Demon

Well the fact that yet another movie was presented as horror when it had nothing to do with the genre, makes it all so beautiful! Really! I saw Demon and Neon Demon, one after the other, and I've seen less horror than when I run out of toilette paper.

Sure the movie gets you sucked in, you start to feel the dizziness, the walls seem to get closer and the alcohol is starting to play tricks on you. The movie is efficient, for a drama, a nice depiction of some Polish habits, some interesting facts here and there, and then, nothing! Out of the blue, you get the end credits. Abadi abadi abadi aba- That's all Folks!

So you're a horror fan and you curious, so you'd like to throw an eye on Demon. But are you sure? I mean, not for the horror part, I hope. In rest, sure, as I previously stated, this has some different elements to offer. No horror. No scares. No tension. Just a lot of unanswered questions. If you can put up to this, then by all means, go be disappointed.

Cheers!

I was thoroughly enjoying this and it just ended. What's up with that? I wanted more answers. That was disappointing. I will say that one of the best and somewhat comical aspect was just how much drinking went on. These folks were lit! I mean all of them were wasted to the point that it could've passed for a zombie flick. I like it but I had to lower the rating because of all the questions that were left unanswered.

On the big day for an engaged couple the groom uncovers a grim secret, and the celebrations don't go quite as intended ...

This seemed so intriguing, and I was rubbing my hands as the action kicked off at a lively pace with good humour from the actors. Then we switch to a Polish-Jewish wedding, with great music and dancing and lots of knowing observations. But where's the horror? Instead we get an oblique reflection on the secrets buried in sad soil - it's worth the telling, but doesn't dare to be explicit. I guess the aim was to achieve a haunting atmosphere, but it doesn't really make it - although the fate of the director after the movie was released adds a terrible twist. Is there any such thing as a Jewish horror movie?

Performances are good, but the plot and characterisation are uneven. There's a running joke with characters getting soaked in rain and vodka, and the photography is good. One scene is captured brilliantly, when the couple emerge from the church and get caught in a flurry of snow and umbrellas.

Music is OK, with a joke about Chopin that then fails to switch the music from electronic to piano. Lots of play with several languages and a few puns.

Overall: Spirited but not demonic.

Through his best friend in London, Peter (Itay Tiran) meets Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska), and soon he travels to her home village in Poland to marry her and settle down in the large, if somewhat isolated, house of her parents. Left there overnight, he does some digging and appears to uncover a skeleton; but the next morning, the hole and the bones are gone, and Peter has spent a rather strange night. Shrugging it all off, Peter and Zaneta marry and a huge party is held at the house; much dancing, speechifying and, especially, drinking of vodka ensues. But Peter isn't feeling quite himself shortly after the party begins, and soon he's acting *very* much out of character…. This is a retelling of the Yiddish tale of the dybbuk, a kind of ghost story, and it's very well done here - the acting is excellent, the atmosphere alternates between wild partying and sheer creepiness, and the horror, while striking, is more of the quiet variety than the blood-splatter type (for which I was grateful). I don't know how available it is in North America - I saw it at Montreal's always-brilliant Fantasia Festival - but it's well worth searching for!

Tons of booze. Everyone's drunk. Epileptic dancing. Possessed groom. Sex with the band...and it lasts all night until dawn. Just like any wedding should be, it's scary, funny, and just downright nuts.