{"id":5683,"date":"2018-07-10T08:27:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T15:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5659"},"modified":"2018-07-10T08:27:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T15:27:52","slug":"review-the-devils-doorway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=5683","title":{"rendered":"Review: THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

As scary as certain moments in director Aislinn Clarke\u2019s fine horror film \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway\u201d are, nothing is scarier than the truth of the Magdalene laundries. They were a real horror show.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Inspired by stories of the institutions that were run on orders from the Catholic Church, \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway\u201d is set in a Magdalene laundry, a place in Ireland that housed what were referred to as \u201cfallen women.\u201d The film begins with several paragraphs explaining that the souls imprisoned there were often branded prostitutes and accused of immoral acts.<\/p>\n

\"\"When a statue of the Virgin Mary has been discovered in the laundry weeping blood, Father Thomas Riley (Lalor Roddy) and the younger Father John Thornton (Ciaran Flynn) are dispatched by the Vatican to investigate. Thornton brings along with him filmmaking gear including a 16mm movie camera on which to document everything. And to that end, Thornton and Riley begin production of a documentary of sorts. But what they discover is a disturbing combination of the supernatural and the horribly concrete. The question is whether what is thought to be demonic forces are in reality performing a public service.<\/p>\n

\"\"Calling \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway\u201d a found footage film does it a disservice. While the movie is composed of clips assembled after-the-fact (as if later discovered), it is more of a faux documentary in shape. Narrated primarily by Riley, we learn about his religious philosophy and, frankly, why he\u2019d be chosen by the Church to investigate this claim of a miracle. Riley explains that he believes in God, but God isn\u2019t everywhere.<\/p>\n

Riley encourages the naive Thornton to look for God in the terrible institution. And to that end, the filmmaker-in-training takes his camera and attempts to do just that. He\u2019s shut down, of course, by secretive nuns led by the imposing Mother Superior (Helena Bereen).<\/p>\n

\"\"Is it a reasonable conclusion that God is in that place? Riley answers the question with a definite \u201cno.\u201d He\u2019s a skeptic, one that\u2019s been around and seen a great many bad things in his life. And as the cynical Riley, actor Roddy conveys a real sense of world-weary experience. It\u2019s a terrific performance and one reminiscent of the late Jason Miller who played the besieged Father Karras in the \u201cThe Exorcist.\u201d Make no mistake, filmmaker Clarke well knows that by casting the angular Roddy they are clearly winking at Friedkin\u2019s classic.<\/p>\n

There are moments of sheer terror in \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway.\u201d But what I found most interesting about the film were the seemingly banal conversations that Riley has with his younger associate. Riley is educating the youth, while at the same time, not trying to restrain his curiosity. And when Riley pontificates plainly about existential questions, you want to know more about him and the things he\u2019s seen in his life. He\u2019s a simple guy on the surface, but he speaks Greek and casts himself headfirst into a dangerous situation.<\/p>\n

\"\"As the sense of foreboding becomes ever more intense, Riley appears to accept the fate that he\u2019s been dealt. When he confronts Mother Superior, he knows that he\u2019s putting himself at risk. And when Riley attempts to do the right thing for one girl he finds chained in a subterranean dungeon of sorts, he knows that God isn\u2019t going to save him, Thornton, the girl, or any of their souls. It\u2019s really chilling.<\/p>\n

The 16mm visual scope (an approximate 4:3 aspect ratio) is a risky choice by Clarke, whose marvelous short film \u201cChilder\u201d was an exquisitely shot artistic horror entry. By comparison, \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway\u201d is ugly, almost low resolution, and dirty. But this is all intentional, and the choice, after a short period of adjustment, makes complete sense, placing you in the place and time wonderfully. You begin to feel the grime of the place, as the camera documents the investigation without giving entirely into the nauseating \u201cBlair Witch\u201d shaky cam.<\/p>\n

\"\"The other masterful choice is setting the \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Doorway\u201d in a Magdalene laundry. I remember, years ago, speaking with Peter Mullan about his excellent film \u201cThe Magdalene Sisters.\u201d Mullan had been inspired to write and ultimately make the movie by a chance, late night, viewing of a documentary about the institutions. And he also recounted watching footage of one of the laundries where he believed the priest was directing the girls to act a certain way. I observed then that Mullan\u2019s film seemed like a psychological horror movie. The real horror is the reality of the girls wrongfully called \u201cfallen women.\u201d Sometimes, in the name of God, the other guy takes over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Irish filmmaker Aislinn Clarke explores the Magdalene horror.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[526,527,528,105,529,530,531,532,533],"class_list":["post-5683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-aislinn-clarke","tag-ciaran-flynn","tag-helena-bereen","tag-horror","tag-lalor-roddy","tag-laundry","tag-magdalene","tag-peter-mullan","tag-the-devils-doorway","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}