By Sreejith Kamalanayanan
Found-footage horror became a thing probably after that massive sleeper hit called The Blair Witch Project (1999). A slew of films followed that flaunted intentional fuzzy images and shaky camera movements: Paranormal Activity series, Cloverfield, The Visit are some of the notable entries in this league.
Due to the over-abundance of the found-footage horror movies after the phenomena called The Blair Witch Project (1999), the technique is now considered a fad. It doesn't interest us anymore but Cloverfield and The Visit were entertaining due to its strong story-telling quotient.
The Devil's Doorway is the latest offering from the found footage horror school. It is set in Northern Ireland, 1960. It sticks to the found-footage format to tell the tale of an investigation conducted by two priests to unveil the mystery behind a bleeding Virgin Mary at a Catholic Church asylum.
The two priests in The Devil's Doorway, Father Thomas Riley(Lalor Roddy) and Father John Thornton (Ciaran Flynn), are an odd couple. The former is similar to Lankester Merrin in the classic horror film The Exorcist (1971). Riley elder and a 'doubting Thomas'; he has seen it all. He needs proof for everything.
Riley believes that the miracle 'Virgin Mary that weeps blood' is a trick played by an inmate. He is gathering evidences to prove that it is not a miracle. Father John Thornton, on the other hand, is young, naive and curious. He is open to the idea of a miracle.
The two priests have been sent by the Vatican to the asylum with 16mm camera to record the evidences. Thornton is operating the camera. The 16mm camera is more of a story telling technique employed by the director Aislinn Clarke.
Critique of the Catholic Church
The Devil's Doorway begins by saying that "For over 200 years, the Catholic Church in Ireland held women in asylums called 'Magdalene laundries.'" Prostitutes, orphans, the abused, the mentally disabled and pregnant women were kept in these asylums.
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| The women of the Magdalene laundries |
More than the genre-specific scare factors, what really horrifies us is the depiction of the asylum. The asylum is a place where the Church dumps their garbage, a place to bury the sins of the church.
The asylum keeps women who are orphans, and pregnant teens. The Mother superior who runs the asylum gives an angry monologue to Riley that puts the Church in question. This is the most interesting part of The Devil's Doorway.
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| The Devil's Doorway examines the evils of the Catholic Church |
Riley says he is concerned about how the girls are treated at the asylum. She retorts by asking what about 'how you treat us'. She accuses the Church leaves all the dirty work to the women. She says the Church leave her to hide all its messes and cover it all up. She is pointing at the abuses meted out to the girls who live in the asylum.
The devil is, in fact, the Church. The Satan possesses the dirty works of the Church. The devil resides in the asylum, which is where the Church keeps its messes covered up. This must be the movie's message.
Aislinn Clarke : Women in Horror
More women directors are choosing the horror genre as a medium to express their personal vision. Anna Biller ( The Love Witch), Jennifer Kent (The Babodook), Dee McLachlan (Out of the Shadows) are some of the contemporary women directors working in the horror genre.
Though McLachlan's Out of the Shadows is a mediocre effort, the other two, Biller and Kent, are the finest examples for women in horror.
Clarke is billed by media as Northern Ireland's first female horror director. The Devil's Doorway is her feature film debut. But, her actual intention must have been to tell the evils of the Church rather than fabricate a story to scare people. The Devil's Doorway promises we can expect more from Clarke, if she decides to refine her technique more.
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