Review - The Demoness (Spoiler-free)

Andrew de Burgh, the filmmaker behind 'The Twisted Doll' (2024) and 'The Seductress from Hell' (2024), alongside a whole host of other horror shorts and TV episodes presents 'The Demoness', a horror film that is clearly made by a horror fan. In what seems to thematically emulate classic 1980s demon-centric horror, with a nod to contemporary gory effects is a film that is an evident ode to a love of the genre. Whilst The Demoness may not hit every mark that it intends to, there is something to be said about how indie horror thrives on filmmakers like de Burgh, who set out to create cinematic love letters to such an individualistic and grassroots genre. 

The film begins with a classic but still incredibly eerie quote from Shakespeare: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here". This haunting opening continues with a rather intriguing and genuinely spooky shadow play of contorted movements casted on the walls followed by a brief glimpse of The Demoness herself (played by Sydney Culbertson). This evil creature tiptoes through the house of disgruntled couple Sarah (Bella Glanville) and Jack (Xander Bailey), hovering over their bed before and catalysing a hellish demise for the pair. However, what we soon learn is that Sarah and Jack are only the tip of the iceberg for The Demoness who gains the ability to transgress into the human form to bring hell on earth to all her victims. 

Here is where The Demoness comes into itself, transforming into a story about the power of a succubus entity, a demonic folkloric being who thrives on their innate sexual prowess to cause a catastrophic end to their prey. Culbertson as The Demoness is the film's shining light, with her performance showing both great menace and comedic timing as she conducts a whole array of tortuous experiments on her victims. Seconding this flair to her performance is the film's costumery, which for the most part adds to the bloodied aesthetic of the film. The character design for The Demoness in her demonic form is genuinely excellent, with the makeup and practical effects of her true identity being reminiscent of the vampiric-feline creatures in the Mick Garris' classic 'Sleepwalkers' (1992).

The tactility of The Demoness' visceral aesthetic, particularly in how her character shapeshifts in her physical body is a niche and impressive choice throughout the film, highlighting de Burgh's creativity within the medium. This commitment to emulating horror's innate campness and ability to go full throttle into chaos is a further facet that the film nestles itself into. There are a handful of moments throughout where logic is entirely abandoned, with the film willing its audience to halt sense and flow with the intrinsic dreamlike sporadicness of the plot. Keeping pesky spoilers at bay here, this obscureness manages to take over many scenes, leaving audiences bewildered about how certain situations have unravelled in a particular manner, or questioning how the film almost jumps from one plot to another. It is an element that is an impossible task to explain, but regardless, the often absurd over-the-top narrative is a definite wager in the film's decisive reception. 

In a similar vein, The Demoness could also benefit from a touch more nuance and subtext in its regards to its often mentioned commentary. For instance, Jack shows his disdain for his current situation in such a glaringly obvious way, directly dumping in an array of clunky tangents about how the world has crumbled at the hands of greed and so forth. Although this makes up only a small part of the film's 93 minutes runtime, it is occurrences such as these that hold back the film's potential. The skeleton of The Demoness is fully fledged and raring to go, however, the meat on the bones, whether that be through some of the set designs or a few of the performances and dialogue delivery, need a spark of polish to reach that next level. 

To conclude this review, I would like to echo the early testament about the film and how it is an indie horror feature right down to the bone; The Demoness may not be ubiquitously pleasing, however, there is an audience for this type of film and most importantly, it is a feature that underscores horror's ability to be a training ground for filmmakers and passion projects that keep the indie essence of the genre alive.

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