[Devour]
Plot:Revolves around a character named Jake Gray and his friends that have been playing a deadly game called "The Pathway", which eventually spirals out of control and threatens a worldwide epidemic of violence.

Cast:Jensen Ackles, Shannyn Sossamon, Dominique Swain, William Sadler, Teach Grant, Martin Cummins, Rob Stewart, R. Nelson Brown, Wanda Cannon, Jenn Griffin, Alan Ackles, Rob Allen, Tami DeSchutter, John Innes, Reg Tupper.

My Thoughts:Better than "Stay Alive".

Review:Ironically enough, "Stay Alive" came out one year after "Devour", which stars Shannyn Sossamon, Dominique Swain, and Jensen Ackles. And also ironically enough, both movies involve some bad shit going down after a group of young people get wrapped up in a game. Unlike in "Stay Alive", which involves a video game..."Devour" involves a computer game which is more based in reality than anything. It's more of a role playing deal, rather than a game with levels and stuff. The story concerns Jake Gray (Ackles), a college student who also works part time. His friend Conrad hips him to this game called "The Pathway", which Jake and his other friend Dakota (Swain), also get involved in.

The three ignore the warning signs however, the very important horror film warning signs that someone or something has bad intentions in store for you. For starters, the game site asks for Jakes social security number, and drivers license....yep, that's never a good thing. Especially when the site looks like something the devil would've dreamed up. Before all of this, Jake is having weird nightmares, which he is not sure if they're rooted in reality. As the film moves along, Jake begins to learn the true meanings behind his dreams, as well as the "real" purpose of "The Pathway." Although cheesy at times, "Devour" is a good horror pic, with a strong story.

The film is like a chameleon also, sending the story in many different directions as it moves along, but ultimately ending up at one final destination. The movie doesn't go out of it's way to explain things to the viewer, which isn't really necessary considering the story is very easy to keep up with, even as it goes through it's clver and well-thought-out twists and turns. Shannyn Sossamon shows up in the film as Marisol, a mysterious tarot card reader, who Jake later turns to for help after he allows "The Pathway" to help him with an asshole boss who fires him from his work.

The events which follow shock and terrify Jake, who begins to suspect that while "The Pathway" claims to want to help him with his life problems, there's a more sinister underlying theme to the whole set up. Sossamon is as usual, like she is in everything else....totally hot in this film...but the writer makes the critical mistake of pulling the veil off of her characters role in the overall scheme of things a tad bit too early. Of most male viewers will be less concerned with how Sossamon fits into things, and will instead be spending their time wishing they were Ackles character, who as Marisol becomes more and more a part of his life, finds himself caught in a slight love triangle involving her and Dakota.

"Devour" does follow a few of the standard horror movie rules though, but follows them just long enough not to stamp out the viewers thirst for something original. After Jake gets deeper into "The Pathways" game...he starts receiving even worse visions, having worse nightmares, and seeing weird things such as demonic creatures, and illusions of self-mutilation and gruesome deaths. Which are where the films blood and gore step in, and while it doesn't overdo the blood and gore aspect, it dabbles in it just enough to make the proverbial grade. The performances are very decent as well. Ackles carries the film exceptionally well, and Swain and Sossamon do their parts as the two lead hotties of the pic.

Sossamon looks alot more comfortable in this movie than she did in "One Missed Call" where she looked absolutely miserable. "Devour's final act is a real trip, and a real doosey as it lays on the creepy themes, and twisted realities hardcore...before coming to a weird, yet clever and satisfactory conclusion. "Devour" is straight-to-dvd effort which should satisfy those who are fans of occult horror, which boasts twisted imagery, and a really darkcore story. While it's not as tightly written or chilling as the older occult films of the horror genre, it's a nice little new-age occult-horror gem which could make for a pretty exciting Saturday night rental.

Positives:Good dark and intriguing story, eerie themes and imagery, great performances, and a good ending.

Negatives:While clever, the ending was kind of unfair in a few ways, but that's only a minor complaint.

Overall:Likeable indie horror effort.





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