"The Brotherhood III: Young Demons" is pretty much like the others in the series.
**SPOILERS**
Getting ready for his first football game, Roger, (Landon McCormick) learns from fellow students Stan, (David Johnson) and Victoria, (Julie Pedersen) about a secret activity held on campus. When word gets out that Lex, (Kristopher Turner) who holds the game, has been given a book from his brother Ramsey, (Paul Andrich) about demonic spells and casts that is going to be the basis for the game, they invite friends Megan, (Ellen Wieser) and Kip, (Andrew Hrankowski) to participate in them. As they go about the games inside the school after-hours, they start to realize that something else is among them killing them off, and when they discover it's actually a student possessed by a demon that is turning them into slaves that serve him and try to get away from the murderous hordes before turning them all into minions.
The Good News: There was some good stuff in this one when it counted on it. There's a really great ability of the film to be able to make sure that the guys in this film are presented more in a sexual light than the women are. There's plenty of useless, throwaway scenes of the men in here running around topless or in their underwear, which is usually the type of tactic that is reserved for women in these films, and there's some good stuff to go around for this. The most obvious one is the shower scene, which has one of the guys taking a shower with super-short boxers that manage to get soaking wet with the camera right up in there catching the whole thing in several extended, close-up shots that pan over pretty much everything possible without anything being shown explicitly. It really stands out in the film. The main part of the story, about the role-playing game in the school's halls is unique and actually has the potential to be fun and enjoyable, and the scenes from it that are shown is actually pretty cool. There's some parts about it that really could've been exploited more, but it's still some fun to be able to get some time with it. That's also when the really cool-looking force that the demon has, as the mask and jewels look very imposing and like something that would be feared, making those scenes look even impressive. The last big plus is the way that the film throws in some really nice suspense scenes. The opening stalking in the hallways is incredibly impressive and manages to start it off with a really nice suspense. From the darkened walk-through with the flashing lightning and the quick glimpses of someone else there is what works for this. There's other scenes like this spread throughout the game, where they're stalked through the school and get really creepy at times. That they all pretty much follow the same pattern of showcasing an incredibly-slow going walk that lasts a long time. These are the film's big pluses.
The Bad News: There's a couple problems in this one. The fact that there's a ton of scenes that also go on a lot longer than they should've makes for this is the most obvious factor about it. There's a huge amount of scenes that pretty much go on much longer than they really sure. The opening walk through the hallways, which is just so long that it gets nearly exhausting when it gets going since the long walks through the hallways are pretty much done in complete slow-motion to stretch this one out even more. Pretty much all of the stalking scenes are done in this manner, and since there's so many of them it makes the film that much longer since they're spread out for so long. This here manages to be the biggest flaw of the film, although's more. There's also the film's almost complete-dryness that the film exhibits. There's no kills in here, and the transformations are done off-screen, which is really irritating and pointless as there was no way to see how the changes occur. The most graphic thing in this is a slashed arm that is seen only as aftermath and this really needed to be bunched up a little as well. The last flaw to this is the uncomfortableness some might have with the film's frank portrayal of men as sexual objects. Rather than doing this for women, it does the same tactic for men, and because it's so different than the norm, it can be something that is new and a little off-putting for some, even though it's not a complete detriment and doesn't hurt the film at all like the others do.
The Final Verdict: Pretty much the same thing that the other sequels have about them with almost the exact same good parts and flaws. Give it a shot if you're into the general style or are in the mood for a more homosexual experience, while those who can't get around that factor are urged to seek caution.
Rated R: Violence and Language
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