Demon Slayer

ok, we all remember "piranha," and the sequel. and we remember the triumphantly average "battle beyond the stars." and we've all at one point or another, tuned in to some really bad Roger Corman movie late at night... and maybe we don't even know who Roger Corman is, but we've all seen at some point in time, one of his many horrible 'B' movies. and of course, we all understand that these movies are somewhat meant to be stupid. no story, no character development, and atrocious acting... and i reluctantly saw "Demon Slayer," expecting all of the above to once again stand true. but HARK, i was surprised beyond belief to see that this movie was in fact pretty damn good. (albeit a corman film...) i'm not comparing this to anything but other corman films, in which case it deserves a 10!! no joke. it still has it's moments of 'B' movie plot-points. but overall, i think this newcomer, "James Cotten," (who apparently wrote and directed it) is going to be big someday. in my opinion, if this movie gets distributed correctly, and advertised correctly, it could become an underground cult-classic. (a-la, evil dead, evil dead II, and army of darkness...)

good job guys! oh, and the sound design was truly stand-outish. very slick work.

For what it is, (a 'B' movie, distributed by the infamous Roger Corman) "Demon Slayer," was actually really good.

seriously, if you can get passed the template of cheesiness, and "read between the lines," so to speak, you can find a story, with actual levels of character development. in other words, it seemed like the director did the best he could with what he was given. and the acting was surprisingly great. especially the lead male roles. nice stuff!

and i have to say, especially when compared to other Corman movies, the sound design was deeply immersing, and correct me if i'm wrong, but i think it was actually in 5.1... very good stuff, it made it feel bigger than it is!!!!

There's one thing I've learned after this: don't trust the categories shown on IMDb. Someone most obviously omitted "comedy". I'll change that.

SPOILERS

I think I'll keep this quite short. The movie is about a haunted house and about some "kids" who are sent there to clean everything up. And eventually die, of course. How would a horror movie be without deaths? Strangely enough you have to quite wait for them. But once one comes, they all come. The movie has a few scary moments, just one bit too little, but it does gain the little it loses because of the bit horror missing through it's, let's say, humorous part. It all starts once the Mexican priest, "demon slayer" appears. He brings it all. The mucho-guys start being scared, the women become responsible, and dead, it depends. The film doesn't really promote any philosophies or teachings, not seriously at least. The actors, well, they're as you would expect them to be. It's too bad it takes quite much for the movie to actually begin and once it does it also ends soon after. Directional wise it's OK. Not too brilliant, though. Not that I would have expected differently.

Silly horror.

Trying a new method of reform on teens, a group of troubled youths is sent off to clean an old asylum for community service where they find a book that shows the asylum was built on a brothel whose members worshiped an evil Aztec God and must get out before succumbing to the threat.

This was a pretty good surprise. The film's greatest strength is its rather enjoyable cheesy atmosphere that's enough to give this a high watch-ability. It's mostly centered around the slow-burn build-up that focuses on the group's arrival at the asylum and the various hints that something isn't right with the pace that leads to the revelation of the book and what it leads to. Knowing the background on the group that previously inhabited the asylum and their set up there, including the Satanic origins found strewn over the asylum found during their clean-up, the investigation into the mysterious whorehouse that was originally built and flashing shots of their history all create an eerie and chilling backstory that sets everything in motion. Once this setup is in place, the film starts in on a series of impressive series of supernatural action that keeps the film watchable. The various visions are pretty creepy involving flashes of the cult sacrificing their victims by chopping them to pieces or seeing animals which aren't that, and the best is the snake gag in the bathroom which has a small twist to it rather than being a traditional gag that makes the scene work. It has a couple of nice shock moments here and there featuring the ghostly spirits suddenly appearing out of nowhere as well, and the high-energy finale involving demon possession, an onslaught of otherworldly figures, and the few gore scenes, which isn't over-the-top but is more effective for that, carries enough to like that really holds this one up as the film really isn't all that bad. There really wasn't a whole lot of things wrong with it. The most obvious one is the very slow beginning that at times is really a struggle to get through the first half. There's a lot of bickering amongst the group that really doesn't do much other than drag out the film with useless scenes that are merely reinforcements of what was known earlier and really gets old fast as there's yet another scene of the group arguing with each other. That also puts all the action at the back end of the film, meaning that it really gets going towards the end and is a little slow as it starts itself off. It's a little clichéd as well, as there are several other films with pretty much the same general plot. It hardly finishes itself in a predictable manner but then it doesn't really show much change while doing so either. These are the two main problems with the film.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Nudity, several Sex Scenes, Graphic Violence, and drug use.

I saw this movie at a screening in Hollywood, and I have to say, it was far more entertaining than expected. From the start, the movie let's you know that it's not trying to be anything more than it can, even before it sinks into the wild antics of an over the top, eye patch wearing, Mexican priest.

If you are looking for true horror than this might not be it, but if you're willing to suspend your love of the over priced Hollywood feature, and just want to have fun in the campy way- I'd recommend it.