dylanpcrawford

The Devil Conspiracy has a lovably insane plot, great costume design and practical effects, and it has the cinematography and CGI of a modern Marvel movie while only being made on a budget of $5 million. Sadly, the movie is held back by bad writing, boring characters, and flat villains. It tries too hard to be like its quippy action movie counterparts rather than form its own identity. All of this is wrapped up with incredibly stale and overlong second and third acts, and a very unsatisfying ending. I think this movie was made by a lot of talented people who will go on to make great movies, this just isn't one.

Being a remake of a bad but beloved movie from the 1990s, the film falls into the pit of being too different for fans of the original to enjoy, but too nostalgia-pandering for newcomers to get attached. Newcomers will be disappointed by the concepts that didn't work in the 1990 film now being regurgitated in 2023, and long-time fans will be outraged by the few new directions the film actually takes. One good thing that can be said about the film however is just how good it looks, at least during the first act. Shot on a film-style digital camera, the movie has noticeable film grain to elicit memories of the original's look. This combined with appealing colors and neatly composed shots, as well as a lot of reflective surfaces, leads the move to look very pleasing and dreamlike. Sadly once the actual house party begins, it seems like the shots become a little too cluttered for the camera to keep up, and it loses a lot of that visual flair. Story-wise, the film presents a brand new concept that the original movie was sorely lacking: stakes. The main characters in this film actually face obstacles and possible consequences along their journey, unlike the original in which the main character accomplishes all of his goals without issue and still has thirty minutes of runtime to spare. The film's main duo invites multiple celebrity guests to the party, each more notable than the last. While some viewers may roll their eyes at the idea of using celebrity cameos as a main source of jokes, most of the celebs who appear are presented as being either awful people or completely mentally unhinged, which would usually get a chuckle out of me. Probably the most divisive aspect of the film (and easily my favorite part) is the third act that is so completely insane that it makes the movie feel like a Regular Show episode. Said third act was such an unexpected and funny switch-up that it saved this movie from being a five for me. Sadly however, the biggest problem with House Party is that it's just not very funny.