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DEMONESS
Produced by John Gonzales and Glynn Beard
Edited and Directed by Glynn Beard
Written by Margaret Francis
Director of Photography - Anthony V. RuggieriJim - Glynn Beard
Teresa - Margaret Erin-Easily
Old Woman - Corey Elias
Ian - Jason Fenton
The Crier - Lorena GutierrezOriginally titled THE CRIER, Glynn Beard's DEMONESS, from EI Cinema's Shock-O-Rama label, is the classiest Full Moon title that Full Moon never released. I don't mean that in a negative sense; the movie just happens to follow the Full Moon formula to a tee! You have the intro/teaser sequence, long character set up, bloodbath, and resolution - all in about 75 minutes. It's short, to the point, and very well done. The only real padding comes in the credits, something many Full Moon alumni will find familiar.
The Crier was a woman who bore illegitimate children over 300 years ago. In that puritanical age, her fellow villagers labeled her a whore and witch, and set out to kill her. She escaped into the woods with her children only to comes across a vast lake. As she tried to cross, her children drowned as the villagers looked on. Before she drowned herself, The Crier swore to return and kill her pursuer's offspring for generations to come.
When Jim seeks out the help from a old woman for a love potion, he learns that The Crier's tears are an essential ingredient. Jim is man obsessed with his estranged wife, Teresa. He doesn't care what the price, he wants Teresa back. The potion provided by the old woman comes with a warning, the potion will help Jim get what he desires, but it will never make him happy. It's not long before Teresa is hanging on Jim's ever word, only he's as happy as he can be.
To celebrate their reunion, Jim and Teresa invites three sets of friends to their home in the woods for a carefree weekend. It's not long before The Crier returns from the grave to collect payment for the use of her tears. As far as movie villains go, The Crier is one tough little number who wastes no time going about ripping out throats and hearts with splatastic glee.
Rather than forcing stereotypical, faux-character development on viewers, Beard allows his actor's natural charisma to shine through with his supporting characters. It makes sense for characters, who are ultimately going to die, to be as believable as possible when they are alive, it allows for better tangibility with the audience. As I say in almost every horror review I write, if the audience doesn't care about the characters, then the film will fail on every level. The kills will have no impact and the suspense will be minimal.
On the DVD, Beard provides a detailed commentary concerning every facet of the film's production, from how many feet of film was shot to alluding to whom might have been sleeping with whom. The hilariously self-deprecating commentary is extremely practical, when Beard isn't picking apart his film's gaps in logic, he gears his discussion directly towards the novice filmmaker on what NOT to do when attempting to mount a production. Beard wants filmmakers to learn from his mistakes and offers valuable advice concerning working with actors; one, never cast yourself, especially in a lead, the performance will always pale compared to the others; two, allow actors to go with the moment and not be tied down to the script. What can be achieved is always better than what will be achieved.
The disc also contains a short film the many of the cast and crew from DEMONESS worked on, Y2K: SHUTDOWN DETECTED. If you've visited any horror site on the web, then chances are you've heard about this production. Originally meant to be a feature, Y2K is a more an extended trailer than stand alone short. There's also an extremely detailed Y2K behind-the-scenes featurette, but not one for DEMONESS. The disc also contains a large collection of IE trailers from the Shock-O-Rama line and the various Seduction Cinema labels.