I love movies about the Devil. As a villain, the Devil just has so much potential to be interesting and thought-provoking.

So, with my adoration of the evil one, I went to “Devil” with hope that the movie would entertain and live up to some of the cooler devil roles.

As I frequently am, I was disappointed.

I didn’t expect the movie to really be amazing, but it hardly even tried to be devious. You see, to me, the Devil is scheming and manipulative and really doesn’t directly influence the world of man — he influences others to do his dirty work.

This was the first failure in “Devil,” as the Devil is right down in it and murders do occur; the Devil is supposed to manipulate people into his dastardly deeds. Granted, it might not really be the Devil doing the devilish deeds, but it still failed to live up to my standards for the Father of Lies.

Ignoring my personal outlook, I’ll go into the little bits.

The acting was OK. Nothing spectacular, but nothing bad. The characters were real enough to be above soap-opera level, so I’ll give the movie the benefit of being tolerable.

The dialogue was actually pretty good — a bit dull, but then, five people in an elevator and some cops outside can only be so interesting. All-in-all, I can’t complain too much about how the conversations played out and the cadence in which they were written.

The directing wasn’t bad either. Very simple, with no elaborate moves or ideas outside the opening sequence — all upside-down, which worked for building up the topsy-turvy realm of evil’s interaction. The simple, yet effective way the camera gave you each scene was pretty personable. At no point — or at least not without later explanation — could an audience member have any question as to where the characters were, what was going on or what might have occurred. It was straightforward and had a good flow.

The actual story wasn’t bad either. It was an old wive’s tale, particularly since there really is a narrator explaining part of the story as his mother told him.

My problem with the story is, it didn’t go far enough. A beautiful, simplistic story can win Oscars and move an audience to emotional heights. “Devil” was lacking something. From what I can tell, it might have been moving if the slight bits of horror had been ignored some for more foreboding and fright-inducing scenes.

The characters are scared as they are trapped in a elevator with someone or something sinister. This is all that is needed to create psychological trauma of the most interesting kind. The actors begin into the fright, and I think the director tried to keep it going, but it just didn’t pan out; that spine-tingling feeling from screen to auditorium seat just didn’t happen.

Some scary/thriller movies get audience members with overdone gore or sudden noises and characters jumping out. “Devil” tried something like that by turning out the lights in the elevator frequently. The problem, again, was that nothing carried the darkness.

Darkness is scary. Deprivation of one of our prime senses, sight, can send anyone scurrying for the bedsheets. “Devil” didn’t leave you in wonder; it just sorta left you sitting in a dim theater waiting to see what happened to the characters, but not with bated breath.

It really comes down to a simple lack of something. What that is, I can’t rightly place my finger on; with time I could, but it isn’t worth the effort right now. Basically “Devil” could have been something great, but the current incarnation is more like an episode of “Tales from the Crypt” than a Hollywood success.

Or maybe I just have too much adoration for the Prince of Darkness and dislike when he doesn’t receive his due.