Don't Look at the Demon

I just got back from seeing this movie and it really wasn't that bad at all. I've never seen any of the actors in any other movies so I wasn't expecting much, but all in all I wasn't angry walking out. The story was O. K. and the demon itself was a bit of a plus. If you've like movies like Insidious or other movies dealing with ghosts or demons then you won't be dissapointed. In my opinion the best performances were by the brother characters Ben and Wolf. If you've already seen Barbarian and Smile then this is a movie you may want to go see. All I can say that it has to be better than the movie Bros, which I didn't see.

There are horror movies, and there are horror movies, and this is just another horror movie. Been there, done that. Still, for a relatively unknown Malaysian filmmaker, it's an ambitious effort and features non-local actors in the lead roles. Writer-director Brando Lee throws in everything one might have seen in other horror movies, from ghost hunters to haunted houses, possessions and occult rituals to hidden rooms with conveniently working film projectors. The story, while entertaining, is lazily developed, indulging in too many cliches and coincidences, and allowing for too many gaps in the plot. On the plus side, however, the acting is above par with Harris Dickinson giving the best performance; the film is beautifully shot and the special effects are quite impressive. And i dig the surprise ending.

A medium hopped up on benzos.... A new female crew member who happens to be a tramp... a producer who's sleeping with the medium... and a couple camera guys who probably punch refrigerators at college parties to see who can make the bigger dent in the fridge.... and a monk who can or can't save the day... now add a demon presence and safe to say... idk wtf I'm looking at anymore. Production was all over the place... I'm not sure the writers ever met each other for this movie. Seems like they were in different universes when they wrote this. Horror my ass don't waste your time and the lead actress annoyed me with the way she looked... comb your hair lady wtf.

"Don't Look at the Demon" is a Malaysian film with an international cast, including Fiona Dourif, Jordan Belfi and Harris Dickinson, however they are wasted due to the film's director and how poorly their characters are written. The script is not original but the plot sounded striking and the trailer had merit, but the end result is a film that continually goes up and down until reaching an illogical and ridiculous ending. A couple of scenes are salvageable but nothing special. The cinematography is bad, the atmosphere is non-existent and the filming locations are not used by the production team. A bad production with the occasional successful scene but which fails miserably as a film.

Besides a story filled with major plotholes, a weak script, and under par acting, this could've been a decent movie. However, it seemed like the writers didn't know what horror-elements they wanted to use, nor how to apply them. The editing and cgi was also quite terrible - honestly looked like a videogame from 2005. To be fair, I would've been scared if I was still 11.

If I am to mention one positive aspect of the movie, it was the location of where the movie was taking place. If used properly it could have been adding a few mystic and interesting elements - it didnt however. Missed opportunity.

So my imediate conclusion after watching the movie: I will never get that hour and a half back.