DEMON LEGACY (2014)

Demon Legacy (2014)
Directed by: Rand Vossler
Written by: Tracy Morse
Starring: Angelina Lyubomirova, AnnaMaria Demara, Eileen Dietz, Jamie Strange, John Savage, Kate Siegel, Kati Sharp, Matthew Currie Holmes, Michelle Nunes

DEMON LEGACY (2014)
Directed by Rand Vossler

After having her heart broken by her boyfriend of four years, Michelle (AnnaMaria Demara) decides to spend some time away in the woodland retreat of her parent’s secluded mountain lodge. Joining her at the woodland cabin are four of her college sorority sisters, who’ve decided to spend the vacation cheering up their old friend. Once night falls, the booze is broken out and the girls begin to party like they were back in high school, from dancing on the table to topless hot tub dips and even a game of dares. The latter ends up with mad-head Sharon heading into the spooky basement where she discovers a oujia board and planchette belonging to Michelle’s grandmother Grace (Eileen Dietz) who was a clairvoyant. Unperturbed by the dark history of the lodge, which saw Michelle’s grandmother die in a mysterious fire in the cabin that once stood there, the girls begin to mess around with the spirit world. Unfortunately for them, evil spirits cross over into their world and begin to hunt down and possess every human in their path.

DEMON LEGACY is an indie horror that plays upon the cabin in the woods theme, with even one of the film’s characters acknowledging that they expected the luxury lodge they’re staying in to be some creepy cabin like in Sami Raimi’s The Evil Dead. At the mention of potential spooky goings-on, Michelle spills the beans about the history of the lodge and the ground it stands on. The film plays out as expected of a movie of this genre, with a group of young adults congregating in a secluded cabin, unlocking a portal into which evil enters with the group spending the remainder of the film battling against said evil as it takes over them one by one. There’s nothing particularly new brought to the genre with this film, but it is an entertaining one up to the point in which the ‘demons’ are released.

The demons in DEMON LEGACY are the sped-up, bodypopping kind which are okay to watch in small doses, but in this instance are overdone and on-screen far too much, thus given a more comedic aspect rather than a frightening one. They’re meant to be spirits not to be messed with, but they still come across as the girls they inhabit, albeit with eerie-looking contact lenses and grungy make-up. The movements and persona of the demons just aren’t sinister enough to be taken seriously as a threat, which leaves the survivors looking terrified for nothing.

The cinematography is pretty decent, along with the score, whilst the acting is reasonable but lacks depth once all hell breaks loose. I feel if the demons were reigned in a bit, with more focus on their surroundings and claustrophobia of the cabin, then the movie would have worked that bit better. Kati Sharp steals the show as Sharon, the craziest of the five friends, who’s personality and straight-talking attitude is breathe of fresh air. The Deer Hunter‘s John Savage also stars as a small character known as ‘The Codger’ who has his eye on young Michelle, for reasons the viewer finds out in the latter end of the movie.

The tease of a gay subplot and a huge secret of one of the sorority sisters are never explored and it feels that the mere mention of these were used as filler. This is a real shame as the human and relationship aspect could have been explored more to give an added depth to the main bulk of the story.

DEMON LEGACY is not a bad watch but unfortunately it doesn’t continue the success of the foundations and quality start it made.

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