This is a found footage film from 1960 Ireland and not very convincing. Father Thomas and Father John are investigating an alleged miracle of a weeping virgin statue. Father Thomas is a skeptic while Father John films everything. The church houses women who are crazy or strays. They are not treated well by the sisters.

The script feeds off old Protestant prejudices and lies that the Catholic Church are secret Satan worshipers and there is a tunnel between the priest and nuns quarters where the babies are buried.

The film is not grainy as one would expect from 1960 and it can film in dim lighting, which would normally end up black or gray. The time was given as 8:46 PM...which was not a real time before digital clocks. It should have been, "about quarter to nine."

I found the film boring, tedious with bad camera angles for realism I didn't feel

1 F-bomb.

I wasn't even aware of The Devil's Doorway until someone linked me the trailer on social media. It looked truly terrible but I took that as a recommendation and gave it a go. The film was really oddly hard to get hold of, but upon viewing it I prepared for the worst as the trailer was pretty dire.

It tells the story of two priests who are sent to investigate a statue crying tears of blood in a home for "Broken women". You know the drill, weird things happen and everything goes to hell.

Irish made this is yet another cliched demonic film with a messy plot and more questions provided than answers. We've seen this before, but done considerably better.

Mostly shot in the found footage format so therefore meant we don't see much and experience a whole lot of "Shaky cam". That didn't do the already mediocre concept any favours.

Coherent but messy.

The Good:

The Bad:

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

If you listen very closely you can hear the exact moment the Priests heartbreaks upon being told there are no children there

Christians still think the pentagram has something to do with Satan

The idea sounded very interesting and creative, so there was enough to make one want to see it. The cover looked quite eerie. So saw 'The Devil's Dooway' with genuine interest and wanting to at least sort of like it even if it had many problems.

Seeing it, well 'The Devil's Doorway" is far from perfect and is not great but it was much better than expected. The good things are noticeable and for found footage it is much better than most, one of the better ones actually. Having prepared myself to do that, that was disappointing. Liked the concept quite a good deal, the potential is not quite lived up to.

'The Devil's Doorway' at least didn't insult my intelligence. It at least didn't make me angry watching it.

Surprisingly, it looks great. The setting is atmospherically spooky and pleasing to look at and the camera work was surprisingly accomplished-looking and clever, some nice techniques and angles here rather than looking amateurish and making one physically ill like most found footage horrors do. The editing also has atmosphere. The sound is creepy and not obvious or intrusive.

Also a nice surprise was the acting. This aspect, often one of the noticeably worst assets, was well above average. the best of it good even. There is engagement with the drama, they all look comfortable and it doesn't get unsubtle. The film starts off intriguingly and there are unsettlingly tense, creepy and suspenseful moments early on.

Later on however, the tension, creepiness and suspense dissipates and the latter stages sadly run out of steam. It becomes dull and predictable, as well as ridiculous and things don't make sense. The ending felt anti-climactic.

Dialogue is also quite ropy, with some awkwardness and cheese and parts are a little heavy-handed. The effects have instances where they do look under-budgeted and hasty-looking, not quite gelling with everything else.

Altogether, better than expected but flawed. 5/10 Bethany Cox