Last Friday I watched Demonic (2015) for the first time. This was the latest DVD screener I received from my job to review. I only knew this movie existed because it was produced by James Wan, who directed The Conjuring. I wasn’t aware of the talented actors that were attached to this movie. I went in with low expectations and I have to say that I was still extremely disappointed when all was said and done.
The story is so unoriginal and not once did this movie try to add something fresh to an already worn out concept. The acting performances by the cast is solid enough and actually makes up for a lot of the flaws this movie suffers from. Frank Grillo (The Purge: Anarchy), Maria Bello (A History of Violence), Dustin Milligan (Shark Night), Cody Horn (Magic Mike), Megan Park (So Undercover) and Scott Mechlowicz (EuroTrip) were definitely the standouts. It’s a shame these talented actors got wasted on a bad movie like this. Demonic has a fair share of cheap jump scares, but only one of them worked effectively. The camerawork isn’t very stable all the time and the make-up effects were awful in some scenes. With a running time of well under 80 minutes (excluding end credits) the movie may seem short, but when looking at the very sudden ending it’s clear that a lot of scenes ended up on the cutting room floor or the money simply ran out. The ending of this movie is very unsatisfying and leaves the viewer with so many unanswered questions. The illogical plot twist near the end wasn’t very believable either. The combining of found footage and standard camerawork was one of the few aspects that I liked about this movie.
Demonic is nothing more than a missed opportunity. The makers weren’t thinking outside the box and a very talented cast got wasted in the process. Leave your brain at the door when watching this movie, or better yet: don’t watch this movie. Unless you’re a fan of one of the cast members. James Wan should really stick to directing movies.
–Ferdi Akkulak
