Why do awful things happen for no apparent reason? According to this movie, it's the devil at work wreaking havoc on people who deserve to be punished. After an unusual suicide at a highrise downtown office building, Det. Bowden (Chris Messina) is called in to investigate the scene. Coincidentally, five strangers get stuck in an elevator in the same building, and start getting picked off one by one. But who is the killer among them, and will Det. Bowden be able to save them in time? The plot's premise is based on old Catholic beliefs of the devil as a mythical bogeyman. One of the building's security guards explains how his mother used to tell him stories of the devil and signs to look out for warning that the devil is near - explanations that are cringe-inducing and laughable at best. The tension that the story tries to build by trapping these people in close quarters and then watching them each get brutally murdered is diffused by the fact that we know and care nothing about these characters until near the end of the film, and by then you've lost all interest in their back stories or any relevant connection between them. There are a few good thrills and a definite creepy vibe, but overall the story is too nonsensical to be taken seriously. When Det. Bowden first hears the security guard spouting his theories about the devil being behind these unexplained murders, he responds by saying that he doesn't believe in the devil because mankind is capable of doing bad things all on their own. And he's absolutely right; the proof is this movie.
2 out of 5 stars
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