beesofia
According to most of the reviews for this movie, I thought it was going to be cheesy and lame. Boy was I surprised, Jensen Ackles did a great job, Shannyn Sossamon is always a pleasure to watch and Dominique Swain was trippy good. I also enjoyed the supporting cast-it's always fascinating to watch William Sadler-he constantly holds your attention, no matter what he's in or what role he plays. It's pretty neat to see that Jensen Ackles Dad, Alan Ackles, was also in this movie...I thought the story line was pretty good, and I really liked how the movie ended. Most movies of this genre end on a crappy note, this one didn't.
slayrrr666
"Devour" is a somewhat decent but not that impressive entry.**SPOILERS**Troubled by strange visions, college student Jake Grey, (Jensen Ackles) begins to find that his friends Dakota, (Dominique Swain) and Conrad Dean, (Teach Grant) are becoming a little unpredictable. Hearing of a website known as The Pathway, they log on and find that it makes them perform special tasks in real life. As it starts, it takes over their lives and become more and more of an influence, it forces them into greater realms of despair. When the events soon turn deadly, he turns to Marisol, (Shannyn Sossamon) for help in understanding what's happening to them, and it soon leads to a demonic cult that has plans for him, and he has to fight his sanity and his past to stop them from harming him more.The Good News: This one here didn't have too many good parts to it. One of the good things about it is that there's a really creative and unique story to it. The idea of the website and what it does is pretty neat. From the innovative way of getting involved in life to how greatly it does, there's nothing about it that doesn't work out because of that, and it gives off a really nice atmosphere to the beginning and makes it a little creepier. There's also some really good parts to come from this, especially the flash images that are happened upon for no reason. The demon in the basement, the several ones where the killings are glimpsed and even the other demons had here are really great, all done through what's been a great opportunity to include them. The inclusion of the black arts at the end makes that fun as well, giving it some rather colorful moments as well. The last good part is he few kills that bring about bloodshed, as there's a couple who get their tongue cut off, a stabbing in the chest, a tree branch impaled in the forehead and a few gunshots. These here are all that work for the film.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot wrong as there wasn't much to it anyway. The fact that there's never really a feeling that it is really big and expansive, more here being just the really slow and laid back feeling given off. It doesn't have much to it to really get into it namely the beginning, which is dull, action-less and really slow-going, and the trend really continues on throughout the whole film of being too laid back to get really interesting. That manages to be one of the biggest flaws, as is the fact that there's a really huge jump in how the film goes from the storyline about the website to about the black arts and Satanism. It's an incredibly large leap to make, seeing as they really belong in two separate plots rather than being mixed together. The last part is the relative lack of bloodshed. Despite a reasonable body count and the few kills mentioned above that take a little amount out of the film, all of those listed are really only aftermath, with just one or two deaths actually witnessed being happening while the film plays out. That really isn't a good factor for the film, making it a really dull and ineffectual film to have to cop out like that. Had this done something with the deaths, as well as beefed up the action in this, it would've been something, otherwise it's just there.The Final Verdict: Without a whole lot going on for this one either way, it really stands up as being good or terrible in any direction. Not really a set group who would enjoy this one, but the easiest group would be those who enjoy low-budget direct to video fare, otherwise this one is incredibly tough.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity
sakagaze
The movie 'Devour' offers nothing new in terms of substance. Yet the reason it makes the rehashed chills seem refreshing is that the director David Winkler manages to energize the plot with a decent pace of a thriller and the above average effects. A key factor for somewhat liking the movie is also the presence of Jensen Ackles, he has great looks and acts fairly well too, he is certainly a newcomer to watch out for. The other members of the cast also fit into the small suburban campus milieu. Without giving away the plot, I would like to say that the movie manages to scare and at the same time it isn't just a series of mindless screams and gore. The music and the cinematography suit the mood perfectly. I also liked the jump-cuts and the editing finesse that brings an ill-at-ease kind of tension all through.
