too much – but if your story is about the supernatural, eventually you're going to have to come up with something. The Devil Inside can’t." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune felt that the film "joins a long, woozy-camera parade of found-footage scare pictures, among them The Blair Witch Project, the Paranormal Activity films and certain wedding videos that won't go away." Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film "proves as scary and unsettling as a slab of devil's food cake – only considerably less satisfying. The New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis had a positive response to Suzan Crowley's acting and the scenes where the possessed is played by a contortionist, but considered that The Devil Inside was another foray into "a tediously exhausted subgenre that was already creatively tapped out when The Blair Witch Project spooked audiences more than a decade ago." The film's ending, in particular, came under heavy criticism. "Is it the worst movie ending of all time?" David Haglund asked in Slate, citing various negative audience reaction to that aspect of the film online. "What upset them even more than its abruptness", he suggested, "was the title immediately following it that urged audiences to visit a website to learn more. "[It's] a marketing twist that makes audiences feel taken advantage of," said Haglund. The writers defended themselves by saying that they knew the unconventional closure would draw criticism, but "felt authentic to us" as according to co-writer Matthew Peterman, "Sometimes real life doesn't follow a perfect structure. Things aren't always wrapped up and resolved when or how you'd like them to be. All of us enjoyed leaving things open ended. We thought it was visceral, we thought it was unique." Audiences then flooded the Internet with videos of furious reactions, and demanding refunds from Paramount Pictures. Some pointed out the website link being the worst addition, as they felt they paid admission to an incomplete film, and were rewarded with an ending website title card that did not work from opening night to now. Director William Brent Bell added that the title card directing to a website was added by Paramount, given they "thought it was kind of cool to continue the story on this website". Besides the preponderance of negative reviews, there were a few critics who gave the film a positive review. Steve Barton of Dread Central stated, "The Devil