Horror Movie Review: Demon Slayer (2004)

They really don’t make them like this anymore. Though there is probably a reason for that, even though I did get a kick out of the film. I will admit to having a soft spot for early noughties, low budget, forgotten efforts like this.

Directed by James Cotton, who co-wrote the story with Tristan Thai and Michael B. Druxman, Demon Slayer tells a tale as old as time.

Alicia (Michelle Acuna), Tyson (Howard Williams Jr.), Philip (Adam Huss), Claudia (Hanna Lee), and Tamara (Monique Deville) are five delinquent teenagers who have been sentenced to do some community service. Namely cleaning up an abandoned mental hospital that, once upon a time, was also a brothel.

Did I mention that it also used to host ritual sacrifices back in the day? Because of course it did. Opening a gateway to hell for all manner of demon entities to come out and play. The place has laid dormant, until now, and with the arrival of our teens, a host of demon possessed ghost prostitutes have new victims to play with.

It sounds fun, doesn’t it? I went into this one with high hopes, but unfortunately, it is a let down and all because it takes so bloody long for the demons to show up. It’s not until around about an hour that anything but ‘characters see something strange’ happens. Which would be unforgivable at the best of times, but in an eighty-minute film!?

If that was the film’s only problem, it would be a notable one, but there’s more and it comes down to the writing. Not the story, even if it’s hardly the most inspired thing, but rather, the characters. Who are nothing but walking cliches to the point of being near offensive. From the obvious ‘goth final girl’ who has links to the history of the place, to the ‘gangsta’, the ‘punk rocker’ with a mouth, the ‘sassy’ one, and the ‘slutty’ one. The writing doesn’t even try to make them anything of note. Although, at times, this is on purpose as the film also claims to be something of a comedy.

It’s not, no matter how hard it tries, but it does have silly moments that might make you raise an eyebrow or two. Least of all the idea of a bunch of clear thirty-somethings playing teenagers. It’s as awkward as it sounds, even if the actors do put a bit of effort in.

It’s with the arrival of Father Enrique (Joaquín Garrido) that things really go off the deep end though. Transforming the film into something more akin to a parody, albeit with actual demonic dealings. As I said before, it takes a while for them to show up, but when they do, the film does become much better.

Alas, to get there, you’re going to have to put up with a whole lot of nothing. Characters bickering, characters trying to get laid (and succeeding), and characters seeing something strange and then forgetting about it immediately. It’s not great, but it is, just about, watchable. Especially, if like me, you get a kick out of this sort of film. Don’t do what I did though, lower your expectations and you might like it even more.