Title: The Device
RLJ Entertainment
Director: Jeremy Berg
Writers: Jeremy Berg & John Portanova
Cast: Angela DiMarco, David S. Hogan, Kate Alden
Running time: 90 min, Unrated (Language, Violence, Sexuality)
Special Features: 3 audio commentary tracks with writers & director, cast, Tracy Torme – screenwriter of Fire in the Sky and Intruders
Available on DVD and Digital Download: December 16, 2014
Abby and Calvin (real-life spouses Angela DiMarco & David S. Hogan) are at the airport to pick up Rebecca (Kate Alden), Abby’s sister that they haven’t seen in over a decade. They are reuniting to spread their mother’s ashes at a secluded lake. During their visit together, something strange occurred nearby in the woods. They look over the decimated landscape and find a perfectly round orb, the size of their palm imbedded in the ground. Abby picks it up and immediately gets cut with something. Abby begins to have strange dreams of an alien humanoid abusing her sexually and tearing into her abdomen. Her husband Calvin starts acting strangely after handling the orb; he mostly becomes violent and angry. Abby soon learns she’s pregnant, and Calvin freaks out because he knows he’s sterile. He kidnaps Rebecca, and tells Abby to bring him the orb or he will kill her sister. Once they are all reunited at the lake house with the orb, the humanoid reveals itself to all of them, that the orb was a device used as an experiment on the human subjects who found it.
The Good: The acting was good. The ending where we finally understand the purpose of the device and come face to face with the alien. The 3 main cast members had a lot of fun on the film and their audio commentary is quite funny. They tell the viewer to play a drinking game while watching the film and they tell the viewer exactly what time they should drink – usually when tears are involved.
The Bad: The people who did the trailer to this film made this look so much better than the actual full length movie. The entire film was a long build up to a lackluster ending. The DVD has 3 audio commentary tracks. To me that doesn’t really sell confidence in the film when they have to talk about why you should like this movie. The writers talked about stuff they edited or implied, but would’ve made for more interesting storytelling if they didn’t leave it up to the audience imagination. They talk about a coat hanger abortion that was deleted per the insistence of the writers wives, but instead they did an alien fetal extraction instead with the drooling alien giving his “O-face” while Abby’s blood is seeping through her skirt. How was that less gross and disturbing? The Alien costume seemed to get worse as the film progressed. It might’ve looked better if they slathered it in KY, instead of a dry latex bodysuit and rubber mask.
The Device will appeal to X-Files fans and alien abduction story fanatics. The acting is fine, but there wasn’t enough special effects to keep me really interested in the film. The best parts are really in the last 30 minutes.
Acting: B
Story: C
Technical: C
Total Rating: C
Reviewed by: JM Willis
