The Devil Inside

As an exorcism movie, The Devil Inside is average but efficient. As a found-footage movie, it’s competent but hobbled by the inherent restrictions of the genre. It is what it is. Here we’re given the basic set-up through news footage of the aftermath of an exorcism gone horribly wrong. Two priests and a nun are discovered butchered in a ratty suburban home, with their patient brooding in a crawlspace. Presumed to be the murderer, she is declared insane by the courts and repossessed by The Vatican to be swept off to Rome for further trials. Years later, her daughter and a documentarian fly in to visit the Vatican’s exorcism school to get some more details. They hook up with a pair of rogue exorcists and spend the rest of the short running time of the movie talking to the camera and documenting a couple of exorcisms. And then the movie ends abruptly. But everything is competent, from the acting on down to the editing. It even manages to pull off a couple of decent scares and some creepy exorcism gags. Cinemark 14. Rated R.