Writer/ director Emily Hagins has come claim to being the genre film equivalent of Xavier Dolan; a preternatural wunderkind who released her first film in 2006 and whose latest, the souffle-light and rather delightful comedy-horror Sorry About the Demon, was gracing festivals last year before she’d turned 30. So while it’s entirely incorrect to call Hagins a newcomer, this cleverly-packaged spin on several hoary old haunted house and possession tropes will likely bring her attention to a considerably wider audience than she has enjoyed previously.
Broken-hearted sad-sack Will (Jon Michael Simpson) has just been dumped by long-term girlfriend Amy (Paige Evans) and his job as a late-shift customer service operative for a terrible brand of toothpaste isn’t filling now single life with prospects. Now without a place to stay, he thinks the universe might not be completely out to get him, as he’s able to rent a sprawling gothic pile for a knock-down price. The owners are leaving town for a while and need a tenant. It’s almost too good to be true and, of course, it is. The house’s resident demon has decided young Grace (Presley Allard) would make an ideal host. Her parents have therefore made a deal that if Grace is left alone then the soul of the next inhabitant is all his.
From the playful animated title sequence (and indeed, the title itself), it’s clear which way the comedy and horror scales are going to tip. It’s not that Sorry About the Demon is devoid of chills, but Will is such an oblivious – and initially passive – protagonist that the demon’s works are undermined and defanged. Hagins isn’t subverting the old tropes, just repurposing them to considerable comic effect. For instance, Will receives an Amityville-style warning to get out, but it’s in the form of a cake he finds in his oven, and he’s more impressed that the icing didn’t melt than he’s worried about the threat. The humour and characters are broad, but Hagins clearly has a deep knowledge of, and love for, the horror genre so the comedy never overwhelms the proceedings. There is still very much a well-written and executed horror tale at its core, even if it could do with a slightly more zealous editorial eye.
Jon Michael Simpson is excellent as our meekly sweet hero. It would be easy to play it too knowingly, but Simpson adopts an earnestness that his comic talents only lightly speckle with archness. Again, there’s a farcical element to the humour, but Will has to be an engaging character given he’s at the centre for the entirety or everything fails. It’s a tricky balance, and its down to Simpson’s deftness – and more than a hint of goofy Owen Wilson type charm – that it looks effortless. Providing fine support are Jeff McQuitty as Will’s loyal friend Patrick, Allard who does her best take on a more PG-friendly Linda Blair, and Olivia Ducayen as Aimee, who Patrick introduces to Will as a potential new romantic prospect, but who turns out to be an amateur demonologist.
Sorry About the Demon might be just a little too breezy for those who were weaned on horror-comedy by early Sam Raimi, Peter Jackson, or John Landis, but Emily Hagins has an admirable grasp of all the elements at her disposal. There’s plenty evidence she appreciates filmmakers like Richard Linklater and Nora Ephron as much as John Carpenter and Wes Craven. The rom-com and the hangout movie are almost as visible in the film’s DNA as its horror influences. So, while its unavoidable that some will turn up their nose, there’s no reason why Sorry About the Demon wouldn’t have widespread appeal and help to entice a new generation into the genre along with perennial favourites like Goosebumps or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. Thoroughly entertaining and charming, while retaining just enough of that sweet, sweet carnage, Sorry About the Demon is a little gem.
Screening on Shudder from Thu 19 Jan 2023