I’m a fan of the horror movie genre. I would never pass up the opportunity to review a horror film (unless it looks really silly based on the trailer).
Available on Video on Demand is the horror/thriller film At the Devil’s Door staring Naya Rivera which many people will know from the popular TV series Glee.
At the Devil’s Door starts off with a young girl (Ashley Rickards) making out with her boyfriend. He tells her that she can make $500 by playing a shell game with some man. Intrigued she follows him to a trailer in the middle of no where. There she plays a few shell games with the man and wins every time. The man then gives her a roll of money ($500) and tells her to go down where the roads meet and say her name so that “he” knows her name when he calls for her.
The movie continues with the girl at home. She must have used some of the money she earned from playing the shell game to buy new sneakers and other things.
That night the girl (Charlene) is lying in bed listening to music when she hears someone say her name from the closet. She is then attacked by an unseen force who lifts her in the air and throws her to the floor.
Charlene is not the same after that. She seems troubled and not herself.
At one point she is asked to babysit an infant. Instead of being home with the baby she goes to the party the parents are at and tells them that their baby is dead and they are all dead.
Fast forward to the present time. A real estate agent named Leigh (Catalina Sandino Moreno) is trying to sell a couple’s house. They are Charlene’s parents.
Leigh sees Charlene in the house and doesn’t understand why she is there. She can tell there is something wrong with the girl.
Leigh telephones Charlene’s parents to let them know their daughter was there. To her surprise the parents tell her that their daughter was just picked up by the local police at the mall a few hours earlier, so the girl in the house cannot be their daughter. There was also an article found in some files in the home that talk about a girl name Hannah who committed suicide many years earlier. Could Charlene really be Hannah?
Confused and concerned Leigh confronts the mysterious girl as she is standing in an empty room in front of a mirror. The girl does not speak. Leigh then finds herself in cardiac arrest and dies only a few feet away from the girl.
Leigh’ sister, Vera (Naya Rivera) is shaken when we finds out her sister died. She almost doesn’t want to accept that.
When Vera visits Leigh’s home she discovers the address and keys for the house her sister was trying to sell – the same house she died in. Vera decides to look around the house to see if she can find any clues as to what happened to her sister.
Vera also happens across the young girl (Charlene/Hannah) and is frightened by her.
Vera wants to learn more about who this girl is and if she has anything to do with her sister’s death. What she finds is that Charlene/Hannah was pregnant when she committed suicide. She told her friend’s she had a demon growing inside of her.
Vera might have gone too far in her investigation because whatever it was that was after Charlene/Hannah is now after her, even coming to her home and calling out to her to “come to me”.
What is going on? Whose voice is Vera hearing? Who is calling for her? And how is Charlene/Hannah connected in this mystery? To find out you need to rent At the Devil’s Door on Video on Demand (check your local provider).
I found the movie a little bit confusing at first. I started to get what was going on but I think the movie could have done a better job explaining the connection with the $500, the shell game and why it chose the way it did to come back into this world.
It was a bit predictable, but entertaining none the less.
As a die hard horror movie fan I didn’t find the movie scary, but there were a few instances where the film could have given viewers the “heebie jeebies” (mostly things popping out at you when you least expect it). I could see my daughter jumping out of her seat in a few spots.
The film is unrated. I might give it a PG-13 rating. I don’t recall any bad language and there was no nudity. I wouldn’t necessarily think that scenes with the unseen spirit could come across as rape. You don’t see anything that looked sexual.
At the Devil’s Door is an entertaining 90 minute film. Although it’s considered a horror movie I think the terms “thriller” and “suspense” could also apply. Maybe even “supernatural”.
Naya Rivera did a great job as Vera who starts off “mousy” and later in the movie plans on eliminating the evil spirit from this world.
I didn’t see the ending coming. I don’t think anyone watching the film would expect that ending.
Here is the film’s trailer for your enjoyment.
Kimberly
*I received a free screener copy in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Robin Wilson says
I know that you like horror movies and so does my sister. I just don’t get y’all! I just can’t handle them for some reason. Just knowing that a movie is going to be scary throws me into a near panic attack. You did a great job reviewing this movie and I might even be able to watch it now. But I would have avoided it like the plaque just based on the title and the cover pic.
Brutus Duffy says
Thanks for the review, although it confused me, but that’s ok because I don’t want to know too much before i watch this anyway. looks like a good one to watch on a drak and stormy night.