Truth About Demons

Kind of a cross between Constantine/Hellblazer and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. A decent take on the urban mysticism sub-genre of horror. The acting is all pretty decent, especially for low budget, with the notable exception of the actor who plays his friend with way too much b-movie gusto.

The film definitely has an urban New Zealand vibe, and while not as over-the-top as the works of Peter Jackson, it certainly has a quirkiness that wouldn't be seen in a major studio release.

I also appreciate that the film isn't dumbed down for mass consumption. There's a couple of cases of the main character vocalizing an idea the viewer should have just realized, but these aren't terribly forced nor obnoxious. Urban's portrayal of a man forced to accept or deny a reality he doesn't believe in makes it work.

Overall, the movie suffers from too much drag as they try to spook us, but there are a few interesting twists and turns here and there. Worth a look, especially for fans of Karl Urban, who really lets his accent show.

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.

Buy two get one free. That's the only reason I bought this movie. The Irrefutable Truth About Demons was the only movie left in the bin that looked remotely interesting. Irony would have it that it turned out way better than the other two movies that I actually paid for. I was expecting a sh*tfest and I was very unexpectedly pleased with this film. I've said it before, that's what can make a good movie great. Karl Urban has a hand in making this a foreign horror gem as well. I recently saw him in the theater...twice; I happened to dig Ghost Ship and you may recognize him from some little movie called The Two Towers or something like that. If this guy keeps grabbing these kinds of roles, he could be one to watch for. The story centers around a cult in Lord of Illusions fashion called The Black Lodge (a Lynch reference?). It's not as great as Lord of Illusions, but it does a good job of keeping you on your toes. You never know what's in store for our hero from one encounter to another. There are quite a few complaints about it being boring, but I don't agree with that at all. It held my attention from first scene to last. And, thankfully, it keeps the CG to a minimum (just a few scenes, and they are awful). The end of the film was reminiscent of The Attic Expeditions in that you're not quite sure you know what's going on. Maybe that's the way it was supposed to be, or maybe they just couldn't think of a better ending. Either way, it's not a problem. My only quibble then, is that in the States, this movie is simply known as The Truth About Demons. I guess America's not ready for big words like "irrefutable."

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

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).