Review: Bedeviled

(imdb.com)

Netflix can be a great place to find horror films to watch. But, among the typical favorites there's a lot more that's better left unseen. Films that are so mediocre it feels weird that they'd even be offered. Thankfully, this isn't the case with the easy-to-watch addition of Bedeviled; a movie that, like Unfriended and Friend Request pairs modern technology with horror.

Very much like an extended short, this breezy teen horror flick follows a group of teens in the digital age who download an app similar to Siri. However, unlike the helpfulness of the Apple AI, Mr. Bedevil has far more sinister and tricky intentions. After the death of a friend, the group she was a part of soon attempts to figure out what happened and uncovers way more than they bargained for. Its pinnacle teen horror and definitely entertaining, if nothing else.

Bedeviled is directed and written by Abel and Burlee Vang (Sentient). It stars Saxon Sharbino (American Vandal) as Alice, Mitchell Edwards (Dismissed) as Cody, Alexis G. Zall (Ouija: Origin of Evil) as Nikki, Victory Van Tuyl (Castle) as Haley and Brandon Soo Hoo (Ender's Game) as Dan. Each of the young stars is fantastic playing young phone-obsessed, yet relatively in-depth teens.  The true standout is naturally the central character, played by Sharbino, but in whole these youthful stars seem willing and able to invest in the sometimes cheesy characters that come from teen horror in a way that is refreshing and determined.

Brimming with effective jump scares and camera work similar to films like The Conjuring, Bedeviled isn't the most original or ground breaking, but it is pure fun. And, while it does suffer from some of the glossy any-town finish that seems to always come with teen horror, the youth-charged film is able to surpass expectations and thus, excite audiences. There's just something compelling about this movie that gets more things right than it does wrong. It captures the issues of high school while also steering clear of straight up melodrama and even when it gets a little tedious, it's quickly wound back to a good scare.

Bedeviled won't win over non-horror fans. But, in a world saturated by some truly awful choices, genre enthusiasts should find plenty to hold them over. The cast is great in their roles, the main antagonist is creepy and the jump scares, while somewhat predicable, succeed through creepy voices, jittering limbs and aggressive chase. Bedeviled doesn't try to recreate the wheel but it certainly keeps it greasy-quick. 7 out 10.