Inner Demons DVD Review

     Actors: Lara Vosburgh, Morgan McClellan, Brian Flaherty

Director: Seth Grossman

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Region: Region 1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: August 4, 2015

Run Time: 83 minutes

 

        Boasting a mildly unique premise and one noteworthy breakout performance from Israeli actress and model, Lara Vosburgh, Inner Demons is an otherwise all-too-familiar found footage horror film without much inspiration or originality beneath the surface. Ten years ago with a better budget this film may have been slightly relevant, but now it is just another in an endless onslaught of both bad exorcism movies and cheaply made found footage horror. This low budget independent thriller doesn’t even have the distinction of being the first or second of the found footage exorcism films, and the correlation between drug addiction within the narrative is not nearly as profoundly creative as the filmmakers seem to believe.

 

        The biggest annoyance in horror films, especially those dealing with supernatural elements, is the supporting characters’ unwillingness to believe that anything abnormal is occurring. This is hidden behind drug addiction in the plot of Inner Demons, so that the behavior of our possessed protagonist is dismissed as withdrawal symptoms. The entire film is contrived to fit into the premise of a rehabilitation reality TV show, with troubled teenager Carson Morris (Vosburgh) as the subject of the episode. Carson comes from a conservatively religious family, yet they are much quicker to believe in drug addiction than any demonic elements that are present.

 

        Carson claims that the drug addiction is merely a way for her to contain the evil demon inside of her, because apparently demons are susceptible to getting high off of heroin too. As long as Carson is doing drugs, the demons can’t take control, until her family and the reality show stage an intervention for her. Once she enters rehab with the camera crew in tow, Carmen begins to show signs of her possession, mostly shown through cheap and lazy CGI effects and static-filled camera footage.

 

        There is an insignificant sub-plot focusing on a film student interning on the production, who goes rogue when he becomes the only one to believe Carson’s story. This just provides a distraction from the main storyline, offering up lazily developed and poorly portrayed supporting characters. Like every found footage horror film, the biggest problem comes with the belief that they would continue to film in the face of dangerous situations. It all builds up to an inevitable showdown that believes a high body count will make up for a lack of narrative resolution, which ultimately left me wondering why I had wasted my time investing in the story and characters in the first place.

 

        The DVD special features include a trailer. No more attention needed to be given to this film, which feels like a quick cash grab that accidentally included a halfway decent performance from the lead.

           

 

Entertainment Value: 3/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 3.5/10

Historical Significance:  1/10

Special Features: 1/10



Follow Real Movie News on Facebook and Twitter