Synopsis: “When Carson (mesmerizing newcomer Lara Vosburgh), the teenaged daughter of a religious family, transforms from straight-A student into heroin addict, her parents agree to allow a reality TV show crew to stage an intervention and document her recovery. But what they don’t know is that she has been taking drugs to deal with the unnatural, evil feelings that have been growing inside of her. And when she agrees to rehab, with no drugs to suppress that malevolent force, she and everyone around her will find themselves in mortal danger from an entity far worse than they could ever imagine. From Seth Grossman, director of The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations and producer of the reality show Intervention, INNER DEMONS explores the blurry lines between addiction, possession and mental illness, and refreshes the horror genre with a grounded, layered story of a girl’s battle against demonic possession.”
Review: Since The Exorcist, the horror genre has struggled with demonic possession. There’s just no cake topper higher or mightier than that 1973 classic. Films like The Last Exorcism and last year’s Deliver Us From Evil were able to tap into elements of what makes up a “good” exorcism movie but neither neared the knock-out territory of the Best Picture nominee that started it all. Inner Demons takes its turn at bat, stirring elements of found footage and reality television into its basic “girl is possessed by demon” narrative. Though the film lacks on actual scares, the mood is right as is the commitment to its structural premise. This feels like the story of an addict focused through the lens of a horror feature, not the other way around. This is where Inner Demons succeeds most. Performances from its able-though-amateur cast range from convincing to, well, not and the effects (though minimal) are more of an additive nature than of the complete picture variety. The film rounds off in a conclusion you’re half-likely to see coming although that doesn’t mean it lacks stopping power. A half-decent addition to the genre though one that won’t necessarily work for crowds outside of horror completists. (C)
Features: As far as features go, Inner Demons is entirely lacking, the only additional feature being its trailer.
Trailer:
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By: Matt Oakes
Started blogging about film in college when the university paper wouldn’t have him. Dislikes your consensus film Twitter favorites. Devotee of horror movies that make him die a little inside. Catches films at festivals when he can. Proud SFCS and OFCS member and Tomatometer-approved critic. Editor-in-chief of Silver Screen Riot.
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