The Devil Inside

Editing and Possession

As the scene builds up, the straight cuts become more common and much faster, building up suspense for the audience and creating a feel of urgency. The straight cuts between the scene and the CCTV view allows the audience to follow the scene smoothly and understand what is happening, whilst adding more depth.

The straight cuts between characters and use of zoom show the growing tension and emotion in the daughter, as she has to sit and encounter her mother in this state. 

Cuts in the skin, such as religious symbols (the cross on the inside of the lip.) Evil demon causing the possession, contrasts to the pure spirit that is associated with the cross (jesus etc.) Etchings on the wrist, 'connecting the dots', shows she is a demonic product of the evil that has over-taken her. They show the character has no control over themselves, which is frightening to the audience and links to the horror genre. 

"Its against God's will you know" again is another reference to religion, which are seen throughout the film. Religion is very common as there is the view that religious beliefs or rituals (such as exorcisms) will get rid of the demonic power possessing a character.

Changing off the voice and strange behavior also indicates that the character has been overtaken. The woman screaming in daughters face suddenly is an example of this, it also scares the audience, linking directly to the genre. Also the incoherent mumbling at the beginning also shows this.

Flexibility and un-natural body positions are also very common in films that feature possession. These are particularly gruesome visually, and create a very disturbing and tense nature for the audience, adding to the horror genre.

The fact that the women who is possessed by the demonic power is locked up in a mental ward highlights the common controversy between possession and the mentally ill.

Films about possessions tend to hold a lot of un-natural elements, for example the wind suddenly blowing. This is extremely disturbing to the audience as it is unrealistic, but at the same time not completely absurd and so creates uneasy feelings. 

Within films that mainly focus on demonic possession, it does not follow the same generic 'character storyline' that most horror films do. It does not act upon the 'sweet, virgin girl survives and all her reckless friends do not.' The demonic possessions appear 'random' in a way, and can happen to any character, The demon in this film jumps between characters at different points (mainly near the end.)