Well, I went to watch "Devil's Whisper" without knowing anything about it, except it being a horror movie. Well, at least that was my assumption, given the cover of the movie.

And a horror movie it was. I must admit that the movie actually started out quite interesting, and I loved the way that director Adam Ripp managed to build up the suspense and keeping the audience in the dark - literally. The way that the audience were slightly introduced more and more to the strange happenings, was a very nice approach, and it fed so much atmosphere to the movie.

However, about halfway through the movie, it felt like air was fast seeping out of the balloon and the movie lost momentum abruptly. It never really recovered from that, and sort of just founds its place in a mediocre pace that just headed straight out a one-way street.

I like the entity that came to haunt Alejandro Duran (played by Luca Oriel),and the thing with it only being visible in the dark was a very nice touch to the movie. I must admit that once it was revealed what was really going on, it felt a little bit anti-climatic, and it made very little sense for the last scene where they were battling the entity. Unless that being a metaphorical battle for Alejandro to fight his personal demon and try to make amends with the tragic events. Regardless, the ending of the movie was just a bit forced and felt somewhat out of place.

The acting in the movie was good, despite the characters being fairly one-dimensional and not offering much story to the movie as such. One thing that was good about the characters, was the gradual decay of Alejandro's character, physically and mentally. That was a nice touch to the character. Although the outburst in the car after being bailed from prison was ludicrous and felt so out of character for the Alejandro character.

This was not a particularly scary movie, but it had a lot of potential. Which was sadly squandered, in my opinion. I would have liked for the characters in the movie to have had more stories behind them, because they could easily have been replaced with cardboard cutouts. And the movie lacked jump scares, which is actually always a must for me in horror movies. Sure, they are corny and you sense them coming a mile away, but they are still enjoyable.

'Devil's Whisper' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing if not exactly original premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Devil's Whisper' is terrible, with a plethora of problems (huge ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There is very little to recommend, but still a couple of qualities in 'Devil's Whisper'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky, despite the rather direct to video schlocky way it's generally shot (apart from the odd nice one) and edited, it was very clear that the film was made in a rush with no care or enthusiasm.

First ten minutes at least doesn't make one want to turn off.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and a lot of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less unsettled and never gaining momentum. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their annoying and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and all of the acting is lacking mostly.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace and film drags on forever, never recovering until finally getting slightly intriguing to the ending when something finally happens. Even the ending however is botched, due to being so incomplete-feeling, illogical and rushed, plus it could easily have occurred so much earlier that's how thin the story was. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness, a lot of dumb and vague moments and explanations and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'Devil's Whisper' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you shocked are far from creative or unsetling

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show any sense of horror. Some badly sagging momentum, confusion and too much of a hastily cobbled together feel. The direction is leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, terrible. 2/10 Bethany Cox

15-year-old Alejandro Duran (an excellent performance by Luca Oriel) is part of a deeply religious family and aspires to be a Catholic priest. Alejandro has his faith put to the ultimate test after he unwittingly unleashes a powerful demon from an old mysterious box.

Director Adam Ripp relates the absorbing story at a constant pace, takes time to develop the characters, adroitly crafts an extremely spooky and unsettling atmosphere, and maintains a grimly serious take-no-prisoners tone throughout. Alejandro's descent into madness and despair makes for chilling viewing while the demonic creature looks genuinely creepy. The bang-up acting from the sturdy cast rates as another major asset: Tessie Santiago as Alejandro's fiery mom Lucia, Marcos A Ferraez as tough dad Marcos, Rick Ravanello as easygoing and compassionate priest Father Cutler, Jasper Polish as the sweet Lia, and Allison Fernandez as Alejandro's cute little sister Alicia. This movie even makes poignant and pertinent points on how one can't run away from terrible events that occurred in the past and how resisting the temptation of evil is a continual struggle in a person's life. An on the money fright film.