I saw the trailer for this and thought it would be the perfect way to blow time before dinner plans. I thought "oh cool, a Syfy channel original that's probably also secretly some kind of 'God's Not Dead' sermon-wrapped-in-a-movie. I love schlocky B-movies, and I was down for a bad time.
So wasn't I surprised when this movie is just like... pretty good??? The acting is not cringe or embarrassing like I was betting on, the SFX are not any worse than the worst Marvel SFX (Thor 2 anyone?), it's got some pretty gnarly action/gore, REALLY cool and original concepts, serviceable and not distracting music... What kind of B-Movie is this?? Even the sets were pretty good! The storyline is of course a bit ridiculous but it's also fun, and most importantly for movies in this lane, SALIENT. The story is like... ya know... cogent the whole time, which is refreshing for this kind of thing. I never felt lost, and I never felt bored.
Not to say it was all flawless or anything, there were a couple distracting establishing shots that were clearly someone's nephew messing around in Blender, some of the child-acting was a lil rough around the edges, a couple physical performances from minor characters/extras were a little less than convincing, but if you compare this to similar projects in its genre/budget, The Devil Conspiracy is basically the Citizen Kane of Tubi movies. I would be genuinely excited to see a higher budget sequel to this, and I'll definitely be on the lookout for Frankowski's next movie.
It has heart! It was clearly made with intention and care. Yes, at times it feels a little cheap, but it never ONCE feels lazy. Worth your time if you want a Supernatural Horror/Action movie.
