A police officer and a psychologist investigate the deaths of five people who were killed while trying to summon ghosts.
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I love this movie so much
The Age of Commercialism
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Moving into a legendary house, a group of paranormal investigators attempts to cleanse a legendary haunting while the police investigation looking into their actions try to find out the truth, and once it all comes together they realize the truth about what happened and try to stop it.For the most part, this one wasn't as bad as it could've been. A lot of what makes this one work is the fact that the initial story and setup of the house itself has a lot of stellar history involved. Not only given the newspaper articles that go into detail about what happened, but the opening attack featuring the police investigation of the accident gives this a solid opening that not only gets this going nicely but gives a rather strong foundation to this one which is nicely carried out by the dual story lines running throughout the rest of the film. With the flashback feature allowing this one to run the investigation angle at the end of the happenings while having their encounters shown alongside this, there's a lot of fun to be found. The setup of the troop inside the house where slowly things become quite extraordinary and managing some subtle spooks with the video evidence turning up the moving objects on the walls or broken light sources that fail to work properly moments after working start this off rather nicely, while the concurrent investigation piecing everything together solidifies their activities nicely by being as wrong-headed in their resolutions as they eventually end up being. Since the flashbacks have everything which includes objects bursting into flame, sending people flying across the room or suffering from actual physical trauma gives this a lot of room to play with throughout here as well as the seance sequence which sets into motion the final half which has some rather fun times here. These here make this one a lot of fun although it does have some pretty big flaws to it. The film's biggest problem is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of interesting elements present as this one goes through the rigors of the familiar haunted house tropes frequently, giving this a routine appearance for the most part. There's a rather familiar feeling here that makes the film feel routine here with the way the concurrent investigations are handled which are all apart of the way the police investigation is handled, making for a rather familiar time throughout here since this one force along plenty of familiar elements due to this feature. Likewise, the idea of the multiple finales makes no sense and tends to drag this one on endlessly since there's a lot of rather strong ways this one could've ended yet the fact that there are just all these twists piled on makes no sense as for why they're all included here. These features here bring this one down somewhat.Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.
After a terrific opening involving a charismatic cop Detective Mark Lewis (Frank Grillo) investigating a houseful of apparent corpses, we flit back in time to find out how the tragedy occurred. Here, my heart momentarily sank, as it seemed we were to be treated to the dreaded 'group of friends' prevalent in films like this: fast-talking picturesque teens all bitter and moody because of some banal relationship disaster (one of the number, Michelle (Cody Horn) is secretly pregnant). But luckily, 'Demonic' only flirts with such soap-operatics to establish the characters before flitting back and forth to an interview with the only survivor, John (Dustin Milligan). Such back and forth shenanigans ensure you have to pay attention, which is of course, No Bad Thing. John, the poor sap, is being interviewed by psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Klein (Maria Bello), who informs him he may go to jail as a result of the carnage and no other suspects.I enjoyed this for many reasons. It's dark and gritty, like a supernatural version of something like CSI and other punchy police dramas the US do so well. It is also set in Louisiana, a locale that brings happy memories of 'The Mummy's Curse (1944)' – it may be by the Kharis association, but the raw, humid, swampy location seems to work well with this kind of horror. Also, the acting is universally good, with the young cast soon shaking off the shackles of initial worries concerning precocious, bland stereotypes. The production as a whole is polished and foreboding, faced-paced and atmospheric. Will Canon does an excellent directing job; all scenes are packed with visual interest that highlights every cobweb and speck of dust in the ramshackle house.As the title suggests, demonic rituals appear to have been carried out at the remote house the five friends investigate. Unwisely, a séance is carried out which appears to unleash all kinds of spirits, none of them you would want to share an elevator with. Familiar jump-scare-tactics – upturned crucifixes, slamming doors, hideous faces in mirrors, use is even made of found-footage filming to confound what we think we know – all of these are used restrainedly and against a backdrop of convincing grit and gloom. There's even a twist ending.'Demonic' doesn't set the world on fire, but is a fine, solidly produced way of spending 83 minutes.
Some endings are or rather can be a deal breaker. It seems that this movie has this issue. I only read one comment from a person who seemed to actually like the movie, but only gave it a 5/10 because of the ending. Is it that bad then? I would argue not, quite the opposite, I'd say it does accelerate what we saw before this happening. I'd also argue that it is in the same vain as the rest of it.But I can understand that some people feel cheated or some think it is too on the nose. Depending on your take and how you feel about horror movies, how many you've watched, this will make up your mind about certain things. Things you may see coming and others that you will just think are crazy (and not in a good sense). But we do have a very stellar cast and a very solid story. And it's all told in a good fashion. It's tense, there are shock moments and it keeps going ... until that make or break moment ... does it work for you? That's a tough question to answer ... still doesn't change anything about the quality in the writing in this ...
Where to begin? Well, first of all "Demonic" brings absolutely nothing to the horror genre which hasn't already been seen countless times in other similar, and most likely more interesting and entertaining movies. With that in mind, you might think that director Will Canon would be playing it safe and bet on the horses that might actually bring the movie safely to the goal line. But no, that was not the case."Demonic" is every bit as boring and uneventful as it was predictable, generic and cliché-filled. There are no twists or turns along the storyline and you sit in the chair for a very mundane and predictable thrill ride, albeit without the thrills.I actually fell asleep during the course of "Demonic", which is a testament to how boring the movie is. Especially since I watch a lot of questionable movies (B-movies) and such, so I am seasoned and hardened to movies, and it really takes a lot before I get up and turn off a movie, or as in the case of "Demonic" fall asleep while watching a movie.The acting in the movie was adequate, although I can't really bring any particular talent out in the light as being memorable or particularly outstanding.However, the movie was just struck down by the director's hand, the script and a total lack of anything even remotely scary. The storyline was so scripted that the audience is offered nothing enticing or thrilling in any sense. It was all in all just a long, very long, run on a fully automated track.If you enjoy horror movies, then there are far better choices available on the market. And I would suggest that you give "Demonic" a wide berth. It just simply isn't worth the time or effort.