“Demigod” (2021) Adds A New Reason To Be Afraid Of The Woods
The theme of a horror movie set in the woods is a common thing in the last 30 years or so. We have had many great films like “Evil Dead”, “The Blair Witch Project”, “Friday the 13th” and many more that have tantalized our need for horror films. There is something about the woods that makes a horror movie a bit creepier than the norm, especially when things happen in the woods at night.
Any time we go camping, hiking, or even drive past a wooded area, we are reminded of those chilling horror movies we love to be scared by. It could be an evil presence, a machete-wielding maniac, or just a terrible human being that can ignite fear from us while being in the woods. It tends to make us watch our backs, camp less, and most likely avoid the woods at all cost (at least for me that is).
Recently I got to have my fear of the woods elevated by watching the film “Demigod” from Gravitas Ventures. The opening scene with a coven of witches stalking down a terrified and pregnant woman all while an ominous score is being played had me hooked right away. It was shot so well and it transitions on screen so well. Even the shadow of the baby Demigod being cut out of the sad death of the pregnant woman was well placed.
We jump to what appears to be a modern-day with married couple Robin Murphy (portrayed by Rachel Nichols) and Leo Murphy (portrayed by Yohance Myles) driving through the German countryside while looking for a cabin. This cabin is gifted to them by Robin’s recently deceased grandfather Carl (portrayed by Jeremy London in flashback scenes). I very much enjoy how these two actors play off each other when in scenes together.
I felt their performance as a married couple felt realistic. Many times horror films (or any film in general) pair two actors with zero chemistry and force an on-screen romance, which always fails to obvious movie patrons. Thankfully this was done very well by both actors and there was real heart in their performances together.
I also really loved the introduction of Arthur (portrayed by the writer/director of this film Miles Doleac) and his daughter Amalia (portrayed by Rachel Ryals) after the jump scare of Robin finding skinned rabbits hanging in a shed outside the cabin. The intensity and grittiness of Arthur were well performed and to me was a huge enjoyment of the film. Not to mention his fatherly care of his daughter Amalia. I know that some people hate when directors include themselves in their films, but being a big fan of Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, I am all for it.
There is a scene where Robin is describing to Leo her last encounter with her late grandfather and it was quite intense. The chilling way she talks about the deer and everything involved had me on the edge of my seat. Even the dream sequence scene that follows a few minutes later of her reliving the story she told Leo was very interesting. Not to mention the flashes of witches and cults were a nice touch. In a random twist, we find out that it wasn’t Robin having these dreams, it was Leo.
This build-up of terror is added nicely to the scene when Leo gets out of bed and checks things out. I love the jump scare of the witches/cult people he was dreaming of moments ago is now in his home. I thought that was done so well and added greatly to the plot.
The rest of the film changes into a “Surviving The Game” with demonic intentions kind of film. Our main characters (including Arthur and Amalia), along with a couple of new hostages (portrayed by Tatiana Piper as Katya and Manon Pages as Tabitha) chained to individual trees by their captors. This is happening while being told they will be the hunt for the lord and savior of the cult by a couple of the witches (Hettica portrayed by Lindsay Anne Williams and Latara portrayed by Elna Sanchez). The speech of this goes on quite a bit but is interrupted by the dragging of Tabitha’s “boyfriend” (this will make sense when you watch the movie) by Grimur (portrayed by Christian Stokes).
Christian Stokes is a mountain of a man and plays his role fantastically without even uttering a word. We then see the brutal killing and tearing out of the “boyfriend’s” heart by one of the witches Fell (portrayed by Sarah Fisher). I got to say that Sarah Fisher’s performance is also another one I really enjoyed. She is walking around as if she was a feral animal and has some terrifying facial expressions. Truly the whole cast is amazing but there were a lot of scenes where Sarah Fisher stood out to me (the killing scene I just mentioned being one of them). The gore in this scene is subtle but once you see the heart being ripped out of the recently killed “boyfriend” and get a peek of it in Fell’s hands, it is quite disturbing.
The moments leading up to the finale get cranked up to 11 as the hostages are released to be hunted by the Demigod. This is an intense, bloody, and frightful race for our characters to survive. Each death, double-cross, and on-screen appearance of the Demigod is terrifying. I won’t go into too much detail of who exactly gets what because it is very much worth seeing with fresh eyes but I will say the gore of some of these deaths isn’t too over the top, which in my opinion tends to be done in horror movies these days for extra shock value.
The finale of this film wraps everything up nicely. Everything seems to come together perfectly and things referenced earlier in the movie make much more sense at this point. The reveal of the deal Robin’s grandfather made (a deal with the devil in some sense, or in this case Demigod) was well written and not overly explained. I thought the way it was even portrayed by the Demigod himself was quite enjoyable. Of course, as in every movie the minions tend to get their just desserts and die. The ways each of these witches/Grimur dies are awesome. The first by the Demigod himself was out of nowhere until his reasoning why is explained.
Not to mention the fight the Demigod faces against one of these minions was filmed so perfectly in the pale moonlit woods that I wanted more. I think by far my favorite death of the film is when Amalia lights one of the witches on fire when she gets the upper hand. I will say that throughout this movie the Amalia character is quite the badass. She is smart, trained well in the ways of hunting by her father, and is incredibly helpful in keeping Robin safe. Robin and Amalia make great final girls in this film and it shows their willingness to stay alive throughout the movie.
Even the death of the witch Robin also gets the upper hand on by stabbing her in the chest with the Demigod’s sword was very cool and caught me by surprise. This is followed by the witch begging her “savior and lord” to spare her life but he laughs in her face, telling her that her purpose has been served. You don’t see this particular witch break her confidence at all during the whole movie but this part shows what little humanity she has left.
The film closes with one of our final girls making the ultimate sacrifice most heroically and ruining any future plans the Demigod had. The look of defeat in the Demigod’s eyes is very visible. Speaking of the Demigod’s eyes there is one thing I feel should be mentioned. In some of the more “later at night” scenes of the characters being hunted, you see the Demigod has glowing red eyes that tend to light up his surroundings. It reminded me a bit of the scene in “Ghostbusters 2” where Dr. Janis’s Poha (portrayed by Peter MacNicol) is roaming the halls of Dana Barrett’s (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver) apartment halls after she closes the door on him. I enjoyed the nice little reminder of this while watching “Demigod”.
I got to say that this movie is a high recommendation for me. I also very much how it was quite the bloodfest and perfect Halloween season release. Plus as a bonus, it is a good spooky woods movie. Also, I was very impressed with the cinematography and the locations they used for this film we dark, mysterious as well as beautiful. The directing and cast really make this a Halloween must-watch. It all around was very enjoyable and I think a great addition to anyone’s horror collection.
“Demigod” from Gravitas Ventures will release theatrically and digitally on October 15th.
