Main cast: Carly Pope (Carly), Nathalie Boltt (Angela), Chris William Martin (Martin), Kandyse McClure (Sam), Michael J Rogers (Father Michael), and Terry Chen (Father Daniel)
Director: Neill Blomkamp

Much has been said about Neill Blomkamp going the low budget route with Demonic, with filming done during the you-know-what period and all, so the fact that he managed to eke out a movie means good for him, I guess. Unfortunately, it seems like the only way he did it was to create a Blumhouse jump scare movie injected with tranquilizers.

Also, we have several characters and their actors sharing part of their names. What, did they run out of money to buy original names for these characters or something?

Anyway, the plot first, yes? Carly’s mother Angela was incarcerated for barbecuing a care home and poisoning the folks of a church, and understandably she has cut contact with Angela. Her friend Martin is convinced that Angela must have been possessed by some kind of demon, to be able to do such heinous deeds, and Carly was like, please, she’s had enough of all this depressing talk about her mother so she cuts off all contact with him too.

However, Martin lets her know, in order for this movie to take place, that Angela has fallen into a coma. Carly’s mother is now being researched on by scientists employed by a company called Therapol, and they have found a way to recreate Angela’s dreams. They invite Carly to step into the simulated dreams of her mother, so that she can communicate with Angela and hopefully get some closure. Well, too bad that no one has warned her that there isn’t much sometimes to distinguish a dream from a nightmare. Did anyone recall that part about demonic possession?

If the plot sounded familiar, well, it’s a pretty standard plot adopted by films that want to throw jump scares at the audience. This is, sigh, that kind of film. Perhaps because it is hard to do many fancy things when everyone is staying in at home, this movie doesn’t have much flash and blinking light effect going for it. Instead, I get long-drawn slow-motion scenes of people walking slowly in poorly lit corridors, with the inevitable and so-predictable jump scare waiting at the end of the interminable walk. People sulking and exchanging sullen conversations while drawing things out as much as they can. Jump scares! Dream with a dream within a dream… is anyone tired of that gimmick yet?

The concept of priests behind a corporate front, all the better to hunt demons, is interesting, but Demonic doesn’t do much to expand or build on it. Instead, I get a stupefying and mind-numbing movie that, for a long time, seems to forget that it is a horror movie and instead chooses to show me boring people doing boring things in the most boring manner possible. I hate to say it, but the most formulaic jump scare-heavy “Demon in dark corridors of a haunted house… boo!” movie out there will likely run rings about this one.