PopHorror Let's Get Scared
This October, we’re getting a visit from the devil when Miles Doleac’s Demons comes to theaters and VOD. Uncork’d Entertainment and Historia Films is bringing us the story of an exorcism gone wrong and the resulting haunting that takes place eight years later. Miles Doleac (American Horror Story TV series) stars in, wrote and directed Demons, where he plays celebrated fiction author and former priest Colin Hampstead. This supernatural, psychological thriller has elements of The Exorcist, The Shining and The Big Chill.
Eight years ago, Father Hampstead (Doleac) oversaw the exorcism of Jewel Grant (Jessica Harthcock). The exorcism was aborted and ended in the girl’s death. Her sister, Kayleigh (Lindsay Anne Williams), reaches out to Collin in her grief, but it ends up leading to more. Fast forward eight years. Collin and Kayleigh are married and run a bed and breakfast. The couple are hosting a wedding, and during the weekend, some revelations are brought up in regarand Collin are haunted by her dead sister.
What Works
The film is not a scary film; there are some jump scares, but other than that, it is supernatural thriller. The plot parallels the past and present together and does a wonderful job balancing the night of the exorcism and the group at the bed and breakfast. The exorcism element worked; it is not a typical exorcism film. There were parts that let the audience believe that she was possessed by a demon. I was impressed by Andrew Divoff’s performance as the righteous, abusive, Christian father, Jasper, as well as Miles’ performance.
What Didn’t Work
I feel like the sister relationship could have been strengthened. This could have been improved by flashbacks before the sister was possessed, just something that would show some kind of sister bond. I feel like flashbacks before with the sisters would have built up their relationship. I know that they did the flashbacks of the younger sisters to show the abuse, but it just seemed to separate the girls.
Overall, I enjoyed Demons. It wasn’t just an old school Hollywood exorcism film. It was something entirely different and realistic. I feel like the cast gave great performances. In the end, it seems like that it might not have been an actual demon possession, but personal demons that the girls suffered with. And personal demons are the scariest of them all.
Demons will be released on October 6th in theaters and VOD.
