The Devil’s Tomb

The Devil’s Tomb

Year: 2009

Runtime: 90 mins

Language: English

Director: Jason Connery

HorrorScience FictionActionThrillerMonsters aliens sci-fi and the apocalypse

An ancient evil sealed for two millennia is suddenly uncovered. Captain Mack commands an elite military team sent to locate a missing scientist, only to encounter a malevolent force hidden beneath the Middle Eastern desert. This otherworldly menace was never meant to be released.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline – The Devil’s Tomb (2009)

Trace every key event in The Devil’s Tomb (2009) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Team briefed and deploy to desert dig

An elite Special Ops team led by Captain Mack is dispatched by Dr. Elissa Cardell to rescue her father, scientist Lee Wesley, from a desert archaeological dig. They enter the site and encounter a priest covered in boils, which Doc Harrington sedates to keep moving. The mission is framed as a rescue, but tension and unease about what lies beneath begin to mount.

Middle Eastern desert dig site
2

Elevator descent and Gehenna hint

Click activates the dig site's elevator and discovers a reference to the Gehenna Project. Cardell denies knowledge of the project, sowing mistrust about the deeper purpose of the mission. Mack orders Nickels to stay on the surface to fix communications and supervise the priest while the rest descend.

Dig site elevator shaft
3

Underground encounter and Duncan's attack

The team is ambushed by Duncan, a boils-marked scientist, who attacks with acidic spit and is shot in the chest. Doc Harrington treats Duncan's wound but experiences a hallucination of her sister blaming her for her death. Duncan and Doc disappear, forcing the team to split up and search the underground corridors.

Underground chambers of the dig site
4

Duncan's sealed room and Father Fulton's reveal

Duncan returns and tries to force open a sealed room, then attacks the team until they shoot him dead. Father Fulton suddenly opens the room from inside and explains that Doc has likely been taken to the temple. He begins guiding the group, subduing Nickels with the same acidic goo along the way.

Temple complex / sealed room area
5

Upper floor rescue and explosive collapse

On the upper floor, Doc is found locked in a room. Click attempts to free her but is attacked by a possessed scientist. Hammer appears to rescue Click, and the escalating danger forces Hammer to collapse the passage with explosives.

Upper floor of the dig site
6

Temple lore and Nephilim possession begins

Fulton and Cardell reveal that the temple is one of many tombs built by God to imprison the malevolent Nephilim, and that a possessed inhabitant has infiltrated the team. The team must confront that an ancient power now inhabits some of them and controls their actions. The stakes are framed as a supernatural possession rather than a simple mission.

Temple complex
7

Yoshi's possession of Doc and the chaos it triggers

Yoshi's hallucination leads to the possession of Doc, who seduces and possesses her. Doc then attacks Hammer, while Hicks fires to prevent Hammer from shooting Doc, allowing Doc to escape. In the ensuing chaos, Hicks is killed by Yoshi and Doc.

Temple corridors
8

Gehenna countdown and evacuation begins

Hammer returns to report what he saw, and Fulton reveals that the Gehenna Project is a self-destruct protocol activated with Cardell's inadvertent help, giving the team only fifteen minutes to evacuate. The temple doors begin to close, forcing Mack, Cardell, and Click to race for the elevator while Hammer sacrifices himself by triggering grenades to hold back the attackers. Fulton reaches the elevator but is killed by Doc as he attempts to escape.

Temple interior and elevator area
9

Wesley possession and final confrontation

At the temple area near where they encountered Duncan, Mack, Cardell, and Click locate Wesley, who is possessed but lacks the telltale boils. Doc and the now-possessed Nickels attack the remaining team, creating a deadly confrontation. Click is killed, and Mack uses an explosive barrel to kill Doc and disable Wesley. Cardell then embraces the Nephilim by taking it into herself and refuses to leave with Mack.

Temple vicinity
10

Escape and aftermath

Mack escapes the dig site seconds before the explosion and is retrieved by helicopter. Haunted by memories of his former mentor Blakeney, whom he was ordered to kill, he finally accepts a new purpose as a soldier in the ancient war between God and the Nephilim.

Dig site exit / helicopter pickup

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 09:23

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Devil’s Tomb

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