So after all of that, I SHOULD avoid the film because of it's connection to Shyamalan, though there may be others...
Escape to the Movies: Devil
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Okay, first thing first.
I was actually considering going to see this, in hopes that it would be a good horror movie since it's getting to be that time of year. Guess it's not.
I suppose you could guess that from the premise of "people trapped in an elevator with the Devil" but given that I've seen non-supernatural, non-horror movies with a similar setting, in this case "Hellevator" or "The Bottled Fools" (A Japanese movie, released under both of those titles) I figured they might be able to do something with this. I mean heck, I'm something of a fan of "Cube" which has a similarly limited setting.
Ah well, I guess I'll be seeing the newest "Saw" movie for my low-brow fix, and hoping something a little more intellectually stimulating comes out as well since this won't be it.
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As far as the stuff about The Devil goes, I'm not a deeply spiritual person, but I am a Christian and I think it makes sense. But then again I'm a Christian Agnostic, and while I believe in the basic tenets of Christianity (Jesus as our savior, God as a being of pure good) I do not take The Bible as literal truth, just as I do not believe The Pope is infallible.
In simple terms, The Devil was basically God's #2 who for some undefined reason decided to lead a revolt. There are various theories such as jealousy (which makes little sense to me, given that part of the host of heavy followed him) but, I feel nobody on earth knows the reasons for sure. There was a fight, and he was cast down.
I believe the reason why God doesn't just swat him like a gnat, is the same one that God doesn't run around preventing all bad things from happening. That is free will. If for example god was to strike down every murderer, thief, and robber, the entire planet would be a miserable police state ruled by a tyrant. Some cynics might think that fits with God's attitudes from The Bible, but in my case this is one of the reasons why I do not take it as the literal word of god. I go with my gut feelings on the subject with God as being a good guy (since I want to believe there is good in the universe), and in the end all religion comes down to faith.
At any rate, if God decided to swat The Devil, who WAS his #2 and on good terms with him for a long while, that would prevent any chances of his reform and return to grace. Not to mention all those who followed him.
As far as power levels go, by definition The Devil is the second most powerful being in creation, and as far as his abillity to war with god goes, I guess a lot of it comes down to how much power the Almighty gave him. If he himself gave The Devil a similar level of power and created his own problems, that could explain a lot of things.
I'm not a deeply spiritual person however, and don't spend all that much time pondering such matters. I'm sure there are those who have much better, and more insightful opinions on such things.
The bottom line though is that I have no real issue with the central premise of this movie, any more than I do with other concepts where you had Angels walking the earth doing good deeds.
It's a fantasy story about concepts, and I do not think the concept is inherantly unsound.
I'll also point out that the set up also reminds me of one of the most famous stories/set ups of all time, the so-called "tenpenny opera". A story where a bunch of travellers meet at an Inn, and begin sharing tales, all of which are ultimatly about some crime or act of darkness they got away with. In the end they find out that the Innkeeper is actually The Devil and he takes them all away to Hell in punishment for their crimes. We've seen this basic set up used a number of times for things like the original "Tales From The Crypt" movie. When done well, it can be a very good device, and some of the variations on the basic set up I've seen have been quite clever.
At any rate, it seems like this movie was going for something similar, but ultimatly failed to deliver. Perhaps I'll see it at some point anyway, or if I get bored enough head out to see it with low expectations.
I was actually considering going to see this, in hopes that it would be a good horror movie since it's getting to be that time of year. Guess it's not.
I suppose you could guess that from the premise of "people trapped in an elevator with the Devil" but given that I've seen non-supernatural, non-horror movies with a similar setting, in this case "Hellevator" or "The Bottled Fools" (A Japanese movie, released under both of those titles) I figured they might be able to do something with this. I mean heck, I'm something of a fan of "Cube" which has a similarly limited setting.
Ah well, I guess I'll be seeing the newest "Saw" movie for my low-brow fix, and hoping something a little more intellectually stimulating comes out as well since this won't be it.
-
As far as the stuff about The Devil goes, I'm not a deeply spiritual person, but I am a Christian and I think it makes sense. But then again I'm a Christian Agnostic, and while I believe in the basic tenets of Christianity (Jesus as our savior, God as a being of pure good) I do not take The Bible as literal truth, just as I do not believe The Pope is infallible.
In simple terms, The Devil was basically God's #2 who for some undefined reason decided to lead a revolt. There are various theories such as jealousy (which makes little sense to me, given that part of the host of heavy followed him) but, I feel nobody on earth knows the reasons for sure. There was a fight, and he was cast down.
I believe the reason why God doesn't just swat him like a gnat, is the same one that God doesn't run around preventing all bad things from happening. That is free will. If for example god was to strike down every murderer, thief, and robber, the entire planet would be a miserable police state ruled by a tyrant. Some cynics might think that fits with God's attitudes from The Bible, but in my case this is one of the reasons why I do not take it as the literal word of god. I go with my gut feelings on the subject with God as being a good guy (since I want to believe there is good in the universe), and in the end all religion comes down to faith.
At any rate, if God decided to swat The Devil, who WAS his #2 and on good terms with him for a long while, that would prevent any chances of his reform and return to grace. Not to mention all those who followed him.
As far as power levels go, by definition The Devil is the second most powerful being in creation, and as far as his abillity to war with god goes, I guess a lot of it comes down to how much power the Almighty gave him. If he himself gave The Devil a similar level of power and created his own problems, that could explain a lot of things.
I'm not a deeply spiritual person however, and don't spend all that much time pondering such matters. I'm sure there are those who have much better, and more insightful opinions on such things.
The bottom line though is that I have no real issue with the central premise of this movie, any more than I do with other concepts where you had Angels walking the earth doing good deeds.
It's a fantasy story about concepts, and I do not think the concept is inherantly unsound.
I'll also point out that the set up also reminds me of one of the most famous stories/set ups of all time, the so-called "tenpenny opera". A story where a bunch of travellers meet at an Inn, and begin sharing tales, all of which are ultimatly about some crime or act of darkness they got away with. In the end they find out that the Innkeeper is actually The Devil and he takes them all away to Hell in punishment for their crimes. We've seen this basic set up used a number of times for things like the original "Tales From The Crypt" movie. When done well, it can be a very good device, and some of the variations on the basic set up I've seen have been quite clever.
At any rate, it seems like this movie was going for something similar, but ultimatly failed to deliver. Perhaps I'll see it at some point anyway, or if I get bored enough head out to see it with low expectations.
Nice to know that the presence of the devil is decided on a toss of buttered (or jellied as some are saying) toast.
Anyone know if Scott Pilgrim is still showing? I wanted to see it a couple weeks ago but I had to attend a wedding instead.
Anyone know if Scott Pilgrim is still showing? I wanted to see it a couple weeks ago but I had to attend a wedding instead.
I gave up on The Sham after The Happening.
Technically, I gave up on him after Signs, knowing that this was the best he was going to do after The Sixth Sense and I wanted to go out on a high note. But I got conned into seeing The Happening, and now I can't un-see it.
Technically, I gave up on him after Signs, knowing that this was the best he was going to do after The Sixth Sense and I wanted to go out on a high note. But I got conned into seeing The Happening, and now I can't un-see it.
Throw a piece of toast?
...does that remind anyone of the old "Witch Test" where they would tie a woman to a rock and throw her into a river, and if she survived she was a witch but if she died she was a human?
Doesn't toast ALWAYS land butter side down? It's hardly an accurate test. You'd get a better test by seeing if your devil suspect got along with Bill O'Reily.
...does that remind anyone of the old "Witch Test" where they would tie a woman to a rock and throw her into a river, and if she survived she was a witch but if she died she was a human?
Doesn't toast ALWAYS land butter side down? It's hardly an accurate test. You'd get a better test by seeing if your devil suspect got along with Bill O'Reily.
guys i think this is actually a quality horror movie with a good lesson at the end. If you think this movie is stupid and ridicoulous then every horror movie is because this movie is meant to be scary and serious, u guys just cant take anything seriosly and have to say it is ridiculous becuase yeah this sort of thing would probably never happen but just go with it and at least pretend it's scary rather than critisize it. yeah it is not real its just acting get over it
Different religions define the devil differently, but the popular Christian version is an almost direct imitation of the Persian deity Angra Mainyu, who created an army of daevas and waged war with the creator Ahura Mazda and his army of yazatas, but was defeated and thrown into the abode of evil, where he and his daevas try to corrupt the human race out of spite while the yazatas oppose them. The influence of this religion on the nearby Jews created a split that would eventually result in a new religion called Christianity, in which God's servant Satan was re-interpreted as a character exactly like Angra Mainyu, and combined with some other Jewish myths (mostly the Serpent of Eden and the fallen king Lucifer) to beef up his profile.
when I went to see scott pilgrim with a friend was reading the cineplex magazine or whatever it's called. Read the description for devil, roughly a group of people is trapped in the elevator, and one of them is the devil. , and laughed showed to my friend he laughed, then we saw the trailer and he was surprised it was a horror movie.
sigh, I can't tell stories.
sigh, I can't tell stories.