This December is going to be so jam-packed with awards contenders that us critics will probably have trouble finding breathing room. Luckily, there are still a few titles outside of the Oscar crowd that are aiming a little lower. One such flick appears to be Demonic, the horror title that Dimension Films has just slotted for release on December 12th.
There’s been little to no advance buzz about this frightener, and that’s surprising when one considers the talent involved. Based on an original idea by James Wan, the horror helmer behind Saw and Insidious, Demonic stars two-time Golden Globe nominee Maria Bello and The Purge: Anarchy lead Frank Grillo (pictured above). Will Canon (Brotherhood) is sitting behind the camera.
Demonic examines the gruesome aftermath of a horrific massacre where five college students were brutally murdered inside an abandoned home. Detective Mark Lewis (Grillo) and psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein (Bello) team up to interrogate the few survivors of the terrible incident, learning that the ill-fated college students fancied themselves amateur ghost-hunters and went looking for paranormal activity inside the house.
A lot of horror flicks center on the dumb college kids getting wiped out by a malevolent force, but Demonic looks like it’s actually picking up after most of those movies end. That’s a refreshing change, to be sure. Whether audiences will respond remains to be seen – in an indicator of just how competitive Oscar season is going to be this year, Demonic is being forced to contend with Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings and Paul Thomas Anderson’s wacky mystery Inherent Vice, both also opening December 12th.
