‘Inner Demons’ Review
“Inner Demons” is the latest found footage film to take a stab at the subject of demonic possession through guerrilla filmmaking, however, this one uses a unique premise and method to portray the familiar story in a new light. That being said, does the film manage to do more than simply have a unique hook?
The story of “Inner Demons” is two-fold. On the surface it takes a look at the shallow nature of reality television by turning the cameras on the people who produce it. A subject that, on it’s own, could be terrifying enough. However, the film is also a story of drug addiction and demonic possession.
The movie starts off by introducing us to the crew of a reality show similar to A&E’s “Intervention.” We have the wisecracking veteran cameraman named Tim (Brian Flaherty), Suzanne (Kate Whitney) the conniving producer, and then there’s innocent Jason (Morgan McClellan) who is new the world of reality television.
Diving right into their latest subject the trio descend upon the home of Carson Morris (Lara Vosburgh), a young girl from a religious family who has turned down the dark path of drug addiction. At first, it seems pretty clear that Carson is a classic case of good girl gone bad. She’s rocking the gothic make-up, sporting a new greasy hairstyle, and injecting heroin right in front of her parents. Teens, am I right? However, Jason believes that something else is afoot as he begins to believe Carson’s claim that she is possessed by a demon.
If you think this is a movie with ambiguity and mystery I’ll go ahead and clear up those misconceptions. While they play around with the idea that Caron’s demonic possession is a metaphor for her drug addictions, they quickly clear things up by utilizing typical “creepy” camera tricks. Things like the camera acting weird when Carson starts to get emotional or rudimentary CGI gags that fail to scare or startle. They tip their hand early in this one, which is a shame, because I think keeping the demonic possession a mystery would have added some much needed meat to the overall story.
That’s not to say that there aren’t things that I liked about “Inner Demons.” For one thing, I think that the film does a great job of portraying the seedy nature of reality television. I’ve never been behind-the-scenes of a reality show, but there’s something about the jaded nature of Tim and Suzanne that made their scenes feel authentic. For example, Suzanne is constantly pestering people to reword their statements so that it doesn’t sound like she was prying answers out of them. Then there’s Tim who is only interested in getting the perfect shots and uncovering the intimate secrets of his subjects. Everything about them just feels scuzzy and, whether that’s accurate or not, it adds a layer of authenticity to that part of the movie.
Lara Vosburgh also turns in a great performance as Carson. She does a great job of bouncing back and forth between being a sweet kid, a troubled drug addict, and an absolutely creepy demonically possessed individual. That’s a lot for one actor to juggle and Lara deftly does it all. Even when I thought the plot was dragging, I still wanted to see what would happen to Carson because of Lara’s performance.
I also enjoyed the somewhat questionable relationship between Jason and Carson as it danced around the line of appropriate and inappropriate compassion. With Carson being in high school and Jason being in college, they briefly play with the idea of an underage relationship, but it’s not a major plot point in the film. Still, I think it’s interesting for a horror movie to touch on the subject since it’s the kind of topic that can leave viewers uneasy. And that’s a sensation I’m always looking for in my horror films. It’s another unique twist that the film adds to the overall narrative.
However, there are only so many unique twists a film can have and “Inner Demons” ultimately falls back on the tried and true formula so often featured in found footage movies. The rest of the plot becomes pretty predictable as things boil to a chaotic finale that’ll undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers. Even the scares feel lackluster as so many come off as familiar gags replicated in other found footage films.
Ultimately, I feel that “Inner Demons” is a clever film with a unique twist on the found footage genre, but it falls short on building upon those ideas. If you’re absolutely dying for a new found footage film in the wake of “Paranormal Activity” skipping October, you might find “Inner Demons” to be an interesting experiment. But if you’re looking for something to reinvigorate your interest in the sub-genre, this film isn’t it.
“Inner Demons” will hit select theaters on October 3rd.
