Where the Devil Dwells [Review]

A late serial killer’s schizophrenic son, Lenard, moves into his abandoned family home under court-ordered house arrest. After tidying up the place, Lenard turns his focus to his writing. He soon begins to notice strange occurrences taking place around the house that may be tied to a satanic cult. The strangest of them is his shed that occasionally shows signs of someone having made it their residence. Since Lenard’s roaming proximity is limited due to his ankle bracelet, he is unable to resolve the mystery himself. Before he knows it, his deceased father begins making appearances–informing Lenard that he’s back to begin his killing spree once again. But are these manifestations one of Lenard’s schizo episodes, or is his father actually back and hungry to kill more? In Where the Devil Dwells, schizophrenia, satanism, and serial killers are blended seamlessly to create a clean, albeit straightforward, story line.

Writer/director Marc-Andre Samson might not be a household name, but he’s worked on some big titles as far as visual effects are concerned. Prime examples being Life of Pi and Game of Thrones. When it comes to directing though, this is his sophomore effort. As a consequence, neither the writing or directing is mind blowing, but it’s not bad–just simple and safe. It almost seems as if Samson’s measured approach is a conscious effort on his part since the bulk of the film relies entirely on minimalism. The story line isn’t the most original (there are tons of genre films out there where the main character’s mental stability is questionable) but the subtle nods to satanism clearly help set this one apart… to a certain extent.

The acting is the biggest enigma in the movie though. Determining whether or not the line being read is organic or just plain bad is a real challenge. That said, it didn’t bother me, it didn’t bother me. To be honest, I quite enjoyed the characters quite a bit. David O’Hara as Oren the serial killer is without a doubt the best out of the bunch. Even though he has half the screen time of Lenard, his character is so well performed that the audience will find themselves despising Oren, even in that short period of screen time .

The film doesn’t contain any specific scare tactics. There are jump scares, sequences of disturbing images, and tension that may give viewers some slight discomfort. That said, it’s as if the film contains every element that a horror movie should consist of, but it somehow fails to deliver any genuine fright. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the movie is pointless; I actually appreciated its “short and to the point” nature. The biggest problem is Samson’s inability to step outside of the box in order to deliver something that is unique. That’s a problem in this day and age. A fairly big one. 

Where the Devil Dwells puts forward great effort in mixing different sub genres together. Ironically, the film’s strongest attribute is its simplicity, however, the lack of risks and divergence from common horror movie precedents hinders it from reaching its full potential. Got nothing else to do? this one’s worth a one time watch. But if you find yourself looking to prioritize your viewing queue, you can probably position this one near the bottom.