Indie Gems: Here Comes The Devil

When being a helicopter parent would've been helpful.

Felix (Francisco Barrerio) and Sol (Laura Caro) are vacationing with their two children, Adolfo (Alan Martinez) and Sara. (Michele Garcia) When the kids ask to go exploring some mountains in Tijuana, the parents take the opportunity for some alone time/car sex, only for their kids to disappear. Thankfully, they return the following day, but they are acting strange and show signs of experiencing a traumatic event. 

Demonic films tend to all look the same, but this one attempts to do things differently. There's no exorcism, no crosses flipping upside down, the film relies heavily on its slow burn and it really nails that aspect of building dread. You know where the film is probably going to go, but it doesn't make it any less unsettling. 

Here Comes The Devil succeeds in being very creepy and mysterious, however a few directorial choices stunt it from achieving greatness. There's an overt sexual nature about the film to the point where the nudity is distracting and serves no purpose. The use of quick zooming in and out also gives the film a feel of a low end soap opera. These negatives are annoying, but they don't bring the film all the way into unwatchable territory. 

Grade: B-

Memorable quote: "This is going to be hard to understand." - Sol (Laura Caro)