Inner Demons (I) (2014) User Reviews

Almost gave it a 5! 4 is more accurate tho.

[Patient444 · 4/10 · 11 October 2014]

Well, you have your portion of typical, spiced with some cliché here and there, a tall glass of jump scares that you can easily predict and as desert a sort of twist ending that has no flavor.

Can you go on living without seeing this? Surely enough! But if you're a horror collector and want to add one more, is it worth the time spent on it? My opinion is...if you have time to waste and you wanna fly it off on something solely so you can feel that you traveled a little in the future to reach your destination faster, okey, maybe Inner Demons might help you on this one. But other than that, this production is just another movie that will get lost in the crowd, so many like it, you'd think people are cloning them or something. Don't know what the point of it all is, but I'm done trying to figure it out. If anyone out there has a better answer than: "so they can make a name in the horror industry"; "so that they can get noticed"; "it's their long life dream", please let me know!

Inner Demon, not original, not new, not different, but not too bad either. It stands just as a copy, if you want to re-watch a movie but with different actors, this is the way to do so.

Cheers!

Interesting and unique take on demon possession

[ArchonCinemaReviews · 6/10 · 11 October 2014]

Inner Demons is a new and interesting take on the demon possession genre of horror.

Inner Demons is told in the vein of an unaired reality show episode similar to Intervention, called "Step Inside Recovery". It is season eight and the producers are pretty disillusioned and are just trying to get a shocking backstory and footage to keep ratings. Producers get what they asked for when the featured addict Carson says she's possessed by a demon and that's what is causing her addiction.

Yes, Inner Demons is technically unoriginal because once again we have a possession horror film. There are so many different versions released by now that how can anyone matter to add something new to the genre? Writer Glenn Gers manages to do just that by rethinking the idea of addiction. Every drug addict has a reason, always trying to dull the pain that lurks underneath and figuratively kill the darkness inside but Gers reinvents the causation of drug addiction to be literal. It is quite surprising this has never been thought of before, to my knowledge, and is an intelligent choice.

Carson is played by Lara Vosburgh who does a really wonderful job playing a demon possessed drug addled heroin/Oxycontin addict. Morgan McClellan is Jason, the new PA and camera operator who takes to Carson, believing her story, and trying to save her from the darkness. Both are sincere in their portrayal and provide surprisingly well acted roles in Inner Demons.

Seth Grossman provides the direction to Glenn Gers's witty and realistic dialogue. Nothing is sacred as the production crew insensitively and bluntly discuss their subject Carson with zero empathy.

Once Inner Demons focuses more on the demonic possession of Carson the film becomes more formulaic and expected and lacks the sinister gore typical of a person consumed by evil.

More reviews in FULL can be found at our website.

Disappointed

[dannib89 · 5/10 · 11 October 2014]

I was so disappointed. I love demon movies and was excited to see a new take on it.

It seemed like it could be OK in the beginning, but as soon as she spoke in that 2 tone voice, I started to lose hope. It needed a lot more depth as well, there wasn't a lot of connection there.

To me the effects they used in this movie were really ammeter and they just got worse as the movie progressed.

Also the camera jumping around all the time made me a little nauseous. That was another thing, I didn't realise before I watched it, that it was hand held camera - you can still do it good without having the camera jump all over the screen.

I loved the idea of this, but overall I was really disappointed =(

Paranormal activity rip off,focusing more on the possessive part.

[djangozelf-12351 · 1/10 · 21 August 2015]

This is a mash up of horror movies that done this way better.

It takes way to long for the terror to start because we need explanation on how addiction works and that takes up more than half of the film.

The actual last scene saves it a little but not enough to watch the whole flick.

It's just 1 more flick for the big B-movie pile.

I'm giving this a real low rating because now it's to high and I don't think it deserves that.

Believe me,your better of not have seen this product.

So,beware.

Take care.

Do not look at this "not" nightmare.

Seriously...don't.

Horrible writing, contrived acting

[LiamBlackburn · 1/10 · 8 October 2014]

Bad early execution ruins what could've been an average possession shocker. Who writes this stuff. It was failure right off the bat with the camera guy that they found on Craigslist. Then there's the main girl, why is she being directed to act like this. It's just horrible. Her mannerisms during the first drug interview are so contrived. She looks like she's acting in a high school play. Then reciting Bible verses come on. This is enough. Enough of the Bible, it's just too overplayed. No one wants to hear Bible Verses during a movie, not even if it's coming from a Satanically-possessed girl. It's just wrong. I can't say it's the girl's fault for the lines she's being fed. It's the director's fault for allowing such vanilla acting from the cast. The idea of the movie is good. Idea's are just ideas though. Execution is another thing.

Overworked

[begob · 4/10 · 21 January 2015]

I guess found footage only delivers from a primitive POV, an unedited feel.

This has way too many cameras and cuts, and too many camera operators as characters. Blame the director.

The doomed romance is good, but the story fails because the film makers are more important than the characters.

Possessed girl is well played by a beautiful actress. The acting overall is excellent, especially the to-camera interviews - but far too many parts. Better to cut the medical stuff to voice over, while the visuals give evidence of the possession.

Also no confirmation of possession - might as well be a mockumentary on a dysfunctional family. Therefore: not a horror.

Minimal impact, despite all the effort and care.

Doesn't offer much new, but entertaining nonetheless.

[victoryismineblast · 7/10 · 17 October 2014]

6.5/10. A young religious straight A student becomes an intravenous pill and heroin user seemingly overnight and causes turmoil for her family. Believing she is on a path of destruction, her family agree to let an Intervention style reality show document her addiction and eventually try to get her into rehab.

As they follow her every move, they come to realize that she believes she is using drugs to hold back something sinister inside of her and that she has no other choice.

Once she goes to rehab and is off the drugs, events are set into motion and the real fun begins (for us, at least).

This entertaining found footage possession horror doesn't offer much new to the genre but does deliver some scares and an entertaining story. In the quagmire of these types of movies being released these days, this is one of the better ones and worth a watch.

Found religion and exorcism footage

[kosmasp · 4/10 · 11 November 2016]

Another horror movie, another found footage thing. The German cover is quite misleading by the way, just in case you saw that. This is kind of by the numbers (if there is such a thing with exorcism rituals). You may like it a bit better than I did, but I didn't really feel there was much to it.

That being said, there have been worse Found Footage and exorcism movies. So this isn't really super bad (no pun intended), but it just doesn't quite make the cut. Predictable and kind of stretching out, this does offer a couple of scares at certain places. Not enough in either direction, so if you are in need of more horror, you could do worse than watch this. But if your time is valuable, maybe skip it

Creepy, scary, new vision and fresh story

[broncoman-36978 · 7/10 · 8 August 2015]

First, I gotta ask...WHY do so many reviews on here EXPLAIN the plot/story/characters of the movies being reviewed? You're sposed to give your opinion of why/how you liked/disliked the film, not explain the dang story! Lol. I've read reviews that were 10 paragraphs explaining every little part and character of the movie and not even touching on why they liked it or not lol. Anyways that being said, Inner Demons creeped me out! Not since Emily Rose have I been "scared" of a possession film. This one hits the spot, good story, good effects, good acting for hand-held style. The girl immediately made me shiver with her eyes and look, and I don't shiver easy lol. Give it a shot!

Could have been way better.

[frankblack-79961 · 3/10 · 19 September 2021]

First off, the whole rehab thing is so wrong. No rehab works in the way they filmed. Nobody in detox goes to group or has contact with family or anyone except the facility staff. So the whole film is kind of wrong from the onset. Some creep stuff for sure, but all in all this one failed.

Good idea- Intervention meets the Exorcist...

[sgcim · 8/10 · 9 August 2015]

I thought the concept of this found footage flick was pretty good. The director had produced several episodes of "Intervention", and perhaps this can be thought of either as an expose or satire of that TV show. SPOILERS************************ The fact that the staff of this Intervention-like show are so jaded and cynical is pretty funny to begin with, and the fact that the girl was possessed instead of a drug addict eventually wound up giving the staff exactly what they deserved. The director and whatever the fat guy was were both killed by the girl, and the PA/cameraman was seduced and eventually possessed by the demon. I don't know why people took this film so seriously; it was obviously intended as a kind of very dark subversion of the Intervention scenario, and as such was very entertaining. One great touch was the girl shoving the phony script that her supposedly best friend wrote for the intervention segment down the friend's throat! Another was the look on the face of the baldy producer when the girl started speaking in a demon's voice during the intervention. Some other dark comedic touches were when the nurse tied her to a tree and covered her in goat's blood to save the girl's life, and wound up getting fired for it. After watching the scene where the woman director tells the head of the rehab hospital that the show is never going to plug his rehab hospital again when he boots the possessed girl out of the place, I don't think I'm ever going to take the show "Intervention" seriously again...

A Refreshing Take On Something That Has Been Done To Death

[HorrorOverEverything · 7/10 · 7 October 2014]

Possession movies have been big now for a while. There have been sooooo many over the years since The Excorsist. Then found footage was introduced and Found footage/Possession movies started popping up like crazy. It's a genre that is hard to do without being like every other movie. Inner Demons actually manages to pull off this genre in a new and interesting way.

So Inner Demons plays out like you are watching an episode of "Intervention" with demons, this was a nice touch and moved the movie along well. We are introduced to Carson who is a drug addict who uses drugs to hide something evil. She is actually a fairly interesting character, a little dull but sweet and you actually care for her. The supporting characters are also pretty well done.

Things don't exactly move very fast in the movie, but I was still entertained throughout. The first 45 minutes sets things up well with interviews from the characters and banter between the TV Show crew. Once things do start to pick up and get crazy it isn't exactly anything you haven't seen before but does make for a few jump scares. The finale however, is pretty nuts and a lot of fun.

Overall this actually a pretty entertaining found footage flick. It's not all original, and you will see some things you have seen done before, but it does add in some new elements to make it it's own movie and a fun ride.

7/10

They gave her a boy's name - Carson, so no wonder she turned to depression, Goth-chick-ism, Satanism and heroin.

[fedor8 · 25 April 2023]

Even worse, the name CARSON gets shouted out about 550 times, which makes that name triply annoying. Or not triply but 550thly annoying.

I vowed I wouldn't choose any more of these possession flicks, because they bore me so much, but decided to watch this because the premise wasn't stereotypical, and there was no over-the-top priest chanting gibberish - which I find particularly tedious.

I was right that the movie features no corny priests doing corny exorcistical things - but I didn't know that the cameraman character would be fulfilling that role at the end of the movie. In other words, I was naive and optimistic in my belief that there can be a demonic-possession film without yet another silly, generic exorcism.

I was willing to put up with the bad acting, the slow pace, the feeble direction and the overall air of semi-amateurishness, because I liked the notion of a junkie using heroin in order to keep a demon at bay, and the fact that the plot was set in a rehab, which is unusual for a horror film.

However, the movie suddenly, unexpectedly and bafflingly moved out of rehab after an hour, which was the first stupid decision. Then the 2nd stupid decision: giving us that wholly idiotic backstory how she got possessed in the first place. That college-kids conspiracy-prank Satanic ritual shtick was not only absurd and totally unconvincing, it was badly shot and amateur.

And of course the 3rd bad decision, which as I mentioned is the cliche exorcism ritual. Can't these bozo film-makers come up with a new way of casting out demons? Jesus, surely there must be a 100 new ways these "creative" writers can come up with something that doesn't involve holding a Bible and reading bits of random nonsense from it. Or as in this case, not necessarily a Bible but a book on demonology. Instead of being suspenseful, the big finale was very dull. Totally flat. And idiotic.

The acting isn't all bad. It varies from decent to awful, but it's mostly on the crap end of the spectrum. The girl's parents are unconvincing as are some of the rehab inmates, while the doctor and the female lead are OK.

Good b horror

[SpicyRamenDude · 5/10 · 11 April 2022]

It was okay for a b horror. After watching a lot of found footage this one mixes up some reality inner demons with drug use. I wanted more of the "signs" there's a lot of hang time but that's found footage for you.

Spoiler: I also wanted to see some "slaughter" in the facility and to see the annoying people die but I was not given the satisfaction. The climax at the house was also good but the ending was so cliche.

A demon possession movie with it's own share of good and bad.

[climbyourarms · 6/10 · 3 June 2017]

I don't like the movies that simulate the "handheld" cinematography, I've walked out of many theaters for that reason, they give me motion sickness. This movie's "handheld" feel was beautifully executed. It showed some motion and some scenes were shot in "selfie mode", but it wasn't that bad. Anyway, there are two types of movie that creeps me out. The ones that mess with my head, and the others that give me the "being chased/something in the dark" willys. This movie gave me tons of the latter. I love horror flicks, and I've watched so many movies about possession, and this movie knocked Deliver us From Evil out of it's number one spot for me. A few scenes had me laughing giddily because I was a bit freaked out. Lara V. (Carson) had a split personality throughout. She could be sweet and timid, but she always had this menacing look about her, and when she switched, sometimes it was overdone, but it didn't bother me. Great twist at the end, too.

Now,the bad. The acting in spots was terrible, the plot is contrived and worn out, and one spot where Carson's friend plays a video for the male lead, it was so over the top... Well, you'll see what I mean. Then again, there are cult movies out there that are so ridiculous, it makes this movie look true to life. Either way, it's definitely not a 10 but it's great for a cheap thrill, as long as you can look past it's flaws.

Innovative take on demonic possession brought down by implausible third act

[Armin_Nikkhah_Shirazi · 6/10 · 16 July 2023]

INNER DEMONS tells the story of teenager Carson, who has become a heroin junkie. Her devout parents have agreed to let her get treatment within the framework of a reality show that follows the rehabilitation of addicts. Eventually, it turns out that her problem is more than just a drug addiction.

This found footage film connects two subjects which, in retrospect, are such a natural fit that it seems strange that they were not combined before in horror (to my knowledge): substance addiction and demonic possession. Thus, the brilliantly chosen title attains both a metaphorical and a literal meaning.

There are several good found footage horror movies dealing with demonic possession or exorcism, such as THE LAST EXORCISM (2010), THE POSSESSION OF MICHAEL KING (2014) and THE DEVIL'S DOORWAY (2018).

Part of what makes these movies so good is that each successfully finds a novel angle by which to approach a well-worn familiar subject. DEMONS joins this eclectic group by means of a novel premise, one according to which a woman becomes a substance user not to get high but to keep a literal demon inside her at bay.

The framing of the story within a reality show provides the justification for the found footage format. Technically, this movie is executed well: the acting is convincing, the production values good, the pace just right and the cinematography appropriate to the format.

Once the demonic aspect comes to the fore, there are a few cliché CGI effects to convince us that the demon is real, but I found them altogether unnecessary if not cheapening. Other than that, the movie proceeds quite well until the end of the second act.

At that point, Carson gets expelled from her treatment center and the cameraman who tries to help her gets fired, and from then on the movie becomes increasingly more implausible on several fronts.

One implausibility concerns the justification for filming, since the reality show crew reason is no longer operable. But I tend to be forgiving of that because I would rather be able to see what happens than be constrained by realism on that point.

Another implausibility concerns the character arc of the cameraman: his actions late in the movie reflect a person so different from the way he is presented at the beginning that it becomes unconvincing.

Finally, the "twist" which reveals how Carson got possessed requires a bit of suspension of disbelief. Moreover, it raises the question of why she herself never told anyone about earlier.

The movie ends on a note of true horror which, I suspect, only because it was preceded by a weak third act, has turned off a lot of critics. I believe that the same ending with a strong third act, one that somehow overcame the plausibility problems, would have been received well.

Although this falls short of being a good film, found footage fans and those who like possession movies might still enjoy it.