I Trapped the Devil is a horror film written and directed by Josh Lobo (in his directorial and writing debut), a film whose title sums up the entire premise. Upon watching this I was hit with severe deja-vu, questioning if I had somehow already watched the film before. I then realised that this shares an almost identical storyline with 2015's Pod. In that one, a man and a woman head to a remote house to check up on a brother who has had mental health problems in the past, they discover that he has apparently captured an alien and has it locked up in the basement, which leads to the visitors thinking he has gone crazy. Keep that synopsis in mind.
Matt (AJ Bowen - You're Next, The Signal) and his wife, Karen (Susan Burke - Southbound) turn up unannounced at the remote house of Matt's brother Steve (Scott Poythress - The Signal) to check up on him. Steve has had mental health problems in the past leading to an estrangement. They discover the man in a state of paranoia, and he eventually confesses to the couple a dark secret, that locked up in the basement he has allegedly trapped the devil. Obviously believing Steve to be ill, the two try to work out what to do, thinking that the man's claims cannot possibly be true.
I'm sure the similarities with the plot between those two films were purely coincidental but it did lead to a confusing opening for me, distracted as to whether I had already seen this. In terms of the plot itself, that lends itself more to the classic The Twilight Zone episode from 1960, The Howling Man, which had a similar set up of a man being told that the person locked up in a cell was actually the devil. I Trapped the Devil is an indie horror that I felt pulled its punches a little too early. The person trapped in the cellar (voiced by Chris Sullivan - Stranger Things) gets very little screen time, in fact they only get a couple of sentences of dialogue. Even that though was enough for me to come to a conclusion due to distortion effects used. With the set lit by red light, these basement scenes were some of the more effective moments, for a locked door it sure had an ominous feel to it.
The film is quite slow moving, with not much really happening once the initial set-up has been finished with. It leads to the three protagonists walking around the home, every now and again having small conversations with each other. Steve has the more interesting lines, going into depth his reasoning that he has actually trapped the devil, clearly disturbed, but whether by what he has discovered, or due to something else it isn't stated. Matt and Karen felt more aimless as characters. Initially it is Matt who is willing to humour Steve's assertion, while Karen wants nothing to do with the idea. There is a shift over the course of the movie for their behaviour to switch. Aside from waiting for the basement reveal, there is also the knowledge that at some point the police will turn up, as was shown in the prologue that is set after the main events of the film. The horror never really hit home for me, Steve is troubled by hallucinations, seeing his dead wife in the static of a TV screen, the other two only have the man's erratic behaviour to deal with.
The opening third of the movie was the best in my opinion, with it slowing down more in the middle. The idea was a fun one to explore, but with the potential real antagonist locked up downstairs, there wasn't much for the trio to do other than mooch around the house, leading to a slow moving horror. This did have an entertaining set-up, good use of lighting, and a competent cast so it had some good things going for it. I Trapped the Devil can currently be streamed on Shudder.
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