Devil in the Flesh (1998)

Thanks for the memories!

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Good concept, poorly executed.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

A depressingly average variation on the FATAL ATTRACTION theme, this weak thriller never rises above the television origins. Every conceivable plot twist is unoriginal and boring, and the film never breaks from the typical mould of today's mindless rip-offs. Rose McGowan (SCREAM) herself is not too bad as the obsessed student, but the rest of the cast are an unmemorable bunch, especially the bland actor playing the teacher who is the root of McGowan's infatuations.After going through the expected motions, all this film has to offer us is a few inventive scenes amongst the rest of the trash. One involves McGowan gassing a dog to death, another impaling a would-be rapist on a skewer. There is some fun to be had from the banter between two detectives investigating the case as one spells out long words to the other, but this quickly becomes tiring.All we are left with is a boring, showy climax where McGowan doesn't even bite it, instead she is driven away in a police car after a staged fight scene where the outcome is incredibly obvious from the start (come on, as if the teacher's wife's life was really in danger...). DEARLY DEVOTED is yet another example of the unoriginality of today's film producers, who are unwilling to take risks and so simply churn out the same diluted rubbish film after film.

Devil in the Flesh is set in Los Angeles & starts as a fire destroys teenager Debbie Strand's (Rose McGowan) house, to make matters worse her mother was inside at the time & she was killed. Social services places Debbie with her strict & religious Grandmother Fiona (Peg Shirley), Debbie is sent to a new school too where she meets hunky creative writing teacher Peter Rinaldi (Alex McArthur) & falls in love with him although Rinaldi does not have the same feelings for Debbie. Being a bit of a psycho Debbie decides to get rid of her mean old Gran & uses her body to try to seduce Rinaldi but when that doesn't work Debbie has to use more devious & ever more sinister methods to get her man...Also quite commonly known under the alternate title Dearly Devoted this Fatal Attraction (1987) style wannabe was directed by Steve Cohen & in my humble opinion is absolutely terrible under any name, to say I really hated Devil in the Flesh is an understatement. The basic plot about a teenage whacked out stalker chick having a crush on a much older guy was already done in the Alicia Silverstone flick The Crush (1993) & Poison Ivy (1992) & all the main clichés are recycled to little effect here. There's the dressing in as little clothing as possible, breaking into his house, trying to break the guy & his girlfriend up & various other schemes which turn increasingly violent. The scripting is a mess, various subplots are started but never really come to fruition like the basketball game Rinaldi & a slack student play, the two cops investigating the fire just end up disappearing, a child abuse angle goes nowhere as well as the rivalry between Debbie & blonde bimbo Meegan. I also hated the character of Debbie who just felt unlikable as she kills a dog for no reason & comes across as a selfish uncaring bitch with no redeeming features. Nothing that is set-up in Devil in the Flesh ever pays off & a really weak climax where basically nothing happens doesn't help either, at over 90 minutes it more than outstays it's welcome & I can honestly say I was bored out of my skull by it & was considering playing some Tetris on my mobile phone but I decided to endure it to the end so never let it be said I never gave it a chance.Apparently Devil in the Flesh premiered on an obscure cable telly channel & that's about it was good for to be honest, there's no excitement or violence or much in the way of tension. Also I actually felt a little uncomfortable watching this at times since it's stated several times that Debbie is a minor yet she hardly wears any clothes, I guess the paedophiles out there might enjoy the really boring sequences of Debbie walking down the street flicking her hair or trying to look sexy while dressed in next to nothing while some terrible music plays on the soundtrack but I didn't.This looks like the drab made for telly flick that it is with a soft natural yet boring look about it. The acting isn't up to much here, even though she was playing a minor here Rose McGowan was actually twenty five when she filmed this. The rest of the cast features no-one of any note as far as I am aware.Devil in the Flesh is a film which I hated, I really did & it was just about everything about it. I will be generous & give it two stars out of ten because some of the girls are pretty hot but otherwise this is a stinker of the highest order as far as I am concerned. Followed by a sequel called Teacher's Pet (2000).

I hadn't seen this movie in the nearly 10 years since issued, and only caught it by accident. A friend's wife is a fan of Rose McGowan, and had recorded it. I saw it with them while visiting, and was frankly fascinated.The young lead actress whacks more people - family or romantic rivals - than Pesci and his cohorts in "Goodfellas," or the typical button-man in the Corleone family.The loopy, religiously-fanatical grandmother is beyond belief, even knowing that such religious nuts are out there. However, few could ever be this singularly-minded without a trace of humanity whatever. But most fascinating to me, after looking-up the lead actress, with whom I was completely unfamiliar, is her real-life versus this portrayal.Although a high-schooler here, with some admittedly great social problems, in actuality the actress was in her mid-20's, and then in a long-term relationship with, of all people, Marilyn Manson.Of course, actors frequently play characters younger or older, and different from their actual personas. In fact, this is perhaps the essence of "acting." However, in this instance, it stretches credibility beyond the limits (she's actually old enough to have completed high school, obtained a Ph.D. and already spent a couple of years in the workforce). But this simply adds to the fascination of this deliciously trashy presentation. The supporting characters add to the proceedings: the handsome jock pursuing her carries his football with him, and the insignias on his letter jacket would indicate an athletic prowess on the order of Jim Thorpe's - but he comes across like one of the nerds from "Happy Days," but with a more evidenced libido towards the flick's anti-heroine; the two detectives appearing throughout are amiable dunces, a quality not unknown for cops in this genre; and the teacher/hunk is somewhat laconic and a little clueless, also not an unknown quality among "Lifetime" leading men.Nonetheless, Rose deserves high praise and some sort of award for this portrayal. She displayed more diversity and skill with a wide variety of weaponry, and dispatched her targets with more efficiency, and Stallona did as Rambo, in "First Blood." And she made Sly's character seem almost restrained by comparison.

The Crush kept popping in my head when I watched this. Same ideas and everything, but overall, it was better. Although I didn't find it that thrilling. It seemed everything was predictable. Rose Mcgowan is one of the sexiest actresses I can think of. She did a better job in this movie than I would have expected. The part fits her perfectly (though Alicia Silverstone in The Crush was more believable as a psycho than Rose in this movie.) But she did kill a lot of people. I couldn't stop watching it. Rose is the reason why I watched this movie in the first place. I believe this movie is worth watching. It's creepy!