Sorry About the Demon review.
Shudder brings us a fairly delightful horror comedy that covers some choices by sheer force of its likable lead character. A few avenues for fun are frustratingly passed by…but Sorry About the Demon still presents a nice time with a demon when you have nowhere else to go.
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Sorry About the Demon
Directed by Emily Hagins
Written by Emily Hagins
Starring Jon Michael Simpson, Jeff McQuitty and Olivia Ducayen
Sorry About the Demon Review
Sorry About the Demon presents its comedic intentions right from its opening moments. A family whose daughter has been possessed by a demon opts for a different route than the standard exorcism. They make a deal with the demon instead. If their daughter is spared, they will leave the home and bring the demon someone else to possess. From there we are treated to a funny, if slightly uneven, movie.
The candidate brought to the house is Will (Jon Michael Simpson). Will is a sad sack who was recently dumped by his girlfriend. He finds the home for rent at a lower price than an apartment and doesn’t think to ask why that it. The opening parts of Sorry About the Demon present very funny scenes of Will half assed inspecting the house…missing every sign that he shouldn’t take it. The next section is equally fun. Even when he discovers that something is wrong, specifically that he’s living with a demon, he simply has nowhere else to go and wants to make it work.
Fortunately for Will…the demon doesn’t consider him a good enough candidate for possession and rejects him for the second time in short order. Sorry About the Demon is as much a story about growing up as it is a light horror comedy. Will must turn around his directionless life, win back his love and…oh yeah…try to protect her from the demon.
It all works, in large part, because Simpson plays lovable loser so well. He’s likable, funny and comes across as a good guy who is easy to root for. The same can’t be said for the family that has purposely doomed him. They reappear to explain their actions and inject some more comedy into Sorry About the Demon. While it is largely Simpson’s show…he is supported by an excellent cast of characters at every turn.
The biggest problem with Sorry About the Demon is that it doesn’t fully examine each of the comedic routes that it could take. Things progress quickly in the movie. This is normally a good thing, but they end up leaving a lot of enjoyable ideas on the table. Just take the first two ideas it presents. Finding a person to sacrifice to the demon and Will being an unwitting pawn in the families deal. The movie blows through both in just a few scenes. Limitless ideas for a laugh are discarded.
The good news is that, despite missed opportunities, Sorry About the Demon always keeps its eyes on ways to be entertaining. Not every idea works but it has no shortage of ideas. It all adds up to an entertaining time.
Horror elements are always deployed in a comedic fashion, but the movie has an impressive handle on the horror tropes that it deals in. Will’s personal journey is a predictable…but Simpson’s performance makes it a worthwhile trip. Add in a satisfying conclusion and you have all the ingredients for a movie to throw on and enjoy.
Scare Value
Sorry About the Demon is one of those movies that you can throw on for a few laughs and a likable story. More than once it zigs away from a potential comedic setup too quickly…but it often lands on something enjoyable enough on its own. A good horror comedy for a rainy day.
3/5
Sorry About the Demon Link
Streaming on Shudder
Sorry About the Demon Trailer
Check out another new movie review, Dawning
For a movie that looks at a demon in the house a little differently…check out our review of Don’t Look at the Demon
