Demonic (2021) Review

-For the Uncensored!

I think some of the great films that come along are some of the films you remember forever. The Godfather, Lord of the Rings, Alien, The Exorcist. Somehow, Neil Blomkamp directed a horror movie and didn’t bother to tell anyone. Neil Blomkamp is a filmmaker I found with District 9, and have followed all the way to 2021[1]. The only dud I felt in his oeuvre was Chappie, a sappy romance about a man and his machine, which I think was cute, but way too cute for people’s taste. It was famous for having that South African rap band in it, Die Antwood.[2]

            What DEMONIC does is a filmmaker is an acquired taste for some people. They either love his films or hate them. Maybe that’s just critics who have to shit on everything, but in 2021, there’s little to shit on but Blomkamp is decisive, as a filmmaker. While I sat in the lonely theater, I felt like I had bought the whole theater. It was sad, but also interesting. Like the film was screened for me. 

            Only as the days grow shorter, I don’t know how long this might go on.

            Neil Blomkamp is a filmmaker that is keenly aware what people like to watch. 

            The premise is pretty simple. When Angela is reunited with her mother since she suffered a brain injury in the prison, twenty years later. She had killed over twenty people, and her daughter never knew why. So, she’s permanently brain damaged, and Theropol needs her daughter to communicate with her. What turns out to be a movie about grief, a horror flick where the Catholic Church has “set up an elite task force squad” to find out if demons exist. I mean, if the Catholic Church wanted to do that, they should have just looked in their own closets where they keep the little boys (sorry, but I had to write it down, on with the review). 

What the film manages to do is strip any unnecessary action out of the movie. It doesn’t really go into its demonology, or how the priests manage to exorcise a demon. Also, why would they have guns in order to kill a demon? I could see where it starts to resemble a lot of pop culture. It manages to be thriller, and what a thriller it is. I didn’t even look at my phone more than three times. Mostly because it was going off, but luckily there was no one in the theater. 

If I had to base the three primary influences for this film, it would be a mixture of The Cell, Shinji Mikame’s Evil Within series, mixed with a little Brian De Palma. All three inspirations have a slight degree of horror spun within the framework that makes its way into the movie. What the film does well is that it manages to never get bogged down into the technical aspect of the machines, and how it manages to make Angela fall asleep. Or how if and when she could wake herself out of the deep hypnosis either. What I didn’t do was felt the need to laugh to make up for the fear inspired in the frame. 

I would have liked some scenes behind the Church and what the moral complication of this issue is. I think what Blomkamp is a smart guy, and I think his inspirations do have good merit. He manages to find the best part of his inspirations and put them into his own mixture. At least I didn’t see outright homages to what he loved and also a filmmaker is in touch with what I love as well. That’s very rare these days.

What really holds the film together is Carly Pope’s performance of Angela, as she has to solve the problem of how to save her mother, but also come to terms with the demon that has taken away everything she has loved. Who also delivers a great performance is Michael Rogers, who was in cult hits like Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)[3]. He manages to play it straight and he gives such careful tones when he speaks. It will come into play how much his voice pivots as he’s possessed by the demon.

There’s a moment where they play classical music, Beethoven, which I said, “That reminds me of Claire De Lune” as that was the main theme music for The Evil Within.

I think Rotten Tomatoes[4], we can all agree is a shit place to go on by the quality of a film these days. Hell, do I even need to bring up Captain Marvel?[5] What is marvelous is that I’m reexperiencing a film director all over again, without thinking about his past history. I didn’t even think it was a Blomkamp film until the credits rolled. I usually bring up a whole list of the filmmakers previous work, but this was almost watching a film that should have happened before District 9. But I’m glad it still came out anyway. 

What the sin in all this is I didn’t even know about this film until the day before. It’s a sin if you have a great film, but you don’t have enough budget to tell people about it. I assume that buying ads on Youtube isn’t that expensive, but that’s where I saw it. I was really glad I saw this film, because it manages to follow a strong character through pretty dark and terrifying moments in her life.

To me, it’s a great way for people to reintroduce themselves to Blomkamp, and forget about his past history with science fiction. I definitely hope they make more with this subject, but from the priests perspectives in the sequel. There is a definite world to expand on, and I would like to see more of this. 

It managed to do what the Conjuring for me at first didn’t. Enthrall me. I hope the opposite doesn’t happen if they make more sequels.

Final Analysis: 5/5

[1] He hasn’t called me lately.[2] Not surprising, but Blomkamp is from South Africa.[3] Somehow I have yet to see this film, but it still seems to creep into everything in I find these days. The director, Cosmatos, did 2018’s Mandy, and it was amazing. Definitely go watch that if you haven’t seen Mandy yet.[4] Fuck you Rotten Tomatoes. 11 percent? You got to be fucking kidding me here? Go fuck yourselves and the site that people used to trust. I know the mouse has his dick up your ass but have some spine at some point. Fucking joke of a site. As far as I’m concerned I know what critics are and I hate them myself. [5] Let it go, as It’saGundam says. Just stop. 

-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 15 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline, Apocalypse Soldier, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Our Freedom Book https://www.ourfreedombook.com/thereallouistbruno17. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His next series, City of Sand is out now:https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/city-of-sand/hardcover/product-rke9jz.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. Every little bit helps. Thanks for reading.