Truth About Demons

I'm generally not a fan of newer movies, especially newer B horror movies, but this film was actually decent. It isn't particularly scary, but instead manages to tell a story that keeps you engaged throughout the duration, utilizing the "is it real?/is it a dream?/is he insane?" style of story line found in the likes of "Videodrome", forcing you to wonder what you are really watching. The acting is up to par and the writing is above average. This is the way you are supposed to make a B horror flick and it is a shame more people can't be bothered to put some effort into the actual script writing, relying instead on gore and other boring schlock that fails to shock at this point. Love the ending.

I surely can appreciate a bloodless/violent less horror film as The Ring, The Eye, Pulse (the Oriental originals) or The Six Sense, but to be frank, the best examples (and the most remembered classics) are the violent blood feast like Dead or Alive (Jackson), Phantasm (Cascarelli), Exorcist, Evil Dead (1 and 2), later made Oriental with Evil Dead Trap or the legendaries GIALLOS of the 70s and 80s.

Those classics, accumulate blood and body parts, dark aisles, knives and other penetrating objects, violence and sex. The most common elements, was the dark and quite relieving humor involved (often product of their own excess).

The Irrefutable Truth about Demons match that class B style with a class D budget never used better.

The story is more complex and ambiguous than it seems. An anthropologist doctor, whose brother committed suicide after being involved with a Satanic cult, receive a threatening video and later is kidnapped by cult members and attacked by DEMONS. He managed to escape, but his closest friends are killed. A mysterious girl came to his aide, but he refuses to accept her explanations. There is a twist; the guy is also a depressive drug addict. His fuzzy touch with reality make him (and us) doubt about what happening is real or just one of his trips.

During the one night everything happens; the suspense is kept to the max, using decent special efects, excellent use of sounds and background voices, moving shadows and cockroaches (and other insects). Even when the blood is not so much, one scene involving those disgusting insects will probably upset you. Particularly, when you realize that NO SPECIAL EFFECTS WERE INVOLVED.

The end of the movie is not on par with the rest, but there is a final unexpected twist.

A highly recommendable movie that never made an American release but is far, far better than almost every horror flick last year.

I have seen the DVD version of this movie which includes interviews, trailers and other interesting stuff. It is the director himself that sates this is a low budget b-movie. It took no more than 6 weeks to get the whole thing completed. This should be enough to get rid of the major complaints about the 'not so' special fx. Anyway the movie shows nothing new about the plot and nothing new about the characters but all of the actors took their roles seriously, offering good acting performances, especially Karl Urban and Katie Wolf. Photography is gloomy and dark as it has to be, there are plenty of fast and violent action scenes and a lot of occult symbolisms that make this movie a good product (in its genre, of course).

I really like this movie. It takes you out of your comfort zone and makes you re-think your attitude to demons. The movie itself is low-key and does not rely heavily on special effects, but rather on the storyline and the acting. The main characters being very convincing with a few twists and turns that may surprise you. Karl Urban has continued to make a number of good films and I would include this one as a must see for Urban fans If I have one misgiving with this movie it is that it is assumed that those involved in cults would dress in punk outfits and stand out in the way that they do. So that they fall into a stereotype. Pity! Nevertheless this is worth watching for the acting and the premise that certainly got me wondering about the Truth about Demons. Cheers Furdion

Available at Blockbuster as "The Truth About Demons" (guess Joe Consumer can't handle words like "Irrefutable"), this New Zealand-lensed horror pic is quite an unheralded gem. Sometimes succumbs to cliches (how many times can someone sneak up on the hero?!), but contains its fair share of shocking, disturbing images and gruesome moments in a tricky, intelligently plotted script leading up to a good final shock at the end. Writer/director Glenn Standring is a talent to watch...