Sorry About the Demon – Shudder Review (3/5)

SORRY ABOUT THE DEMON on Shudder is a new horror-comedy that just works. It leans into the kitsch and campy vibe that makes horror comedies work. A fun little treat for genre fans. Read our full Sorry About the Demon movie review here – find it exclusively on Shudder!

SORRY ABOUT THE DEMON is a new Shudder horror-comedy with a simple story that delivers exactly what you’d expect. The one thing it could’ve done better is the runtime. Having a runtime of 1 hour and 45 minutes is often too long for a horror-comedy.

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This one wouldn’t have suffered from being edited a bit tighter either. Still, it takes nothing away from all the things that work really well.

Continue reading our Sorry About the Demon movie review below. Find it on Shudder from January 19, 2023.

The kindhearted quitter

I was contemplating calling the main character, Will (Jon Michael Simpson), a loser but realized this really wasn’t fair. He’s much more of a quitter. He’s kindhearted and wants to please everyone – including his own need to succeed – but whenever something doesn’t click immediately, he moves on to a new project.

That’s why his girlfriend ultimately leaves him. It’s not that there isn’t love there, but she can’t trust that he’ll ever get his act together. Also, he isn’t even there to support her when she’s getting ahead in her own career. He’s too busy taking calls at home as part of the one job, he has stuck with; Being in customer service for a toothpaste brand that nobody likes.

This job is a fun and quirky little detail that suits Will perfectly. This guy might quit on everything else, but he knows he needs to make money while figuring out what he really wants to do. Also, he isn’t really afraid of challenges, which will soon become an important trait.

Making a deal with a demon

When his girlfriend breaks up with him, Will very suddenly finds himself in need of a new place to live. However, luck strikes as a family need someone to live in their big house for a while. And at a very attractive rent. Of course, there is the one small catch that the house is haunted.

Or rather, there’s a demon in the house and it wants a human sacrifice. The owners have made a deal with the demon, that if they can’t find another human sacrifice, their young daughter will be the dish of the day for the demon. The family makes the very practical decision to rent out their house to a young man with no family (that would be Will).

Very early on, Will is confronted by the demon, but things don’t happen the way they’re supposed to. And that’s all I’ll say to avoid spoiling the story of Sorry About the Demon for you. The rest of the movie is focused on Will trying to figure out how to win back his ex-girlfriend and deal with the demon in his new home.

The most important character in Sorry About the Demon is obviously Will, and it’s fortunate that he’s portrayed by Jon Michael Simpson (Scare Package). He makes Will come across as a very kind and loving man that just needs to get his sh*t together.

Watch Sorry About the Demon on Shudder!

Emily Hagins is the writer and director of Sorry About the Demon, and she is definitely a filmmaker we’re keeping our eye on. She’s done a few feature films already, and she’s working with comedy, drama, crime, and romance. However, she is already well-versed in horror as well.

Her two most recent writing and directing credits prior to making this Shudder horror-comedy are from horror anthologies. She worked on both the V/H/S series and the horror-comedy anthology Scare Package (2019).

DON’T MISS OUT ON

The Scare Package sequel “Rad Chad’s Revenge” which was even better than the first anthology film >

As already mentioned, my one complaint (if you can even call it that) is that this horror-comedy runs a tad too long. And yet, this is easily forgiven thanks to the delicious elements throughout. This is a love letter to the kitsch and campy horror-comedy hybrid and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sorry About the Demon is streaming exclusively on Shudder from January 19, 2023.

Details

Director: Emily Hagins
Writer: Emily Hagins
Stars: Jon Michael Simpson, Jeff McQuitty, Olivia Ducayen, Paige Evans, Dave Peniuk, Sarah Cleveland, Presley Allard, Jude Zappala