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Stars: Alexis Zollicoffer, Noah Kershisnik, Dave Martinez
Director: Jacob Lees Johnson
Producer: Castle Productions

“Where did you come from?”

Day two of Grimmfest featured an incredible genre hybrid in the form of I See the Demon. From writer-director Jacob Lees Johnson, a horror-thriller is present with the aim of intriguing and terrifying its audience.

Surprise! It’s Lucy’s (Alexis Zollicoffer) birthday and she has a house party secretly orgnaised by her boyfriend, Ellis (Noah Kershisnik), and their mutual friends. For a long time, I See the Demon is a conversation-heavy film, quite far away from the horror-thriller spectacle that it eventually evolves into. Suddenly, Lucy starts seeing things and hearing things, but these aren’t normal nor correct. Growing in viciousness and dread, Lucy gradually finds herself detached from reality and conversational situations. Some things are just not making sense… In what feels like a more nightmare Groundhog Day, Lucy is aided by the presence of her mother’s carer of sorts, Billy. Somewhat reserved and not fully engaging within the party situation, Billy’s existence is presented as a form of logic and reliance for Lucy as she quickly begins to lose her mind…

Beautifully shot within a slightly dated-looking house, this pinpoint perfect location is completely ideal for the internal story that is desired to be told within I See the Demon. The torment and chaos experienced by Lucy, in what can frequently be read as an analogy of Alzheimer’s/dementia, is completely supported and legitimised by an incredible performance from Alexis Zollicoffer. The emotions that she is able to convey completely sells I See the Demon.

Much to the dismay of Lucy, and viewers alike, the claustrophobic presence within I See the Demon is brilliantly effective, whilst nerve-shredding also. In aiding this visual torture, there is the consistent bait that something just isn’t quite right, whether it’s obvious to the Lucy or viewer. The best supporting character performance is produced by Dave Martinez’ Billy – whilst sporting the look of NIN The Perfect Drug era Trent Reznor, Billy is forever present through both the calm and the chaos.

I See the Demon works excellently as an increasingly frustrating, tormenting and anxious horror-thriller. The headaches are real. The sci-fi angle, however, does occasionally feel shoehorned in to a degree. Late on, there’s almost an ambiance of the sci-fi element completely replacing horror, though still maintaining some thrilling aspects. This switchover, whilst not working to the best of abilities in terms of entertainment, enough evidence is presented to make the choice seem logical.

Ultimately, I See the Demon is a terrifically thought out horror-thriller. For as long as possible, this film manages to maintain its eerie secrecy, therefore establishing endless intrigue. The decision to flip to full-on sci-fi is a controversial one, but a risk that the filmmakers – judging by the post-feature Q&A – feel that paid off.