Review of Demonic (2021) by Bertobellamy — 16 Oct 2021

You probably wouldn't guess that this amateurish film comes from an Academy Award nominee.

'Demonic' starts with a promising concept: what if horror and hi-tech met? The volumetric capture technology that Neill Blomkamp employs here is a clever way to bring the horror genre to a new age — although some animated scenes looked like someone was playing a devilish version of ´The Sims.' Unfortunately, it's not enough to keep you interested. Soon enough, the plot falls into an all-too-familiar possession story.

What happened to Blomkamp? Long gone are the days when he was considered the best new thing in sci-fi. 'District 9' is a classic, and supposedly, a sequel is coming, but now I'm very worried about how that will turn out. You could say that 'Demonic' was made with a handful of dollars during the worst days of the pandemic, but why bother then? Was Blomkamp trying to prove himself? If so, I think it backfired in the worst way possible.

If you really want to see a good mix of sci-fi and horror, go and see 'Possessor.' Brandon Cronenberg is now the best new thing in sci-fi.