Christmas is supposed to be a time for peace and joyful family reunions. But when Matt and his wife Karen show up unannounced at the home of his estranged brother Steve to celebrate the holidays, they are instead greeted with a horrifying surprise: trapped in the basement is a man. But not just any man. Steve believes that his hostage is none other than the devil himself.... (Full plot summary below)
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Christmas is supposed to be a time for peace and joyful family reunions. But when Matt and his wife Karen show up unannounced at the home of his estranged brother Steve to celebrate the holidays, they are instead greeted with a horrifying surprise: trapped in the basement is a man. But not just any man. Steve believes that his hostage is none other than the devil himself.
Leave your thoughts about I Trapped the Devil.
| The Film StageJared MobarakThe dread becomes so palpable that the implausibility of a wooden door with three tiny locks somehow containing the Devil actually proves itself scarier as a result. |
| Film ThreatAlex SavelievSilly and scary, atmospheric and disjointed, I Trapped the Devil showcases Lobo’s affection for the genre. He wisely avoids falling into the “gore” trap, instead relying on characterization and our fear of the unknown to raise the hair on the back of your neck. |
| VarietyDennis HarveyDoesn’t ultimately provide quite enough reward for a slow buildup. But it proves Lobo an able helmer (if one who could probably use a co-writer next time), eking decent atmospherics and good performances within a potentially claustrophobic premise. |
| The New York TimesTeo BugbeeBy seesawing between bland normalcy and hellishness, Lobo denies his audience the immersive horror that his film’s best images promise. |
| Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLobo overdoes the sudden shifts between the real and the surreal in the last act, refusing to answer any questions definitively until he has to. But the first-time filmmaker shows an impressive amount of confidence in his methods. He knows how to make audiences uncomfortable — first with tedium, then with terror. |
| The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckUnfortunately, for all the debuting filmmaker's talent for creepy atmospherics, I Trapped the Devil feels draggy and attenuated even with its brief 82-minute running time including credits. Despite some good performances, the film goes nowhere, and very, very slowly. |
| User ReviewBryanAndrewEssentially a Twilight Zone episode that is drawn out way too long and over-relies on suspense to carry its entirety to the end. The film is set in a single setting that is so dark that it is genuinely difficult to tell what is going on at times - especially in the basement where everything is literally bathed in a red hue. There is praise, however, in the unique decision in placing the events of the film during Christmas with festive decor, creating a disturbing dissonance that juxtaposes itself sharply against the actual mood of the film. The actor of Steve did a marvelous job at selling his character's disposition by portraying a somewhat nervous twitchiness at key moments. Also, at one point he had to deliver some movie exposition to get the audience up to speed and he does so with a sort of ease that makes his performance believable. However, I think the remaining two characters of Matt and Karen were under-developed and lacked substance, and it shows in the actors bland portrayals of them. The music score is highly effective but is so overused throughout the film that it loses its effect by the time it truly matters. In terms of sound mixing and editing, I think the voice of the 'Devil' has a genuinely creepy vibe to it and an almost ominous presence. The same can be said for the 'Blindfolded woman' in Steve's vision, with her freakish cries actually giving me goosebumps as I watched along. The movie leaves much to be desired and more questions than answers in the end, and while I think open-ended endings are good in some cases, it doesn't quite work for me in this film. For example - Who was calling? Who were the people in Steve's vision? Mystery is good when it adds to the story's themes and motifs but in this case it just adds mystery for the sake of it. In the end, the plot is ultimately pretty straightforward and moves at the pacing of a slow burn with little payoff. 'I Trapped the Devil' gets a 5.5/10. |
| User ReviewJLuis_001Honestly, I didn't think it was terrible, but I've already seen a lot of other indie horror movies that feel incredibly similar. So this one did nothing for me. |
| User ReviewSatanski666I liked visuals and music very much, but authors conveniently avoided answering questions which demand the most imagination and story telling talent. Had high hopes during opening scenes, but ultimately found the movie to be boring waste of time. |
