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Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 67Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerAustin ChronicleRichard WhittakerEven if it becomes a little more familiar in the third act, especially to fans of that weird era of Nineties supernatural action thrillers like End of Days and Fallen, it's undeniable that Demonic rips open new technical possibilities for horror.
- 50SlashfilmChris EvangelistaSlashfilmChris EvangelistaEverything feels so sterile, filmed under cold, harsh lights. It’s one of the most horror-free horror movies in recent memory. Maybe Blomkamp should give sci-fi another shot.
- 42IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichThe 80 minutes of the movie that are set in flesh-and-blood reality can’t help but seem flat by comparison, as the thrust of the film’s story is so functionally reverse-engineered from its central gimmick that Demonic winds up feeling like a glorified proof-of-concept video that should have been exorcised of any grander ambitions.
- 42The A.V. ClubCharles BramescoThe A.V. ClubCharles BramescoWhile Blomkamp does have one impressive CGI trick up his sleeve, he totally drops the ball on the narrative end of things.
- 42The Film StageEli FriedbergThe Film StageEli FriedbergBlomkamp, one suspects, does not possess the same imagination for interior worlds he’s exhibited for external. Demonic largely proves this thesis correct.
- 42The PlaylistNick AllenThe PlaylistNick AllenBlomkamp continues to baffle even more with Demonic, as he’s made a horror film that is so rote it’s hardly scary, all to showcase a developing technology that is intriguing as a sales pitch but unconvincing as a narrative device.
- 38Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenLike District 9, the film is a genre outing with big ideas that’s more committed to the power of arsenals and pyrotechnics.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreDemonic just makes you wonder whatever possessed Blomkamp in thinking it would work.
- 30VarietyOwen GleibermanVarietyOwen GleibermanAt one point, a character in a coma is referred to as having Locked-In Syndrome, which means that she’s still aware of her surroundings but is totally unable to move. By the end of Demonic, you’ll know just how she feels.
- 19TheWrapWilliam BibbianiTheWrapWilliam BibbianiDemonic isn’t just a low-budget supernatural–sci-fi thriller; it’s also a shallow one, a boring one, a poorly conceived one — and the characters stink too.