Espectro

I had no idea what this movie was about, and I had never heard about it prior to stumbling upon it in Netflix whilst browsing the horror catalogue. I read the short synopsis for the movie and decided to give it a go.

"Espectro" (aka "Demon Inside") turned out to be a rather slow paced movie that was somewhat of a struggle for me to get through. And truth be told, then I did drift away and dozed off a couple of times throughout the course of the movie. It was a combination of the slow pace, the fact that very little of any interest happened throughout the entire movie, and also because the characters in the movie were one-dimensional and characters that very generic and rather pointless.

I am familiar with Paz Vega by name, but I don't recall seeing any of her previous movies. So I didn't really know what to expect from her acting.

It should be said that the cast in the movie were doing good enough jobs with their given roles and characters, but they had so very little to work with in terms of script and storyline.

"Espectro" wasn't a particularly scary or disturbing movie as it was more of a boring snoozefest. And lots of the things that did happen throughout the movie didn't really make much sense or have much of any interest as it unfolded on the screen.

I did manage to sit through the entire movie, although it was quite an ordeal. And from what I saw and managed to not sleep through, then I was not particularly impressed in any way. There was nothing scary about the movie, and the storyline actually didn't make much sense. "Espectro" is definitely not a movie that I will return to Watch a second time.

Slow, "deep wanna-be", pretentious, nonsensial, story is not explained properly. They were obviously bored to write a proper scenario. Jumps from scene to scene without any logic. Obviously another attempt to be "deep" failed massively.

This is a hard one to review without any kind of spoilers so let's talk about the reason i rated this movie higher than average. I like horror movies that give you something to think and not just jump-scare you over and over again. And this one has some really new ideas that go into this horror puzzle. There are many different aspects in the main story and the characters that are not that common. I like the kind of craziness and claustrophobic feelings that some scenes of this movie give you. Maybe the story is not enough for a long movie and could have been better for a short-movie, but for me it worked. It wasn't very scary, but it gave me this uncomfortable feeling of not getting the whole puzzle together even though the movie gives you enough clues. I would say don't expect a highly shocking film, but open your mind for a good story that basically takes place in one apartment.

'Demon Inside' drew me into seeing it, with a cool poster/cover, an intriguing and quite creative premise and as someone with a general appreciation for horror. That it was low-budget, which from frequent personal experience is rarely a good sign due to that there are so many poor ones out there, made me though apprehensive.

It is sadly however yet another film seen recently, hence some reiteration because the exact same strengths and flaws are here present in those films, that to me was incredibly disappointing considering its potential which it doesn't do anywhere near enough with. 'Demon Inside' is very weak, with a plethora of problems (fairly big ones too) and doesn't do enough with its potential, which was hardly small. There are however a couple of decent, even good, qualities in 'Demon Inside'.

Lets start with the positives. The scenery is atmospheric and spooky and is not too schlocky, some decent shots here.

Best thing about 'Demon Inside' is the opening, which was attention grabbing and kept me hooked. Which is why it is such a shame that 'Demon Inside' went downhill so drastically.

Going on further to the negatives, the story does feel over-stretched and some of it feels vague, under-explained in the last third where the film especially became duller, more predictable, more senseless and less scary. Too many characters are too sketchy and with nowhere near enough to make one want to endear to them. Their irritating and illogical decision making and behaviours frustrates.

Making the film feel bland and forgettable with not enough heart put into it. The effects are ropy at best, the sound quality is obvious and utilised cheaply (being too loud in the build ups and people's reactions) and it's best not mentioning the histrionic and stiff acting.

Dialogue can be stilted and rambling while the pace goes to a standstill after the promising opening and drags on forever, never recovering. The second half is interminable. Found too many the supposedly shocking moments not surprising or scary and the supposedly creepy atmosphere dreary, due to the excessive obviousness and the lack of tension and suspense.

A lot of 'Demon Inside' has underdeveloped plot elements and often nonsensical, irritating and confusing character motivations, while too many of the things to make you jump or shocked are far from creative or scary and are pretty tame. The ending finishes the film on an incomplete and confused whimper. The whole of 'Demon Inside' felt unfinished but especially so at the end where it just ends with too much left hanging in the air.

There is not enough threat here and what there is of it tends to be used poorly, while the psychological elements are unimaginative and are more odd than scary, completely failing to show the horror of the subject. Some badly sagging momentum too. The direction is pretty leaden, got the sense their heart was not in it, and the music doesn't really fit.

Concluding, very weak. 3/10 Bethany Cox