Demonic (2015)

What a waste of my time!!!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The film's premise is a straightforward concept that incorporates classic, overdone horror tropes with slices of Gen X flavor, in the form of found footage - as in documentary footage recovered from the scene. The dual concepts, although not original, are offered up in a clever parallel time line. It creates a sort of murder mystery aspect, broken up by standard paranormal horror moments next to found footage sequences. To a small degree the mixture sometimes feels disjointed, but the back and forth does break up any monotony that would otherwise be present.The cast give quality performances, the line up consists of recognizable faces, and known names. There is a glare of underdevelopment to the characters, that if a bit of tweaking had been done, could have really became full-bodied portrayals. Still there is enough to make them relatable. Special effects are the typical gimmicks one expects in these kind of films. Shock gags and sound bites meant to give a fright are over used and often fall flat. Still "Demonic" has its moments of genuine chills, and the gore elements are quality. Think "Insidious" -esque trickery, just a few more misses. The horror moments run the gambit of "see it coming" to "cool and creepy". Overall the film is a mediocre but watchable horror flick with some quality actors, refreshing concepts, entertaining climax, and enough death to hit that ghoulish spot. It does have some redundancy issues, and a cloud of "know what's going to happen before it happens", but the movie gives enough to make it enjoyable.

Out of sheer boredom I started watching this movie with little expectations and had no idea what to expect. Personally I find the critiques on this movie to be a little harsh. After viewing it I was pleasantly surprised and wanted to watch more movies and even investigated the main character's actor to find out more. The premise of the movie, once you get into it, is simple enough to understand. A murder in a house has taken place several years ago and some ghost hunters want to investigate. The main character, John, has visions of his mother in the house and his girlfriend invites him to join her crew to go to the haunted house to find answers.The movie changes between a police investigate, one that takes place several hours after John and his friends go into the house as well as the events that happened while him and the others were in there. One of those "a few hours before" type of movies.I was actually very convinced by Dustin Milligan's (John's) acting in this movie. As someone very familiar with haunted houses, ghost investigates and similar paranormal experiences I thought his acting was believable and scary enough and certainly carried my interest in the film. As far as the movie goes he was the star I can assure you.The rest of the movie I have to say was simply 'okay'. Toss in some weird history, strange symbols, a random bird dying to make it all spooky. Then of course the obligatory "everyone goes crazy and someone kills everyone else". The ending of the movie was definitely lackluster, it gives the viewers a plot twist we've seen a million times now and likely already anticipated and, if like me you liked the main character, probably didn't want. As a result the movie was simply 'okay' when compared to others but given the premise of the movie I didn't anticipate to enjoy it as much as I did. It failed at every opportunity to actually scare me BUT I found myself wanting to see more movies with similar main characters and simply for Milligan's performance, compared to all the other actors, I'd say the movie is worth watching. It's certainly not the most fancy, nail biting, gut-wrenching movie I've ever seen but it was worth the watch.

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.

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.