Review of May the Devil Take You

May The Devil Take You does owe a lot of its stylistic flourishes to the Evil Dead series. It is a cabin in the woods horror, with a creepy cellar, a body hopping demon and a lot of grunge and gore. However, the story-line by which the demon comes to inhabit the cabin's cellar is entirely based in lore from the movie's country of origin. The movie assumes the viewer understands enough of it to read between the lines in some scenes. The film has a cold open that lets the viewer know immediately what sort of threat is inhabiting the cabin, who called it there, and why. Fast forward in time and the man who decided 'comfortable enough to be able to afford a villa and part with a suitcase full of cash on a chance' was not wealthy enough for him seems to have lost everything. But why? It's up to his daughters and stepchildren to find out as they travel to the villa to see what they've inherited. Turns out what they've inherited is a demon who wants to collect a debt. Some of the best mood scares involve the household decor suddenly changing when someone evil passes close by, but there are jump scares aplenty in here too if that's your preference. The characters mostly make the best decisions available to them in a house that doesn't want them to leave, and also taking into account the mental and emotional baggage they brought in with them. I could have wished the heroine didn't pass out as often as she does but she makes up for it at the end with some clever badassery. I don't think it's the best cabin in the woods horror I've ever seen, but as an example of the genre it holds its own.