Another possession movie? They seem to come a dime a dozen these days. But Along Came The Devil proves to mostly hold its own in a saturated subgenre.

Young teen Ashley (Sydney Sweeney) returns to her childhood hometown to live with her Aunt Tanya (Jessica Barth) after her sister goes off to college. As she adjusts to her new life in her old town, she begins being visited by what she thinks is her mother. But with the help of her friend Hannah (Madison Lintz), it becomes clear that mama is nowhere to be found and more sinister forces are at play.

The film opens with text. A lot of text. Now I can appreciate a little writing to set the back story but it felt like it could have been a little more concise. But that aside I think the opening title sequence was great. The music choice and presentation of the film’s title caught my attention and made me think “Ok, this looks interesting, let’s see where this goes.” The first scene in the film is a flashback. We see a young Ashley (Lia McHugh), her sister Jordan (Kyla Deaver), and the abhorrent conditions they live in with their abusive father (Mark Ashworth). That entire sequence was very well done. Extremely sad and tense and really set the tone for the entire film. After watching that scene I was invested in seeing the rest of the story unfold.

Over the course of the film, we see Ashley has had no easy life, and it only becomes more difficult. Ashley’s aunt becomes increasingly concerned for Ashley’s well-being. Ashley’s possession becomes more obvious and the religious men of town Pastor John (Matt Dallas) and Father Michael (Bruce Davison) are enlisted to help free Ashley.

The film was very well cast. All the actors portrayed their characters in a way that keeps the viewer wanting more. The best part about their characters was that they all seem to have a lot of backstory even if that backstory is never revealed. That may be a result of good acting, good writing, or some amalgamation of the two.

While I did enjoy the film, it was not without flaws. The story itself was a little choppy. The delivery of the storyline to the viewer was done in a way that was sometimes confusing. There were times when scene changes felt like they were cutting the scene short. For example, Hannah and Ashley are walking to school and are offered a ride by Ashley’s love interest Shane (Austin Filson). Ashley and Hannah are acting happy and fine and the scene changes to the end of the school day as Hannah and Shane discuss the shocking things that happened with Ashley that day. We see a distraught Ashley and she just wants to go home. Seeing what actually happened in the classroom and why Ashley is so upset would have added so much to the story and would have provided a clearer, smoother transition into the following scenes.

The special fx was also a bit lacking. I found certain effects to be just kind of “blah”. Glowing eyes, scary dead ladies, demon creatures, all of this sounds fairly terrifying. But on screen, it just wasn’t that scary. There is one scene with demon drool I found particularly creepy, unsettling, uncomfortable, and altogether satisfying. But outside of that I just wasn’t that impressed.

My favorite part of this film was the sound. Special recognition should go to Kevin Coughlin and Chad Lanier for the music and Jason Moran for sound mixing. The sounds in this film were deafening, and I don’t mean loud. With the tension in the film every sound was so clear and well placed I found myself really listening to the sounds, and in some cases, the simplest of sounds added to the overall emotion of the scene. A toilet seat, footsteps, tea kettle, and moments of complete silence are just a few examples when sound (or lack thereof) was really present in the scene.

The ending of the film was a surprise to me. I think my eyes actually widened when the film ended. That doesn’t happen too often these days. Major hats off to writing team Dylan Matlock, Heather DeVan, and Jason DeVan (who also directed the film) for coming up with a twist ending that sets the film apart from other movies of the same category.
Overall this film was enjoyable. Disregarding some of the cheesy special fx and choppy transitions, Along Came The Devil is definitely watchable and enjoyable. While it may never reach box office record-breaking heights, the acting, sound, and twist moments make this film worth your time. I was told to review a movie called Along Came The Devil and along came a pleasant surprise!