If you've seen more than a handful of thrillers, you will almost certainly have seen this plot line before; it's just the basic stalker theme only set in a school. This idea has been used in many movies previously, and was also the main theme in the excellent 'Wild Things' that was also released in 1998. Devil in the Flesh is a very low key film and actually feels like a TV movie at times; yet despite this, it does at least manage to stay entertaining enough for it's ninety minute duration, which is quite an achievement when you consider how unoriginal it is. The plot focuses on a young girl named Debbie Strand. After her parent's house burns down in mysterious circumstances, she is sent to live in a different town with her religious grandmother. She also has to start a new school and gets that same locker every new girl in American school gets (the sticky one that needs a man to come over and punch it). Anyway, it's not long before she starts to develop a crush on hunky English teacher Mr Rinaldi, and she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants.
I have to admit that I have a track record of enjoying low key thrillers like this one, and for what it's worth; Devil in the Flesh is not too bad. It does suffer from a poor script that fails to flesh out it's central characters properly and doesn't contribute a logical narrative, so at times the film just seems to jump from one thing to next without a lot of cohesion. There's also a fair few clichés on display too, which is somewhat annoying and tiresome. On the plus side, the acting is rather good. Rose McGowan was one of my main reason for tuning in and she does the bitchy weird chick thing very well. Starring opposite is Alex McArthur as her crush who also performs well in his role as well as well as Peg Shirley as the overbearing grandmother. The plot moves along at a steady pace for the first half and gets going properly in the second, albeit a bit too fast at times. There's a twist towards the end which is both highly predictable and very unbelievable. Overall, this is a long way from brilliant; but it has a few good elements and there's worse films of this ilk out there.
Devil in the Flesh
1998
Drama / Horror / Thriller
Plot summary
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
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Derivative, but not a complete dead loss
Routine story, but entertaining nonetheless
Okay, so the plot was fairly standard, but this film still worked for me, thanks in large part to Rose McGowan. She did a terrific job in this movie, and actually, she practically carries this film single-handedly. To be fair, scenes with the detectives and her grandmother were among the best in the movie, but make no mistake about it, this is Rose's film. This film is also filled with lots of silly humor, but unlike most thrillers, the jokes actually work in this movie. You have to give the filmmakers some credit too, because they took a tired story, and they kept the predictable storyline, and yet, they made a good movie.
Sexy, Wicked And Fun
Devil in the flesh is a story about your usual obsessed with teacher school girl movie. I've seen this story lots of times but this one is my favorite. Rose Mcgowan is so sexy and wicked that you can't take your eyes off of her. She plays Debbie Strand, a girl with a cruel past. Her house has been burned down with her mother and her lover inside. The lover just happened to be a teacher and Debbie's crush. The story is fairly predictable but it's a lot of fun. Debbie moves in with her morbid grandmother that treats her very badly but of course the grandmother gets it in the end. Debbie falls immediately in love with her creative writing teacher and tries every way to get him and no one better get in her way, or else! If you want a wicked fun time, definately see this movie! I would give Devil In The Flesh 9/10