SORRY ABOUT THE DEMON is a new Shudder horror-comedy with a straightforward plot that delivers
exactly what you expect.
the film begins with Ken, Tammy, and Jake discovering that their daughter, Grace, has
been possessed by the demon Deomonous.
If the surnames don't give it away, Ken and Tammy try to bargain with the demon of all
demons to save Grace's life.
They discover that Deomonous desires a human sacrifice.
What is the goal?
That isn't obvious at the time, and the sellers aren't interested in learning about it either.
All they want is for the Demon to leave Grace's body.
So, after some deliberation, the Sellers and Deomonous agree that if they can bring a human
sacrifice, the demon must leave Grace and the house.
Deomonous agrees and promptly returns Grace to normalcy.
Around the same time, they get a client named Will, who works for a toothpaste company and
has recently broken up with his girlfriend, Amy, and wants to relocate.
And, without telling Will what's going on with the house, the Sellers temporarily sell
it to Will, hoping that he'll be taken away by Deomonous soon and they can return.
Will is such a jerk that Deomonous refuses to make him his vessel and take him to the
underworld, so the Sellers' plan backfires.
Will becomes accustomed to Deomonous' threats and the ghosts' hauntings because he has nowhere
else to go.
So Will is trapped by Deomonous and the spirits, and the spirits and Deomonous are trapped
by Will.
On paper, this is a decent premise for a fun horror comedy.
It provides plenty of opportunities for Deomonous and the spirits to scare Will out of the house.
And it provides the ideal set of circumstances for Will to devise some novel ways to stay
put.
Emily Hagins, technically, does exactly that.
However, it is so basic, bland, and devoid of comedy and horror that all you can do is
stare at it with a blank expression on your face.
The idea of showing bones sticking out of hands and using gnarly possession makeup was
clearly present in the film.
So why didn't Hagins and her team just go all in with some creative camerawork and lighting?
I'm sure relying on visual comedy rather than awkward jokes would have greatly improved
the viewing experience.
Did Deomonous Lie Regarding His Deal With The Sellers?
Amy, Will's ex-girlfriend, decides to make amends with him at the midpoint of the film
because she wants closure for why he wasn't available on the night of her office party.
And Will concocts this convoluted story to restart things with Amy, which works because
they eventually become intimate.
However, this allows Deomonous to possess Amy and use her as his vessel.
Tammy interprets this as a sign of their success and returns home with her entire family, expecting
Deomonous and the spirits to be gone, only to find Will and her friends, Aimee and Patrick,
attempting to exorcise Amy.
Despite their reluctance to do the one thing that will allow them to reclaim their home
and keep Grace safe, the Sellers convene for a seance with Aimee and Patrick, while Will
visits the possessed Amy in the basement.
Amy is too preoccupied with digging a portal to hell to pay attention to Will's requests
to snap out of it.
Meanwhile, Deomonous pulls a double whammy by revealing that, in addition to Amy, he'll
be bringing Grace with him.
Again, Hagins does an excellent job of constructing a scenario in which the protagonists (Will,
Aimee, and Patrick) and antagonists (the Sellers) are forced to collaborate in order to defeat
the villain, Deomonous.
But Hagins' path to that conclusion is anything but straightforward.
Yes, we all understand that Will is acting in good faith.
Will is represented by Aimee and Patrick.
Ken, Tammy, and Jake are working together to save Grace because she is a member of their
family.
That's all that should be expected from a horror-house possession film.
Is it, however, necessary to put these character connections to the test?
Shouldn't the saviors be pushed to their limits in order to save the demon's victims?
Wouldn't that strengthen these bonds and demonstrate that they are truly willing to go to any length
to save their loved ones?
Because if the characters aren't convincing and the actors and director don't convey a
sense of urgency about the rescue mission, why should we care whether Deomonous damns
the entire world or just Amy and Grace?
As a result, we enter the final act with little to no momentum.
‘Sorry About The Demon’ Ending Explained – Was Will Successful In Banishing Deomonous?
What Happened To The Spirits?
On the one hand, Patrick, Aimee, and Jake discover that Deomonous divides himself into
multiple parts (Amy, Grace, the spirits, and a demonic cake), while Will discovers that
the headset he uses to communicate with his clients can also be used to communicate with
the possessed Amy.
So Will talks Amy back to normalcy, hoping that's the end of this nonsense.
However, the possessed Grace returns to continue the digging-to-hell process.
That's when everyone realizes the high salt content in Will's toothpaste (which previously
caused Amy's hand to burn when Will touched it with his toothpaste-smeared hand) can be
used to close the hell portal.
Patrick puts this theory into action by throwing all of the toothpaste into the bubbling crack
in the ground, where it solidifies.
However, this does not free Grace or the house of the spirits, and she attempts to re-dig
the hole and enter.
Amy joins her while Will stabs the cake (which apparently has part of Deomonous in it).
Despite the fact that everyone believes Amy and Grace have vanished, they both emerge
from the toxic-looking but closed portal.
Deomonous appears to have vanished, and the spirits appear to be here to stay.
Because the Sellers don't want anything to do with the haunted house, they give it to
Will permanently.
The Sellers reunite with Will, Amy, Aimee, and Patrick a year later.
While the adults discuss Will's adjustment to the ghosts and Patrick's business of selling
Will's salt-infused paste as "Hell Gell" (a demon repellent), Grace goes missing and discovers
Will's walkman.
As the Sellers leave, Aimee expresses her gratitude that Deomonous never found a way
to escape the house and go wild.
Will notices Grace playing the walkman and giving an evil look, indicating that Deomonous
has latched onto the walkman and repossessed Grace.
Because he is no longer confined to the house, it is possible that Deomonous will seize more
innocent victims and drag them to hell.
That being said, the sentiment that has stayed with me is that Will and his friends regard
this entire episode as the most exciting time of their lives.
It demonstrates how exhausting and monotonous life is for people in their twenties in this
economy, that fighting the devil is their high point.
"Sorry About The Demon" is a fantastic film.
It had all the right material, a good premise, and even the right cast of characters.
I'm not sure if Hagins will get a sequel, despite the fact that she has set the stage
for one.
If she does, I hope she learns from her mistakes, surrounds herself with people who bring out
the best in her, and delivers a new horror villain in the form of Deomonous.