Ever heard of Centralia? It’s that creepy Pennsylvania town where a coal mine fire has been burning underground since the sixties. The ground literally smokes. It’s the real-life inspiration for Silent Hill, and honestly, it’s the perfect setup for a creature feature. That brings us to The Devil Below movie, a 2021 flick that takes that "fire in the earth" concept and asks: what if the smoke isn't just sulfur? What if something is actually living down there?
It’s weirdly divisive. Some people call it a generic subterranean thriller, while others (mostly the hardcore Shudder crowd) appreciate it for what it is: a gritty, mean-spirited monster movie that doesn't overthink the science. It stars Alicia Sanz and Adan Canto, following a group of researchers who venture into a place called Shookum Hills. They think they’re looking for a geological anomaly. They’re wrong.
Basically, they find out why the town was erased from the maps.
What Actually Happens in The Devil Below Movie?
Directed by Bradley Parker—who you might know as the guy behind Chernobyl Diaries—the film leans heavily into that "lost expedition" trope. You've got Arianne (Sanz), a tough-as-nails guide who is essentially the "final girl" archetype but with more tactical gear. She’s hired by a team of scientists to find a sinkhole in the Appalachian wild.
The tension builds pretty well at first. You get these wide, sweeping shots of the forest that make the characters look tiny and vulnerable. Once they reach the site, things get messy fast. They find a massive, electrified fence surrounding a hole in the ground. Now, if you see a giant fence designed to keep something in rather than out, you usually turn around. These guys? They go down.
The "devils" themselves are interesting. They aren't ghosts or demons in the biblical sense. They’re more like biological nightmares—pale, quadrupedal predators that have evolved in the dark. If you liked the monsters in The Descent, these will feel familiar, though they have a more insectoid, chitinous vibe.
✨ Don't miss: Nicolas Cage Car Movie: Why Gone in 60 Seconds Still Owns the Road
The Centralia Connection and Real-World Inspiration
The coolest part about The Devil Below movie is how it anchors its fiction in reality. The town of Shookum Hills is a stand-in for Centralia. In the film, the government supposedly covered up the disaster not because of the fire, but because the fire opened up "Schisms" to an underground ecosystem.
Honestly, the movie thrives when it focuses on this lore. There’s a scene where they encounter a local (played by the always-reliable Will Patton) who knows exactly what’s happening. Patton brings that gravitas that makes you believe the crazy stuff he’s saying. He explains that the town wasn't abandoned; it was sacrificed.
Why the Critics Were Split
Look, this isn't Hereditary. It's a B-movie with an A-movie budget for creature effects.
- The Pacing: It moves fast. Maybe too fast for some. You don't get a ton of character development before the screaming starts.
- The Cinematography: It’s dark. Like, Game of Thrones Season 8 dark. You really have to watch this in a blacked-out room to see the creature designs properly.
- The Logic: Some character choices are... questionable. Why would you stand right next to a smoking hole in the ground? For the plot, I guess.
Despite the 7% or so it might have hovered around on some review sites initially, the film found a massive second life on streaming services like Shudder and Netflix. It hits that specific itch for people who want to see a small group of people get picked off one by one in a claustrophobic environment.
Survival Horror Tropes That Actually Work
Arianne isn't your typical damsel. She’s a professional. Seeing her use climbing gear and tactical awareness to fight back against the creatures is satisfying. The film avoids the "tripping over a twig" trope for her, which is refreshing.
The sound design is another highlight. Those clicks and screeches the monsters make? Genuine nightmare fuel. It uses "the unseen" effectively for the first forty minutes. You see a shadow. You hear a rock fall. You see a thermal camera feed glitch out. It builds an atmosphere of dread that pays off when the gore finally kicks in.
Technical Specs and Production Value
For a movie that didn't have a massive theatrical rollout, the VFX are surprisingly solid. They used a mix of practical suits and digital enhancement. This gives the monsters a weight that pure CGI usually lacks. When a creature slams into a car, it feels heavy.
Bradley Parker’s experience with Chernobyl Diaries shows here. He’s good at making "forbidden zones" feel oppressive. The color palette is all muted greys, deep greens, and fiery oranges. It feels dirty. It feels like coal dust is getting in your lungs just watching it.
Where to Watch It Now
Currently, The Devil Below movie (sometimes titled Shookum Hills in certain regions) is available on various VOD platforms. It’s a frequent flyer on Shudder. If you’re a fan of "cave horror" or "creature features," it’s a solid Friday night watch.
Getting the Most Out of Your Horror Binge
If you're planning to sit down with this one, do yourself a favor: don't look for a deep metaphorical subtext about grief or trauma. A lot of modern horror tries to be "elevated." This movie just wants to show you some monsters eating scientists. There’s a certain honesty in that.
To really appreciate the craft, watch it back-to-back with The Descent or As Above, So Below. It fits perfectly into that subgenre of "places humans were never meant to go."
🔗 Read more: Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar Movie: What Most People Get Wrong About His Big Win
Actionable Steps for the Horror Fan:
- Check your settings: If you're streaming, turn up your brightness and contrast. This film uses deep blacks that can get "crushed" on lower-end screens, making the action hard to follow.
- Research the real Centralia: Before watching, look up the history of the Pennsylvania mine fire. It makes the movie’s premise feel much more grounded and eerie.
- Watch for the Will Patton scenes: He gives the best performance in the film. Pay attention to his dialogue—it’s where the best bits of world-building are hidden.
- Pair it with similar media: If you enjoy the vibe, check out the game Silent Hill or the book The Descent by Jeff Long (which is different from the movie but shares the subterranean horror theme).
The movie ends on a note that suggests a much larger world than we see in the 90-minute runtime. It leaves the door open for more, even if we never get a sequel. It’s a snapshot of a nightmare, a brief glimpse into a world where the ground beneath our feet is far more populated than we’d like to believe.
Stop worrying about the Rotten Tomatoes score and just enjoy the creature designs. Sometimes, a well-executed monster is all you really need for a good time.