 Mins Read
    Read More

    FrightFest Interview with ‘A CLOUD SO HIGH’ Director Christopher Parson

    7th March 202205 Mins Read
    Read More

    FRIGHTFEST GLASGOW 2022 – INTERVIEW WITH HOWARD FORD

    3rd March 202206 Mins Read
    Read More

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Search The Website
    Recent Posts
    • Augie Duke from Mayans MC and Stand-Up Comedy Star Jiaoying Summers Join Cast of “Static Codes”
    • “Get Out Of The Toybox!” – DOLL SHARK makes a big splash on Indiegogo
    • Official trailer released for Ozploitation classic ‘Fair Game’ which returns to the big screen this July
    • Interview with Chris Sivertson, director of MONSTROUS, ahead of UK release
    • A Haunting On Gabriel Street available now on DVD from Bayview Entertainment
    Archives
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.