Devon

While I had never heard about the 2024 horror movie "Devon", from writer and director Jenni Farley, it was of course a movie I would sit down to watch, given my love of the horror genre.

Right, well had I known that the movie "Devon" was a movie that was shot almost exclusively on handheld camera, I would never have glanced at it twice. I absolutely loathe movies that are filmed with laughable, questionable handheld camera, it does not feel professional at all when it is something anyone could just do, and it absolutely removes from the overall enjoyment of the movie for me.

The storyline in the movie was nothing outstanding. Writer Jenni Farley didn't bring anything new to the horror genre. And truth be told, I was not the least bit entertained throughout the 72 minutes of sheer boredom that was the handheld garbage heap known as "Devon". Sure, if you enjoy movies such as "The Blair Witch Project", which I obviously don't, then you might actually find some enjoyment in "Devon".

The movie has a very small cast ensemble, and it was entirely actors and actresses that I had never seen before. While that is usually something I enjoy when I watch a movie, it just didn't really work in "Devon", as I just couldn't take the movie serious, given the pathetic handheld camera style.

"Devon" is not a movie that I will ever watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend you to waste your time, money or effort on. Some of us suffered through this dumpster fire of a movie, so you don't have to; you're quite welcome.

Visually, then you're not in for anything grand, in terms of special effects. And unless you consider handheld, shaky camera and questionable camera angles as a work of art, then don't get your hopes up.

How this movie could land a staggering 3.9 rating, its rating right now as I am reviewing the movie, is simply beyond me.

The movie's cover was actually the best thing about the entire ordeal.

My rating of writer and director Jenni Farley's 2024 movie "Devon" lands on a two out of ten stars. This rating is based mostly on the fact that they mustered to actually piece a movie together, and there was some ambition to the storyline, just a shame that the camera thing ruined everything.

I was so disappointed in this movie! I wanted to watch it because I love scary movies and to support Jenni Farley but I was so bummed by the end of the movie. The lighting was terrible and it consisted of the characters screaming a lot, at nothing and crying like they are scared to death. But there was nothing scary about it at all and there were no scary special effects. I was hoping it would be as entertaining as Gonjiam Asylum or even Grave Encounters but this was just lame. I hope Jenni tries again at making a scary movie because I think she is great! Hopefully this was a good learning experience for her.

Great movies are made with vision, creativity, and talent. None of which you will find here. This isn't a horror movie - it's an ego trip funded by a reality stars black card. You can tell it was made by someone who's never had to struggle, get feedback, or hear the word "no." The scariest thing here is the script, which sounds like it was written by an AI trained exclusively on perfume commercials and vape ads.

It's like someone watched Hereditary once while scrolling Instagram and thought, "Yeah, I can do that - but with more mood lighting and less talent." This isn't filmmaking. It's rich kid cosplay.

I would have given one star if I wasn't already a fan of JWOWW. Maybe that's wrong and maybe I will be more generous with new filmmakers in the future. She is a first time writer and director with a limited budget. But she managed to get some pretty decent talent and seems to have done ok at directing their acting. How much do light bulbs cost? They needed to figure that into the budget. Most of the movie is a black screen. There is literally nothing to see. It's not a bad story and the conversation is pretty realistic. Maybe too realistic in the sense that every word doesn't need to be heard. It needs tightening up. I am looking forward to Jenny's next project.

While I approached this movie with modest expectations, I certainly didn't anticipate it being quite this disappointing. The film relies heavily on loud screams rather than delivering a compelling plot or storyline. Although we get a glimpse of the characters' backgrounds, the development is minimal, leaving much to be desired. The lack of jump scares and genuine suspense makes it far from terrifying. Additionally, the excessive camera movement, coupled with the constant screaming, ultimately overshadows any potential the film might have had. The acting leaves much to be desired, which is somewhat expected from a low-budget production. Overall, this film fell short of my hopes, and I had anticipated a more engaging experience.