DeVour (2005)

When I come across an actor who clearly cares about their career (male or female), I make a point of watching films they have appeared in because I know that they will choose good material.Jensen Ackles (of Supernatural) is such an actor.I think everyone can say at one point or another that they have watched a film because of a certain actor / actress who stars in the film and I want to be clear that my reason on this occasion is not because I am a groupie.I have started off with this because of some reviews on the internet that include "the film's not so good but Jensen is easy on the eyes" etc. and I think that these statements are disrespectful to the many people who must have worked extremely hard to make this film (no disrespect to those reviewers, we are all entitled to our opinions). The plot is intriguing. The atmosphere of 'mystery' throughout is similar to the recent film Black Swan (2010) except I found this film more satisfying as entertainment. I am not a film-making expert so in layman's terms; the acting is good (not always perfect but never bad either), the relationships between the characters are believable if not always fully developed and the film had a strong beginning, middle and end. I found the film (and script) to have wit, intelligence and substance.I feel Dominique Swain deserves special mention as her acting was superb. I like actors who give more than needed and Dominique lifted her character from potentially being clichéd or one-dimensional to having depth and this is why I felt empathy for her - it was easy to connect.I have given the film 8 out of 10 because I like to rate films based on how entertained I was rather than how many negative aspects a film had compared with positive ones.Yes, the film has flaws. Some were (possibly) due to neglect (i.e. with the writing / directing etc.) and some are clearly just budgetary and I will not score a film lower for that because you know a film's limits before watching one which has a lower budget.Incidentally, a high budget was not needed and the film was shot in a professional way so you only really notice during a couple of special effects scenes which did not impact on my enjoyment.I did watch the film without expecting much and I accept that this can influence a person's enjoyment of a film but really, there is nothing wrong with it.Ultimately; a good script and an interesting mystery. Very happy I watched it.8/10

Devour feels like several movies have been thrown into a blender by writers Adam and Seth Gross, and then wolfed down by director David Winkler, only partially digested, and finally excreted onto the screen; some of the original ingredients are still identifiable, but on the whole, it's just one big stinky mess.Part The Omen, part Brainscan, Part FeardotCom, and part Rosemary's Baby, the Gross's screenplay sees high school student Jake Gray (Jensen Ackles) experiencing hellish waking nightmares after his pals Conrad (Teach Grant) and Dakota (the perfectly toned Dominique Swain) sign him up for an online game called 'The Pathway'. To cut a long and very confusing story short, the game is controlled by the devil herself (yes, she's a woman, just as I suspected), who is searching the world for her missing son.No prizes for guessing who turns out to be the spawn of Satan...Decent acting from its young (but perhaps not young enough) cast, the odd gruesome moment, and a gratuitous sex scene between Ackles and a fully clothed Swain (what, no nudity?) cannot help Devour from being a disappointment; and with a final comment from Jake which suggests that the whole devil thing might have been a figment of his twisted imagination, it's hard to see this film garnering praise from anyone other than fans of its lead actor.

"Devour" is a somewhat decent but not that impressive entry.**SPOILERS**Troubled by strange visions, college student Jake Grey, (Jensen Ackles) begins to find that his friends Dakota, (Dominique Swain) and Conrad Dean, (Teach Grant) are becoming a little unpredictable. Hearing of a website known as The Pathway, they log on and find that it makes them perform special tasks in real life. As it starts, it takes over their lives and become more and more of an influence, it forces them into greater realms of despair. When the events soon turn deadly, he turns to Marisol, (Shannyn Sossamon) for help in understanding what's happening to them, and it soon leads to a demonic cult that has plans for him, and he has to fight his sanity and his past to stop them from harming him more.The Good News: This one here didn't have too many good parts to it. One of the good things about it is that there's a really creative and unique story to it. The idea of the website and what it does is pretty neat. From the innovative way of getting involved in life to how greatly it does, there's nothing about it that doesn't work out because of that, and it gives off a really nice atmosphere to the beginning and makes it a little creepier. There's also some really good parts to come from this, especially the flash images that are happened upon for no reason. The demon in the basement, the several ones where the killings are glimpsed and even the other demons had here are really great, all done through what's been a great opportunity to include them. The inclusion of the black arts at the end makes that fun as well, giving it some rather colorful moments as well. The last good part is he few kills that bring about bloodshed, as there's a couple who get their tongue cut off, a stabbing in the chest, a tree branch impaled in the forehead and a few gunshots. These here are all that work for the film.The Bad News: There wasn't a whole lot wrong as there wasn't much to it anyway. The fact that there's never really a feeling that it is really big and expansive, more here being just the really slow and laid back feeling given off. It doesn't have much to it to really get into it namely the beginning, which is dull, action-less and really slow-going, and the trend really continues on throughout the whole film of being too laid back to get really interesting. That manages to be one of the biggest flaws, as is the fact that there's a really huge jump in how the film goes from the storyline about the website to about the black arts and Satanism. It's an incredibly large leap to make, seeing as they really belong in two separate plots rather than being mixed together. The last part is the relative lack of bloodshed. Despite a reasonable body count and the few kills mentioned above that take a little amount out of the film, all of those listed are really only aftermath, with just one or two deaths actually witnessed being happening while the film plays out. That really isn't a good factor for the film, making it a really dull and ineffectual film to have to cop out like that. Had this done something with the deaths, as well as beefed up the action in this, it would've been something, otherwise it's just there.The Final Verdict: Without a whole lot going on for this one either way, it really stands up as being good or terrible in any direction. Not really a set group who would enjoy this one, but the easiest group would be those who enjoy low-budget direct to video fare, otherwise this one is incredibly tough.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language and Brief Nudity

Devour is a pretty generic sort of horror movie. Not truly scary - a little creepy in parts, but no real thrills. It has your stereotypical angst characters - family issues, drug addict friend, messed up ex-girlfriend, and a new love interest who is inexorably a part of the greater plot.That being said, the overall plot is a good one. It moves forward steadily and keeps your interest, but that's about it. It isn't one of those films where you leave the theatre thinking about it, discussing the twists and turns with your friends. Where 'Devour' fails is that it is not as clever as it had the potential to be. More foreshadowing throughout instead of the straightforward laying out of details would have greatly improved this film, and would have changed the ending from 'huh, that's interesting' to 'oh my god is that for real?!' I was quite impressed with the acting. I wasn't expecting much, but the main character is actually very good, and the supporting cast is better than you would expect in a B rated film.Overall, this movie is worth seeing once. It's easy to watch, doesn't require much thought, but doesn't do anything drastic that will make it stay with you. It's the kind of film that fades away into the mass of countless other movies that you've seen over the years.