Horror Movie Review: The Demon Disorder (2024)

Directed by Steven Boyle, who co-wrote it with Toby Osborne, The Demon Disorder combines Cronenberg-esque body horror with supernatural elements, while sprinkling in various metaphors surrounding family disfunction and degenerative diseases. It’s a lot to take in and inevitably causes the film to feel like a muddled mess by the end. There are good ideas here, and some strong moments of horror, but it’s buried under quite a lot of confusing and unremarkable stuff.

From the moment it begins, there is a sense of darkness that surrounds the film and its main characters. Graham Reilly (Christian Willis) is a mechanic, living a quiet life, estranged from his brothers Jake (Dirk Hunter) and Philip (Charles Cottier) following the death of their father (John Noble). Aside from showing his teenage employee Cole (Tobie Webster) the ropes, he is alone, but he’s happy to have it this way.

So, naturally, he is less than pleased to see his brother Jake, who arrives out of the blue asking him to come home to their remote family farm. Initially resistant, Graham agrees to go home once Jake shows him footage of Philip behaving in a strange way that is reminiscent of how their father behaved before he died. It seems as though the brothers made a blood oath, and it all goes back to their father.

He was sick, but this was no ordinary illness, more akin to a possession and now it seems like Philip is infected too. How can they stop it and what does this demonic presence actually want?

These are just some of the confusing aspects of The Demon Disorder, and unfortunately, they won’t be answered to any degree of satisfaction. Even if the journey has plenty of entertaining moments, least of all the visual effects that are spectacular (Steve Boyle has made a career in make-up and FX).

The problem lies with the stories attempt to be subtle, trying to say something and be metaphorical. This might have worked had more time been spent with the brothers and their father as he got sicker, but that’s not what we get. Instead, we are left with attempts at unearned emotional weight, most of which comes from the lack of dynamic between the three brothers.

Once reunited, the tension between them is palpable but because it never really relaxes, it makes it hard to root for any of them, even if it does allow for a certain amount of creepy atmosphere to bleed in. Is it scary though? Hardly, as the possession stuff is run of the mill, and the body horror stuff is just gross, impressively gross though.

The longer it goes on, the more its flaws are highlighted, and the less engaging it becomes. Come the end, a gory and violent end, the mind has become thoroughly desensitised to what The Demon Disorder is offering resulting in a strong sense of dissatisfaction come the end credits.