Reviews: I Trapped the Devil (2019) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Crime, Demons
Subgenres: Holiday, Christmas, Christmas - Thriller
HellHorror’s review of I Trapped the Devil (2019) breaks down the plot, scares, cast performances, and its lasting impact on the horror genre.
I Trapped the Devil (2019), written and directed by Josh Lobo, is an atmospheric, slow-burn psychological horror that trades jump scares and gore for creeping dread and existential paranoia. With a minimalist setting and a small cast, the film explores the fragile line between belief and madness, drawing tension from what’s left unseen. It’s a smart concept that unfortunately falters in execution — rich in mood, but light on payoff.
I Trapped the Devil (2019) – Paranoia Behind a Locked Door
Plot, Themes, and Character Development
Set during Christmas, the story follows Matt and his wife Karen, who decide to visit Matt’s estranged brother Steve without warning. When they arrive at his dimly lit, paranoia-soaked house, they discover something terrifying: Steve claims to have trapped the Devil himself in his basement behind a locked door.
What unfolds is a psychological standoff. Is Steve delusional and dangerous? Or has he truly imprisoned a cosmic evil? The film plays with themes of grief, isolation, religious symbolism, and the human need for meaning, all wrapped in the chilling suggestion that the ultimate evil might be real — and very close by.
Steve, played with intense fragility by Scott Poythress, is the emotional center of the film. He’s grieving, obsessive, and terrifyingly convinced that he’s doing the world a service. Matt and Karen are more grounded, acting as audience stand-ins, trying to parse the truth from a haze of trauma and cryptic warnings. The character tension is rich, but the pacing slows their development to a crawl.
Acting and Cinematography
Scott Poythress gives a haunting performance as Steve, toeing the line between pitiful and menacing. His portrayal of a man on the edge makes you question everything, and his eyes alone do more work than most horror monologues. AJ Bowen (Matt) and Susan Burke (Karen) also provide grounded, subtle performances that balance Steve’s unraveling intensity.
Cinematographer Bryce Holden creates a visual atmosphere of claustrophobia and shadow, perfectly matching the film’s themes. The use of red lighting, tight interior shots, and unsettling static frames gives the house a dreamlike quality. It feels timeless — like reality is just slightly warped.
The film’s sound design is equally minimal but effective. Silence dominates, punctuated by muffled thuds from the basement or distorted radio static. It builds tension slowly, like an anxiety attack just waiting to peak.
Directing Style, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Josh Lobo, in his directorial debut, clearly draws influence from slow-burn auteurs like Ti West and Robert Eggers. His focus is on mood and ambiguity, not exposition or traditional horror payoffs. The premise is simple but eerie: a locked door, a man with a terrible claim, and a growing sense that something is very wrong.
That commitment to minimalism is admirable, but it also becomes the film’s Achilles’ heel. The pacing is deliberately slow, with long silences, repeated shots, and scenes that stretch without adding new information. For viewers craving momentum, the film can feel inert, especially in the middle third.
And while the setup is excellent, the ending is ambiguous to a fault — offering a conclusion that feels more like a whisper than a bang. It may leave some viewers satisfied with its restraint, while others may feel it doesn’t fully deliver on its haunting premise.
Strengths:
Strong, brooding atmosphere and use of lighting
Scott Poythress’s chilling performance
Clever premise that leaves room for philosophical horror
Tension built through suggestion, not shock
Slow-burn style that rewards patient viewers
Weaknesses:
Very slow pacing, especially in the second act
Lack of clear resolution may frustrate viewers
Minimal scares — more eerie than frightening
Sparse character development outside of Steve
Feels stretched, even with a short runtime
Final Verdict & Score: 6/10
I Trapped the Devil is a moody, minimalist horror film that works best as an unsettling thought experiment. It’s not designed to terrify, but to gnaw at your sense of certainty. While its pacing and ambiguity won’t be for everyone, its claustrophobic setting, eerie performance, and thematic weight make it a worthwhile entry for fans of psychological slow-burn horror.
Similar films like I Trapped the Devil can be found in demon movies sub-genre(s), check them out for more movies like I Trapped the Devil.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- I Trapped the Devil Rating Scores
- Our Score: 6/10
- Overall Score: 5.70/10
- IMDB: 4.8/10
- MetaCritic: 4.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 7.1/10
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