Inner Demon – Movie Review (4/5)

Inner Demon is a joy to watch for any horror fan. Especially those who love it when the teenage girl fights back against the psycho killers!

The trailer for Inner Demon doesn’t really do it justice. However, the teaser trailer is much better, which is why we’ve included that one at the end of this review.

Yes, it is low-budget, but it works around the low funds brilliantly.

In fact, I can find few faults with Inner Demon. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was thoroughly entertained. It happens all too rarely that we get to see a teenage girl really fight back. Of course, it does happen in movies, but often it’s because the girl was somehow damaged and then redeems herself.

With Inner Demon, we simply get to know a girl, who doesn’t give up. Especially since she wants to protect her little sister.

It might sound very simple, and yes, it is. But that’s exactly the strength of this movie.

Inner Demon uncovers human nature

In order for our main protagonist, Sam, to show her survival skills, we have to have someone trying to kill her. And in Inner Demon, the danger comes in a very human form. The inner demons are very literally within all of us. Either because people are inherently evil and enjoys hurting others.

Or because we allow ourselves to become the darkest version of ourselves to survive. And, in this case, keep those we love safe.

The brilliant thing about showing evil in human beings is the fact that it requires no special effects. That’s what makes it possible to make a low-budget movie work perfectly with this story. What you do need, are some very good actors to portray the emotions and actions that convey the story.

Inner Demon definitely got the right cast for this purpose. Sarah Jeavons is spot on as the girl fighting to survive. She reminded me of Sharni Vinson in You’re Next.

Girlpower and pure evil

Unlike many other movies, in Inner Demon the main character has no trained skills to keep her alive. Just pure instinct, brains and a tire iron that she doesn’t just throw away.

I cheered every single time a point was made in showing that she kept this weapon with her.

Especially since we know from the beginning that the killers are very ruthless. They’ve been planning to get this girl and obviously take pleasure in hurting others. More out of entertainment and boredom than anything else, it would seem.

Ursula Dabrowsky wrote and directed Inner Demon and did a great job. I was both entertained and inspired. In fact, the only fault I did find was when a few scenes dragged on for too long. But when I say “dragged” I literally only mean by 10-20 seconds. Just enough for me to notice that it was too long.

Inner Demon was produced back in 2014 and premiered the same year at “A Night of Horror International Film Festival” in Australia. Here it won Best Feature and earned Ursula Dabrowsky the Best Director award, as well.

Even if it’s already a few years old, you should definitely check it out. Since it takes place in the rural outback of Australia, it’s in no way outdated. And really, the story of kidnapping, torturing and killing is never out-of-date.

I would really love to see something new from Ursula Dabrowsky, but nothing seems to be in the works currently. Hopefully, this will change when people notice this movie.

Inner Demon finally got its US premiere when it was released on VOD on April 21, 2017.

Details

Director: Ursula Dabrowsky
Writer: Ursula Dabrowsky
Cast: Sarah Jeavons, Kerry Ann Reid, Andreas Sobik