Connect with us
'Demons', a horror comedy from Singapore, only lands half of its jokes and even less of its horrors.

Film

Berlinale 2019: ‘Demons’ is a Poor Attempt at Horror Comedy

‘Demons’, a horror comedy from Singapore, only lands half of its jokes and even less of its horrors.

A satire of male entitlement that is neither surreal enough to be amusing nor cutting enough to be insightful, Demons is an exhausting experience. A two-hander between an abusive male director and the actress in his latest play, it combines horror and comedy to an ambitious, yet frustrating effect. While notable for its playful aesthetic and willingness to shake things up, it only lands half of its jokes, and even less of its horrors.

Vicki (Yanxuan Vicki Yang) suffers from intense paralysis. In an early anecdote, she remembers trying put her hand up at school to go to the toilet. She couldn’t do it, wetting herself in the process. The young woman feels much the same way around Daniel (played by one of Singapore’s most successful theatre directors, Glen Goei), a domineering and abusive man who turns Vicki’s life into a living nightmare. Trauma becomes a fact of her everyday life, resulting in an immersive, surrealist, and very strange cinematic experience.

It’s easy to see what Demons is trying to do here. The abuse of power is an already absurd fact of life that has been accepted as a necessary part of the myth of the male artist. Director Daniel Hui gave himself the same name, making Demons something of an autobiographical portrait of the trauma a director can cause, intentional or not, when making a work of art. Why not turn it up a notch to see just how stupid the whole myth really is?

For example, one particularly absurd scene sees Daniel give Vicki a fish, telling her it’s a hat. Everyone goes along with it, making for one of the best laughs in the movie. Yet, unlike a Yorgos Lanthimos movie, we never truly know the rules, making it hard to be immersed in this bizarro world. Additionally, instead of tying the absurdity to a fundamental reality of human life, it stretches off into realms that seemingly bear no relation to this original power dynamic. This is especially true when the plot switches things up entirely halfway through, imagining what it would be like if Daniel were in Vicki’s shoes. At first, seeming like a necessary investigation into the relations between the sexes, the film cannot tether this change to real emotion, and loses the thread entirely.

With a boxy, 16mm aesthetic that recalls the lost film documented in Shirkers, Demons utilises its small frame to really focus on the human face. But these actors, although admirably chewing into the material with everything they’ve got, prove rather distracting. It’s hard to tell if they are intentionally hammy, or the players are genuinely that poor; either way, they get tiresome quickly, overacting every scene like they’re in the final school play.

With Crazy Rich Asians, Shirkers, and A Land Imagined, the tiny island nation of Singapore is finally having its long-awaited moment in the cinematic sun (it helps internationally — as in for America — that most of the nation speaks English as either a first or second language). By casting Glen Goei, director of Forever Fever, the first Singaporean film to ever do well internationally, Demons is forging new ground while paying homage to the past. Sadly, this film seems unlikely to be popular outside of the small sovereign city-state.

The 69th Berlin Film Festival runs February 7, 2019 – February 17, 2019. Visit the festival’s official website for more info.

Written By

As far back as he can remember, Redmond Bacon always wanted to be a film critic. To him, being a film critic was better than being President of the United States

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake? Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Celebrity

Jackson Taylor's Death Jackson Taylor's Death

Cause Of Jackson Taylor’s Death: The Shocking Details of His Fatal Accident!

Celebrity

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64? Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Celebrity

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023? Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Celebrity

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband? Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband?

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis’s First Husband?

Celebrity

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet? Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Celebrity

Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend

Who Is Lola Consuelos’s Boyfriend: About Her Dating History

Celebrity

Travis Kelce’s Wife and The Surprising Rise to Fame of Travis Kelce

Celebrity

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Celebrity

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Celebrity

Candace Parker Net Worth: Unraveling the Basketball Star’s Path to Wealth, Legacy

Celebrity

Caliphate Season 2 Release Date Caliphate Season 2 Release Date

Breaking: Caliphate Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Spoilers, Trailer, Plot, and Every Newest Update!

TV

Melissa Rivers’ Engagement

Celebrity

Jerry West's Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon's Love Life Jerry West's Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon's Love Life

Jerry West’s Wife: Unraveling the Untold Chapters of a Basketball Icon’s Love Life

Celebrity

Robert Pattinson and Suki Waterhouse’s Relationship Timeline

Celebrity

Is Ruth Connell Dating Someone in 2023? All About Ruth Connell Love Life 

Celebrity

Connect