Devon, on Screambox

If you know smart people, you write about smart people. If you are familiar with the associates of Jenni Farley, a.k.a. “JWoww” on The Jersey Shore, it rather follows that her characters make spectacularly bad decisions. To make matters worse, they appear in a horror movie. The found footage sub-genre finds its weakest premise yet in director-screenwriter-executive producer Farley’s Devon, which premieres tomorrow on Screambox.

First of all, Farley earns some credit for playing it straight. There is no big hair or cringy horniness in Devon. However, the internal logic is a mess. Supposedly, the well-heeled parents of the missing Devon (now 34 years of age, if still alive), contacted five desperate people, asking them to investigate and document (with the video cameras recording the footage to be found at a later date) the abandoned asylum where she was once committed.

Savvy viewers might be wondering what the anonymous parents hope to find in the crumbling, graffiti-tarred building and why didn’t they hire professional investigators in the first place? However, the not-so Fab Five never thought to ask. They just need money, for reasons that will mostly be revealed. As a result, Kat Rose, Jared Stevens, and Carly Carmichael are somewhat better delineated as characters than those in your average ultra-low budget found footage movie.

Allison Roberts, who we see struggling to explain herself during her in media res police interview, is kept mysterious for the sake of third acts surprises. That leaves William Edwards, whose shticky over-the-top diva behavior gets to be a lot.

It would wildly over-praise Devon to describe it as an even-lower-budget knock-off of Grave Encounters. The performances are often rather awkward and the premise is wafer-thin. Still, there is some eerie sound design that sets the right tone. Farley also scored a coup by filming in real-life Pennhurst Asylum, which has a reputation among reality TV show ghost-hunters as one of the most haunted places in America.

Devon is far from great, but it still might surpass expectations. However, some fans might be disappointed it lacks the naughty camp of a horror parody like Jersey Shore Massacre, also executive-produced by Farley. The design team whipped up some unhealthy-looking clutter, but it all other respects, Devon hardly makes much impression. Not enough to recommend, it starts streaming tomorrow (11/26) on Screambox.