I'm not really an expert on obscure Satanic games, but I never expected them to come with so many pointless flashbacks/flash-forwards. I mean, I get it: the dude has weird visions. Or maybe I don't get it, that's fine too because to be honest it doesn't seem all that important anyway. This is sort of a cross between an average teen horror movie and a psychological thriller, and it wouldn't have been a bad thing if they had merely picked one of the above. I guess the movie does stay interesting against all odds, but it's so uneven and filled with characters you don't give a crap about. To top that of the deaths are mostly implied rather than shown, so you don't even get the fulfillment of watching these nameless, faceless nobodies meet their demise. Regardless of that, the movie is still watchable, if not just for the pretty intriguing ending.

According to most of the reviews for this movie, I thought it was going to be cheesy and lame. Boy was I surprised, Jensen Ackles did a great job, Shannyn Sossamon is always a pleasure to watch and Dominique Swain was trippy good. I also enjoyed the supporting cast-it's always fascinating to watch William Sadler-he constantly holds your attention, no matter what he's in or what role he plays. It's pretty neat to see that Jensen Ackles Dad, Alan Ackles, was also in this movie...I thought the story line was pretty good, and I really liked how the movie ended. Most movies of this genre end on a crappy note, this one didn't.

Devour feels like several movies have been thrown into a blender by writers Adam and Seth Gross, and then wolfed down by director David Winkler, only partially digested, and finally excreted onto the screen; some of the original ingredients are still identifiable, but on the whole, it's just one big stinky mess.Part The Omen, part Brainscan, Part FeardotCom, and part Rosemary's Baby, the Gross's screenplay sees high school student Jake Gray (Jensen Ackles) experiencing hellish waking nightmares after his pals Conrad (Teach Grant) and Dakota (the perfectly toned Dominique Swain) sign him up for an online game called 'The Pathway'. To cut a long and very confusing story short, the game is controlled by the devil herself (yes, she's a woman, just as I suspected), who is searching the world for her missing son.No prizes for guessing who turns out to be the spawn of Satan...Decent acting from its young (but perhaps not young enough) cast, the odd gruesome moment, and a gratuitous sex scene between Ackles and a fully clothed Swain (what, no nudity?) cannot help Devour from being a disappointment; and with a final comment from Jake which suggests that the whole devil thing might have been a figment of his twisted imagination, it's hard to see this film garnering praise from anyone other than fans of its lead actor.

The movie 'Devour' offers nothing new in terms of substance. Yet the reason it makes the rehashed chills seem refreshing is that the director David Winkler manages to energize the plot with a decent pace of a thriller and the above average effects. A key factor for somewhat liking the movie is also the presence of Jensen Ackles, he has great looks and acts fairly well too, he is certainly a newcomer to watch out for. The other members of the cast also fit into the small suburban campus milieu. Without giving away the plot, I would like to say that the movie manages to scare and at the same time it isn't just a series of mindless screams and gore. The music and the cinematography suit the mood perfectly. I also liked the jump-cuts and the editing finesse that brings an ill-at-ease kind of tension all through.