Interview With Andrew de Burgh For His New Film, ‘THE DEMONESS’

The Demoness is a new horror film from director Adrew de Burgh that is coming in 2026.

Synopsis

In Los Angeles, struggling couple Sarah Lallana (Bella Glanville, “After the Hunt“) and Jack Gerrard (Xander Bailey, “Misfortune“) are visited by a demonic succubus (Sydney Culbertson, “American Underdog“) who deviously manipulates them into turning against each other.

We got a chance to sit down with Andrew recently to talk about his upcoming film!

PopHorror:  How did the concept of The Demoness all come together?

Andrew de Burgh: Firstly, thanks for the interview! The concept of The Demoness was essentially a marriage of two overall inspirations. The first was classic 80’s horror films like Hellraiser, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Child’s Play, which always inspire my work as a filmmaker in the genre. Iconic horror characters like Pinhead, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Maniac Cop, Candyman, Jason Vorhees and Michael Myers inspired me a lot when I created and wrote The Demoness as she is essentially my own love letter to those characters and films. This inspiration is also reflected in the theme music which is intended to feel very nostalgic.

The other major inspiration behind The Demoness is the smash hit Terrifier series. I saw Terrifier 3 in theaters before I saw the first two installments and was absolutely mesmerized by how effective a horror film it is. From the grainy and saturated cinematography, the gore, the kills, the makeup design, the soundtrack and the overall eeriness of the entire film, I was so impressed by it and was really inspired as a horror filmmaker to pay tribute to the series in my own way. I then watched the first two installments in the series and became a huge fan. I absolutely love Art the Clown as well as Victoria Heyes who I think are phenomenal villains.

PopHorror: How was the casting process like for the film?

Andrew de Burgh: The casting process was quite challenging. With there being ten lead or supporting roles, we had to find great actors for each one of them. Even though the demoness is technically the lead of the film, it’s essentially an ensemble cast due to how much screen time the other characters have and how much they influence the story. We knew casting would be pivotal to how the film turned out so we worked very hard over the course of several months to find the best actors we could.

The casting of the Demoness herself was perhaps the hardest because she has a very challenging role portraying both her human and demoness sides in the same film. We had to make sure the actress cast was very talented and luckily Sydney Culbertson is. Sydney, as well as the rest of the cast, were cast through a series of self-tapes and in-person callbacks.

PopHorror:  The make up was phenomenal in The Demoness, how was the process creating the look of the film?

Andrew de Burgh: Thanks so much for that compliment; I’m glad you liked it. Brittany Jamison-Lackey is the very talented makeup designer behind the look of The Demoness. Her and I collaborated on my previous horror feature The Seductress from Hell (which you interviewed me about) and I was eager to work with her again. She’s worked on a lot of big budget projects like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Witcher: Blood Origin and Carnival Row, and is very good at what she does.

In terms of the look of The Demoness, Brittany and I had numerous phone calls in the months leading up to pre-production with what I wanted to convey with the look of the character, mainly fear and dread. I gave her inspirations of the 80’s horror characters as well as Art the Clown and Victoria Heyes (from the Terrifier series). Pinhead (from Hellraiser) was one I referenced a lot. In the end, the specialized prosthetic she used for the demoness’ face was ordered specially from England. The makeup itself took two and a half hours to apply each day!

PopHorror:  Do you feel like a lower budget helps you get more creative when it comes to the filming process rather than having a big budget?

Andrew de Burgh: I think it does to a certain extent because you’re forced to find ways to do things without the typical Hollywood budget. It also helps that there are less executive types who want to follow a certain playbook from a business point of view that can stifle originality. Though we were inspired by certain films when making this one, I really wanted to make it original.

On the other hand, having a lower budget does actually limit some of my creativity. There’s always set pieces or kills that I’d like to do that I am unable to due to budget constraints.

PopHorror:  What are you looking forward to the most when people watch The Demoness?

Andrew de Burgh: I think more than anything that audiences enjoy the film. It’s ultimately a horror fantasy and dark comedy that I hope people simply have fun watching. My goal is to launch a series of films about this character so I hope there is enough appetite with the audience to do that. Readers can follow us on Instagram and Facebook to stay updated on the film!

PopHorror: Thank you for your time!