Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Scott Poythress, A. J. Bowen, Susan Burke, Rowan Russell, John Marrott, Jocelin Donahue, Chris Sullivan, Aaron Larsen, Jack Vernon, Victoria Smith.
The Devil makes use of idle hands, but how many of us have ever thought of what we would do to the personification of evil if we found that we could capture and lock it away, if we could proclaim the worlds of immortality, I Trapped The Devil.
The issue with religion is that we are instructed to talk to God and yet are proclaimed as insane if we insist that God talks back, raised eyebrows lead to verbal scorn and then, as every dramatist since the dawn of civilisation understands, every artist cannot fail to portray, the metaphorical burning at the stake is but a signed confession away.
To have a conversation with God maybe considered heresy, however would the church in all its guises welcome the fact that you have managed to out-trick the Devil and managed to lock them away securely, surely the idea of caging the whisperer of lies would be celebrated, the Pope would certainly find it immensely pleasurable to see humanity freed from the shackles of evil and harm; and yet deep down we know if we were in the position of being able to prove that the liar was chained up, we too would be treated in the same vein, accused of lying, labelled insane, and even if the Devil was indeed locked up in our basement, could you take the risk of being wrong.
I Trapped The Devil feeds into that sense of insecurity that we feel when we know our gut feeling is warning us that someone is not right, that the vibe they give, whilst obviously, hopefully, not demonic, is still one that would embrace the chaos that comes when even the smallest acceptance of evil is allowed to prosper. It is worth remembering that there are those in society who allow evil to thrive and who would, if the possibility of the Devil being caught in a trap, not think twice about unlocking the cage and releasing the beast with a smile.
It is in this darkness that the film explores the idea of temptation, of offering the plausibility that someone has indeed managed to trap what they believe to be evil incarnate, and the choice that their nearest relatives have of believing them, or the scared voice coming from behind the door.
It depends on your version of horror, how you perceive the Devil, whether this film falls neatly into the realm of the genre, however, from a psychological viewpoint it is one Hell of a thriller, an appointment that each of us in turn are surely faced with; believing that evil can be tamed and defeated, or embracing and revelling in its magic, of having, as The Rolling Stones eloquently stated, sympathy for the Devil.
A glorious piece of Art House cinema, I Trapped The Devil is concise, terrifyingly agoraphobic film, one that deals honestly with the instability of the mind and the disbelief of evidence when presented to others. Dark and questioning, a film of questioning belief and dogma.
Ian D. Hall