Demonic

Carly (Carly Pope) is estranged from her mother Angela who was convicted of burning down her care home workplace and killing some 21 people some twenty years ago. She further poisoned another five. Carly is haunted by nightmares of Angela. She has also been estranged from longtime friend Martin after those events and then he contacts her with news about her mother.

When this popped up, I didn't realize that it's a new Neill Blomkamp film. I figured it to be another low budget inconsequential B-horror movie. The initial assumption is not far from the reality. The premise is similar to Jennifer Lopez in The Cell except its visuals are nowhere near as imaginative nor compelling. This story needs something much more basic than that. It needs a ticking clock and stakes and motivation for Carly. If an evil corporation is going to all that trouble, it should do something much more coercive to bring her into the experiment. It has non of that. She just agrees to join this weird experience for no apparent reason. At least give her a beat and a nightmare in between the asking and the doing. She could do the procedure to confront her nightmarish visions and her mother. There is a clear deterioration in Blomkamp's writing and his visual style has stalled at best. There are basic concepts of motivation and characterization that are missing.

A decade ago I loved South African director Neill Blomkamp for his wonderful sci-fi movie DISTRICT 9, and I thought ELYSIUM was pretty good too (although CHAPPIE not so much). The last I heard of him was of his thwarted idea for an ALIENS sequel with not only Ripley but Hicks and Newt returning alive and well too; I thought that sounded like a great idea, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. So out of nowhere comes DEMONIC (2021), Blomkamp's newest movie as director, but watching this very ordinary possession movie you wouldn't notice his presence.

The first thing apparent is that this was shot on a very low budget during the pandemic, so expect closed sets and a small cast. The second thing is that it simply isn't very good. Possession flicks are ten-a-penny these days and all kind of roll into one, and this one goes through the same motions with contorting bodies and histrionics. I found it very tiresome, and to try to make it different they add in a load of CGI effect "dreamscape" stuff, but that bored me too. Let's hope Blomkamp bounces back from this misfire and gets some of the old magic back.

Beneath the glossy surface of unique visual ambition and a slew of intriguing, potential-filled ideas and concepts, this is unfortunately just 100 minutes of more of the same nonsensical writing, weak characters, and unbearably stupid dialogue and clichés that have plagued the horror genre for decades.

How is this the same filmmaker behind District 9?

I'll make this short. Horror is my life; whether it's movies, shows, games or books. Horror is my niche. A 4 is generous which sucks Bc I loved District 9, Elysium and Chappie. Where to start. The main protagonist was utterly trash and annoying. The cinematography was actually cool with the whole VR portrayal. The action was limited. One minor scare. The biggest thing which could have brought it to a 7 for me was the fact that he didn't include what could have constituted a wicked action scene with a Vatican Spec Op Unit; either a lack of budget or time, but regardless it will hurt reviews given time. A Redbox rental at best.

You'll know it's bad when they enter a VR world in someone's mind. Monster wasn't very scary. Poor Neil, guy needs a hit and this ain't it.