Like a trapped soul fighting to get out, there’s a good film seeking to escape from Demonic. Shot in secret during the height of the pandemic, Neill Blomkamp’s latest features a committed performance from Carly Pope and a unique premise involving virtual reality and a birdlike supernatural force, highlighting the director’s ability to craft something of substance out of very little. However, despite the frame being filled with said avian-headed demon, contorted bodies and gun-toting science priests, Demonic’s screenplay never really invests the set-up with the fear-inducing moments the central idea deserves.
The grotesque body-horror elements of _District 9_ are sorely needed here.
For starters, Blomkamp’s first dip into full-on horror leans into over-familiar tropes of past trauma and family dysfunction, yet lacks the killer set-piece or emotional conviction found in the gems of the demonic-possession sub-genre. Demonic needn’t follow in the footsteps of The Exorcist or Hereditary exactly — there’s enough here, particularly in the Second Life-style virtual-reality segments, to make an interesting world to inhabit. But, to make its presence felt, Demonic needs something in its story that is as committed as Pope’s performance. The film’s early stages don’t provide enough authenticity in its character relationships to give viewers something to grip hold of. Look at the furrowed brows of the physicians who persuade Carly to convene with her estranged mother (Nathalie Boltt) — their ulterior motives are there for everyone to see, but the scenes don’t carry weight and feel devoid of tension. The relationship between Carly and old flame Martin (Chris William Martin) has promise but lacks spark when the couple meet. This leads to the film suffering when all hell breaks loose in the final third.
It’s also unfortunate that the film’s antagonist, a seven-foot, hellish, bird-headed creature, is a unique beast but evokes little fear or dread. The grotesque body-horror elements of District 9 are sorely needed here. As such, Demonic’s attempts to unnerve are well-intentioned, but never truly hit the mark. Blomkamp completists may find solace in the shady corporate suits utilising innocent families to discover evil presences. But Demonic comes at a time in which potent, culturally relevant chillers are in a boom period, all created by filmmakers with their own distinctive stamp on the genre. If horror is where Blomkamp is heading, he’d do well to look back at his debut to garner more inspiration.
