User reviews

The idea sounded very interesting and creative, so there was enough to make one want to see it. The cover looked quite eerie. So saw 'The Devil's Dooway' with genuine interest and wanting to at least sort of like it even if it had many problems.

Seeing it, well 'The Devil's Doorway" is far from perfect and is not great but it was much better than expected. The good things are noticeable and for found footage it is much better than most, one of the better ones actually. Having prepared myself to do that, that was disappointing. Liked the concept quite a good deal, the potential is not quite lived up to.

'The Devil's Doorway' at least didn't insult my intelligence. It at least didn't make me angry watching it.

Surprisingly, it looks great. The setting is atmospherically spooky and pleasing to look at and the camera work was surprisingly accomplished-looking and clever, some nice techniques and angles here rather than looking amateurish and making one physically ill like most found footage horrors do. The editing also has atmosphere. The sound is creepy and not obvious or intrusive.

Also a nice surprise was the acting. This aspect, often one of the noticeably worst assets, was well above average. the best of it good even. There is engagement with the drama, they all look comfortable and it doesn't get unsubtle. The film starts off intriguingly and there are unsettlingly tense, creepy and suspenseful moments early on.

Later on however, the tension, creepiness and suspense dissipates and the latter stages sadly run out of steam. It becomes dull and predictable, as well as ridiculous and things don't make sense. The ending felt anti-climactic.

Dialogue is also quite ropy, with some awkwardness and cheese and parts are a little heavy-handed. The effects have instances where they do look under-budgeted and hasty-looking, not quite gelling with everything else.

Altogether, better than expected but flawed. 5/10 Bethany Cox

As horror films go, it isn't groundbreaking. As found footage horror goes, it did its job.

So as you've noticed by the trailer, the film has a unique way of presentation, using the old-school aspect ratio. Its not perfectly clear whether they used real film stock, or created it digitally, but as someone who worked at a film archive, I can attest that they did a pretty darn good job. But is it scary? Is it really like the critics say, that its the best found footage film in years, being a ode to The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby? Well no, its not anywhere close to those masterpieces, but I agree its much better than the found footage garbage we so often see. With a boat load of Hollywood found footage trash, we also get a wave of films made by anyone who has an iPhone, and the vast majority of them are terrible, and while Devil's Doorway is not amazing, its certainly to as bad as I'm used to.

But was it scary? Its hard to say yes or no, I would rather say it was hit and miss, some of it got me, some of it didn't. The atmosphere also appeared and disappeared, sometimes it was effective, sometimes it was either not there or was not as effective. Its no masterpiece, but it most definitely had some cool stuff in there. The aspect ratio adds to it, the story its based on is an interesting one (surprised it has been done to death), and some of the plot points, shocks, and scares were alright. Again, alright, not perfect. So don't go in expecting a masterpiece like some critics say, or are paid to say.

This week's found footage horror is set in 1960's Ireland where we find a couple of priests dispatched by the Vatican to investigate a 'miracle' at a 'fallen' women's Laundry run by the sisterhood.

Zero build-up quickly gives way to Excorcist/Blair Witch cliches galore, as we once more tread the weary path of shouting, screaming, levitation and tripod-free DP work that we've seen countless times before (and done far better) in this long exhausted sub-genre.

I caught Writer/director Aisleen Clarke's debut effort at Nottingham's Mayhem 2018 Film Festival. Clarke followed the screening with a very informative and generous Q&A session which I found far more interesting and engaging than most of what she'd just served up on screen.

The use of 16mm and authentic location choice were big pluses in her movie's favour, as were the performances - not least from Lalor Roddy as the wisely sceptical Father Thomas. Its in the quieter moments where his monologues to camera accompanied only by the night time wind outside that TDD really hits home. Otherwise its business as usual as the seen-it-all-before possession tropes pile up faster than the linen in the wash room.

If Clarke had forsaken the FF for a more formal approach with a slow build-up and a tight reign on the creepy-kids-that-go-BOO-in-the-night traits, then she might have come up with a winner, instead of this strictly third place, non-event spook-show. A missed opportunity.

I'm not big into found footage, but this one is sort of footage being shot, not found. The priests are genuine, not typical Hollywood Catholic priests. The Magdalene laundry was a real place, and it wouldn't surprise me if this kind of thing happened in those horror houses-there were more than one in Ireland until the early 1990s, I believe. You sort of know what is happening, but you still want to see it to the end. Very scary, a few minor jump scares, and one or two major ones. Ghoulish, hellish, and pure evil. And the fact that there is an atypical ending actually supports the integrity of the priests while bringing into stark relief the evil of the antagonists.

This is a masterclass in how to do a low-budget horrormovie.

There is not a lot going on in this movie. Some might even say that it's a bit slow. But since it's a short movie, it doesn't drag out and it manages to stay tight towards the end. The style reminds me of Asians movies like Ju-on, The Eye and Dark Water.

There are some really clever shoots and some really effective shoots as well. Extremely well use of sounds and "off camera action". The special effects are done smartly. We the viewer often see very little. This is exactly how to avoid using a lot of cheap and ugly CGI.

The acting is good. The mother superior comes of as being 100% authentic.It's almost like 'Dolores Umbridge' in the Harry Potter movies. On one hand you want to congratulate the actress for doing a good job, on the other hand you want to slap her in the face with a chair because you so thoroughly hated the character.

There are some flaws. The shaky cam is done to death and annoying as hell. Most of the time it works in this movie, but "found footage" always create some plotholes. I mean, who found this footage? and who showed it? and why are WE seeing it?

It also has the same flaw as most haunted house movies: Why didn't they get out as soon as things started to go wrong?, why didn't they call for help? Why would you go around in the dark following creepy sounds?

BUT, if you are mature enough to suspend your beliefs for 75 minutes and jut follow the story as it goes, it's a pretty effective horror movie. If you like scary movies, old buildings, creepy nuns and jump-scares this is the movie for you.

The main issue with this movie is that it has very little plot. There are many abandoned or red herring story lines. Not one is complete, to serve as the main story line. In the end, there is no logic in why characters were doing what they were doing or were in the circumstances they were in. There is no logic why they happened to be where they are. The reverend mother's role in the end does not make any sense whatsoever. Multiple characters could have served a greater role in the story but failed to. It almost amounts to an intentional effort to mislead the viewer, except, as the rest of the movie, it fails, because there is no plot twist. I expected much more, especially because practically all actors were good actors. Basically, if you make the mistake of watching this, if you start making theories in the process as to why this and that happens and who the characters might turn out to be etc, don't have high expectations. It turns out very dull.

Taking its inspiration from the history of Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, specifically the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Aislinn Clarke's laudable debut feature, The Devil's Doorway, is a found-footage horror film. It undeniably has its share of clichés, but overall it's an impressive piece of work, dealing in an interesting manner with a truly shameful part of Irish history.

Ireland, 1960. Father Thomas Riley (Lalor Roddy) and Father John Thornton (Ciaran Flynn) have been dispatched by the Vatican to a Magdalene Laundry to investigate a possible miracle; apparently one of the statues of Mary is bleeding from the eyes. World-weary and disillusioned, Thomas is the polar opposite of the young and enthusiastic John. Although Thomas is determined to find the "trickster" behind the bleeding statue, his initial focus is the manner in which the girls in the laundry are being treated by the nuns. Because of this, he immediately butts heads with the rigid Mother Superior (Helena Bereen). However, with Thomas's focus on the girls, John comes to feel that something supernatural is happening - he hears, and later sees, bedraggled children playing in the corridors, despite there being no children in the institution; handprints appear on his window; strange sounds emanate from the bowels of the laundry.

Between 1765 and 1996, it is estimated that upwards of 30,000 "fallen women" were confined in these laundries. The women confined there were sex workers, orphans, victims of rape and child abuse, the mentally ill, young girls considered too flirtatious or beautiful, and those who became pregnant out of wedlock. Essentially used as an unpaid slave labour force, they spent their days washing sheets, and were physically and psychologically abused by the nuns and exploited by the Church, which was fully aware of what was happening behind closed doors.

One might think that nothing more horrific could be made of this subject than the actual facts of the case; after all, Peter Mullan's superb, but exceptionally disturbing, The Magdalene Sisters (2002) is a horror film in everything but name. However, what Clarke and her co-writers Martin Brennan and Michael B. Jackson do in The Devil's Doorway is use the very real issues as the foundation for a socially conscious horror film which serves as a conduit for the anger felt throughout the country. Far more concerned with the shifting moral positions of the two priests than it is with devils and demons or silly jump scares (although there are a few of these), the film thus functions as a kind of microcosmic allegory of Irish history; John represents Ireland of the 1960s, innocent and blindly faithful, unwilling to believe anything negative about the Church, whilst Thomas represents the Ireland of today, jaded and disillusioned.

Reading between the lines of the horror tropes, this is a film about human evil - the primary story is not the investigation into the statues, it's the discovery that the institution has been discarding the bodies of dead children in a vast underground catacomb, with the full knowledge of the Holy See. Clarke, an atheist herself, is thus far more interested in showing the hypocrisy of the Church's culpability, condoning the torture of woman and the unsanctified burial of children, whilst it preached morality to the masses, warning of the esoteric dangers of contraception, the evils of homosexuality, and the iniquity of blasphemy. In her view, the evils perpetrated by the nuns against defenceless children are far more horrific and disturbing than anything a demon could unleash on the world. Looking at issues such as the illogicality of blind faith and the history of organised religions' tendency to marginalise women, often to the point of violating their human rights, Clarke exposes the Catholic Church's duplicity, laying bare their utterly contemptible and self-serving role in Irish history, and it's the anger and sincerity of this message that lingers far longer than any of the film's genre elements.

One of the film's greatest strengths is Lalor Roddy's performance as Thomas. Playing the priest as cynical and disheartened, worn down by years of debunking claims of miracles, at least initially, he is far more interested in the treatment of the girls than the possibility that the statue's bleeding may be authentic. As the film goes on, Thomas becomes more and more angry about what is happening in the laundry, leading to one of the most thematically relevant and narratively justified f-bombs I've ever heard in a film. One of the film's primary themes is the hypocrisy of the Church, and the ugliness of organised religion in general, and this theme is carried primarily by Thomas. Roddy's layered interpretation is the primary reason the film works so well in an emotional sense. Painfully aware that acceptance of dogma, faith in the Church, and belief in God are three very different things, Thomas finds it increasingly difficult to reconcile his genuine love for God with the practices the Church carry out in His name.

At Dublin's Horrorthon 2018, Clarke was asked if there were any concerns regarding accusations of exploitation during the making of the film. She acknowledged there were, explaining that she remained very much aware during filming that many people who lived in the laundries are still alive today. She also said she had heard from several Magdalene Survivors who had loved the film, and one woman in particular who travelled from Cork to Belfast to view it, giving an emotional endorsement when it was finished. Indeed, Clarke explained that the film was originally written to be set in 2018, with a group of urban explorers running afoul of eerie goings-on in an abandoned laundry, and it was only when she came on-board that it was relocated to the 1960s. She chose this period because it was during the 60s that the laundries were at the height of their powers. Believing that setting the film in 2018 and depicting urban explorers would have been disrespectful and exploitative (something like the disgusting Chernobyl Diaries (2012)), Clarke felt that to relocate it to 1960 lent it an air of authenticity, whilst also allowing her to deal head-on with the moral issues thrown up by the scandal.

Aesthetically, the film is also interesting, managing to sidestep many of the inherent problems with found-footage films. For example, the fact that it's set in 1960 means it's shot on 16mm rather than VHS or hi-def. The 1.37:1 Academy Ratio, complete with rounded corners, has the effect of making Ryan Kernaghan's carefully composed images look like historic photographs. The shaky and imperfect footage also gives the film a sense of an old cinema verité-style documentary, with the amount of artefacts helping to sell the first-person immediacy of the cinematography - lens flares and burn-outs are especially common, and the handheld nature of the filming has a suitably disorienting effect. Granted, John's Bolex camera manages to pick up far more detail in dark locations than would be possible, but this is a relatively minor gripe when the overall look is so good. This point also nicely illustrates the avoidance of a pitfall of found-footage horror films - why the hell don't they drop the camera and get out of Dodge. A problem in many such films, here, the answer is simple - in many scenes, the camera is providing the only source of light, hence why John keeps it turned on and filming.

Also worthy of praise is the sound design, which, as with the cinematography, manages to avoid a bugbear of found-footage films - pitch-perfect sound irrespective of location and people's distance from the camera. Here, there are multiple examples of dialogue being muffled when spoken away from camera. It's a very simple touch, but it adds a nice air of verisimilitude to proceedings.

Of course, the film isn't perfect. As the latest in a long line of found-footage exorcism/possession horror movies, the crowded nature of the subgenre, and the general lack of quality of many of the films, doesn't do it any favours. Additionally, especially as it nears its climax, it regurgitates a number of genre clichés - floating beds, upside down crucifixes, scary nuns, creepy kids, creepy dolls, skeletons, underground caverns, jump scares which don't make a great deal of practical sense. Falling back a little too much on the generic conventions it has managed to avoid until the last half hour or so, in this sense, the film ultimately plays it disappointingly safe.

However, all things considered, this is an excellent piece of work, and an accomplished debut. It looks amazing, and is far better than the majority of found-footage movies. The acting is terrific, and it's properly creepy in places. Perhaps most importantly, however, if you can look past the hokum, you'll find a socially conscious film engaging with a painful national scandal.

I'm usually not a big fan of found footage movies but this is one I actually liked. The storyline is simple and 'logic'. But what is the most astonishing thing about this movie is that it proves it's possible to draw relatable and plausible characters within it's short playtime. This is also thanks to outstanding acting by the three main characters. It's become very rare- especially in horror- to have the combination of writing, directing, acting and cinematography in such a perfect manner. I must say the scene where the mother superior starts to sing was the creepiest thing I've seen in a long time. Congratulations!

Yuk. The handheld camera technique (ala Cloverfield) needs to be banned for horror movies. When someone is chasing you with a chainsaw, one needs to turn off the video camera and stop taking selfies. Premise about the magdalene laundries and the horrible abuses that occurred under the Catholic Church, was a good start to the story. The camera work was distracting and motion sickness inducing, and really too silly and overused to be scary, and ruined what could have been a 4.5 star movie otherwise.

Ok. To be fair, the movie wasn't as Bad as most found footage. But it did what found footage always does which is show you not much but shaky cameras looking around, in the dark with the lights going out, and sometimes catching only glimpses of things. Like the rest, it mostly relies on the Viewers' imagination rather than actually making a good film that doesn't choke. That said, at times it Is creepy and a bit disturbing as well.

Another found footage film! Hardly original but this doesn't hide that fact. A very derivative film that takes the true horrors of the story of the Magdalene Sisters in Ireland and twists it into the horrors of the Blair Witch and Rec* movies.

It's not a bad movie and I did jump a few times. The acting is great from the main leads and for a low budget movie it uses what it has well.

Problem is that we've seen it all before and done better, so hard to fully respect. There can also be said to be an underlying agenda to the premise of the film which I'll leave out here, and that can take away from the film too. The arguments are best left to a more appropriate forum.

It's derivative, it's simple and will pass the time. You want some scares then this will do, but don't expect anything new.

As much as some would take offense at the Vatican being shown in this light, I personally found it believable. Could have been scarier but i can see why the makers of this picture didn't go into the details. Very glad i watched it.

It's not scary at all and the ending is so pointless. The films ends with not giving an answer to anything that has happened leading up to it. I recommend anyone who is interested in watching give it a miss on the plus side the acting was good

The Devil's Doorway: A found footage dark horror tale. 1960, two priests are sent to investigate reports of a miracle at a Magdalene Laundry. The younger priest, Fr Thornton (Ciaran Flynn), films their work. Fr Riley (Lalor Roddy) the senior cleric has 25 years experience as a miracle auditor and has grown cynical, Thornton still hopes to uncover proof. The priests clash with the brutal Mother Superior (Helena Breen) over the treatment of the inmates and at night Thornton is disturbed by visions of children playing, apparent ghosts. Things quickly turn stranger as the priests discover the nuns are hiding a dark secret, a pregnant girl (Lauren Coe) imprisoned in the basement. Possession, Satanic Worship and savage violence are the themes which run through this film. But as Fr Riley points out the evil carried out by people is often far worse than any supernatural threats. The history of the Magdalene Laundries bears witness to this. A disturbing film which makes the most of a low budget. Some great scenes shot in underground tunnels. Convincing performances by Roddy, Flynn, Coe and Breen). Directed and co-written by Aislinn Clarke. Available at All4 until 3 October. 7/10.

The devils doorway may have a mediocre IMDB rating but do not take this horror film from the UK to be just an average scary movie because it's not. The acting in this feature is purely amazing and the storyline may not be the most original but writers have creative privilege and they can always refresh our memories if they so choose. And although "The Devil's Doorway" does have 2 or 3 jump scares over the limit the dialogue keeps you entertained while you wait for the actual occurrences to take place and yes regardless of what the advertising banner for this movie says this is found footage and it's a pretty darn good one. The camera has a few jiggly moments at the end of the movie but 95% of it was was steady and well angled. Special effects were decent and the camera editing was converted into the look of a retro 35mm camera giving it a boost of realism. All in all this movie definitely fits the bill of a good horror flick so I give it an 8 which means you surely won't be mad to sit down and check this one out when you get a chance.

This could have been so much better. The actors really gave it their all. The priests that go to the nunnery to investigate a miracle, the nuns and women that live their, and the backstory of the women/inmates that live there. How the story hints at one of the many dark facets of the church, but sadly the story is anticlimactic.

All that said, I enjoyed watching it as it is still miles better than many of the horror movies out there with bigger budgets, awful acting and a story that could have been written by a ten year old.

I wanted to like this film, but the blatant anti-Catholic feminist nature of the dialogue ruined what could have been a reasonable effort in the realm of "found footage" material. I am NOT Catholic, nor religious, and I know what Irish women of "low" birth were once subjected to in places such as the one portrayed in this film, but being set in 1960, much of the dialogue seems to come right out of 2018, so it simply doesn't work well. No surprise the director is female and therefor determined to shame the Catholic church. But she's cut off her nose despite her face in making such an ideological film. The main problem being that the viewer can't really get past the ideology and focus on the actual horror scenes.

Crap storyline. Found footage angle was pointless & don terribly. Acting was brink of hillarious. Nothing made sense with the plot. Logic & rationale was left out of the script. Cliched expected fright points throughout - all seen before & done better too. WATCH WITH CAUTION - you wont get that 76mins back....

I'm a bit of a sucker for horror movies that take place in churches or convents or other religious settings. Don't know why; guess it's one of those juxtapositions of dark and light, or something. I'll leave that to the philosophers. I do know that I quite enjoyed much of what The Devil's Doorway had to offer. It's about two priests in Ireland sent to a home for wayward women to investigate a statue of the Virgin Mary crying tears of blood. The older priest, Thomas, has been doing this sort of investigating for quite some time and is pretty sure the "miracle" is nothing but a hoax or a misunderstanding, but the younger priest, John, has more of an open mind on the subject. Conveniently for us, they record their investigation, as the movie is told in cinema verite' style, mostly through the lens of John's camera. Well, investigate they do, and it's not long at all before some really crazy stuff happens, such as the sound of children playing in halls that haven't seen kids since "the war" (the movie's set in the early 1960s). An evasive and combative Mother Superior does not help them do their jobs, either. Oh, and the mysterious, ever-dwindling, ever-descending hallways and tunnels beneath the buildings. What made this movie work for me was the atmosphere, as one truly feels in the midst of some terrifying, inexplicable events. Lalor Roddy (Father Thomas), Ciaran Flynn (Father John), and Helena Bereen (Mother Superior) give commanding performances, too, and the ending is satisfying yet brutal. About the only debit for this film is the "shaky cam" effect that one does typically get when wielding a heavy camera. Sure, it was realistic, but beware if you suffer from vertigo. Lot of whipping around and such.