Mike Williams reviews this British indie slasher out Monday 20th February. Follow him on twitterhere and check out his blog, The Littlest Picture Show, here.
Debutant Arjun Rose both writes and directs this British slasher flick that boasts an ensemble of young up-and-coming talent that includes Robert Sheehan (Misfits), Ashley Walters (Get Rich or Die Tryin’) and Jason Maza (Fish Tank), as well as former Hollyoaks hottie, Emma Rigby.
It also features X-Factor judge, Tulisa Contostavlos, with whom the film opens with, as school girl, Amber, sits in her bedroom looking rather distressed until she receives a phone call. Moments later her family discover her dead after committing suicide, which becomes the overarching story and plot premise for the movie: after her classmates hear of Amber’s actions, a small group of them decide to form a pact to kill themselves simultaneously the next party they attend.
The band of teens, consisting of Archie (Sheehan), Kenny (Maza), Samantha (Rigby) and Jasmine (Jennie Jacques), to name but a few, plan out how the mass suicide will go down as they embark on their final days. However, when some parties begin to wind up dead, the remaining high schoolers aren’t sure what to make of it until they realise there is a masked killer hunting them down one-by-one, thus seeking to ruin their ‘big day’ as it were.
Demons Never Die is typical in the sense that it conform heavily to the horror/slasher genre, using standard horror conventions such as the POV of the voyeur in the bushes, noises coming from a darkened room and so forth, yet manages to build tension well as we’re left to ponder over who dunnit.
The theme of suicide is a somewhat topical one, especially with the press that suicide over bullying gets; the idea of youngsters taking their own lives is rife in the eye of the media. It blends this theme into the slasher genre well, but plays it too safe to ever threaten to be something we haven’t seen a hundred times before. Saying that, it’s actually quite a watchable film that entertains, especially if you haven’t seen much in terms of its genre counterparts.
During the third act the narrative loses its way a little as we find ourselves knee-deep in a generic teen-horror setting to conclude the movie. It is set up well enough but again, is nothing new as the finale and inevitable reveal is a little disappointing.
One of the strong aspects throughout is the soundtrack: a choice of r&b and pop, with a strangely addictive tune from Dionne Bromfield that affirms itself as the lead track and also features the music video in the extras.
Demons Never Die is, at times, a slick little film, that is well made considering the indie budget it no doubt has. There isn’t anything original on offer here, but if you’re looking for a Brit teen horror that has a recognisible and talented cast, then you’ve come to the right place.
THE EXTRAS are minimal, but there’s a music video from Dionne Bromfield (as mentioned previously) that features the lovely Chloe Moretz in its intro. Furthermore, there are a few teaser trailers as well as the theatrical one, plus a behind-the-scenes at the premiere.
