Wednesday, September 12, 2018

My Review Of "e-Demon"


"e-Demon" is directed by Jeremy Wetcher and stars Julia Kelly, John Anthony Wylliams, Christopher Daftsios,and Ryan Redebaugh. The film movies past the basic video footage horror tropes into very modern concepts of social media nightmares. 

Tells of an escaped demon on a dark and twisted mission that manipulates a group of friends hanging out on a video-chat. The film is craftily structured – it takes place completely on a computer screen via the webcams being shown.

Kendra, AJ, Mar and Dwayne are old college friends who find themselves growing apart. Attempting to hang on to their good old Ohio State days, the gang gets together online for a night of stories, pranks and drinking via web-cam. As the evening progresses, they unknowingly release a deviously clever demon that had been trapped for centuries in Salem, Massachusetts. Since the demon can possess multiple people at once, the group of friends must determine who they can still trust in order to survive the demon’s dark and twisted mission.


Jeremy Wetcher's story is very straightforward , but simple it is not. "e-Demon" takes on some lofty big budget goals and manages to pull off ad good a story,  and a darker one, than either "The Den" or "Searching". And yet Wetcher's movie still has a very indie,  organic feel. It is a movie that you think will be a train wreck once you start watching and yet quickly sucks you in and holds your attention. You become the six member of this ill-fated friendsverse and lucky to have survived. 

The acting is rather good, there are some small moments when reactions and dialog feels contrived.  For the most part, however,  the cast give compelling and honest performances. The movies style can seem intimidating for some horror fans. Bits of txt messaging , video clips, and multiscreen video-chat windows on rotation can feel a bit disorienting,  but Wetcher keeps a controlled,  methodical handle on the sequencing of the material. 

The special effects are done well enough. "e-Demon" doesn't really bring anything new to the table,  but it does do a good job with the typical gimmicks. Thankfully the chsracters' reaction during the horror elements were believable enough to pull me into the events to feel the horror with them. Found footage has a natural achilles heel - the momentum of thrill and ability to hold audience attention varies from film to film, as is evident about 40 minutes in this one as well. Somehow though that lull is a microsecond of blah,  then things kick in and it gets exciting again. "e-Demon" is impressive and well worth watching. (4/5)

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