“The Demented” is a film that I had no plans on seeing, until I found out the film was produced by the original makers of “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. It immediately grabbed my interest, even though I went into the film feeling a sense of caution.
The film is about a group of friends, who go on a weekend getaway to the Louisiana bayou for some fun. Their weekend is cut short, when rouge terrorists launch a chemical missile strike on the Gulf Coast. The aftermath of the blast released a biological agent that is turning people into crazed flesh eating zombies. As everything is spreading and everything spirals out of control, the group of friends are trapped in a hellish nightmare of out of control violence and flesh eating people.
I really liked “The Demented”. One of the reasons why this film is good was the direction. Writer/director Christopher Roosevelt does a very good job with the way that he directs the film’s intense sequences. He makes sure that the camera work along with the way that the scenes were planned helped create an intense and shocking feel. It helps keep my interest throughout. The other thing that makes his direction good was the fact that he manages to direct his cast. I thought, Roosevelt did a great job making sure the performances were very good. The cast did a very good job with the way that they handled the material. The performances is also what helped made this more intense than it should have been. Sarah Butler was very good in the lead role, as she made her character engaging with the way that she handled the action scenes and the way she approaches her character. The film also has a good supporting cast that includes Kayla Ewell (The Vampire Diaries), Richard Kohnke (The Carrie Diaries) and Michael Welch (Twilight). The performances along with the directing helped make this film work on a production and acting level.
The screenplay was also good. Roosevelt did a very good job with the way that he wrote the action sequences. The scenes had intensity that kept you on the edge of your seat. The action is what really kept my interest, as I was glued to the action and the story that was going on. The other thing that made this good was the fact that it doesn’t rush things. I liked, the way that he takes his time introducing the characters. The characters come off as very basic, but Roosevelt spends time setting them up that you’re interested in them. By doing that, it allows the characters to develop. He spends his time making sure that the characters are likable so that you’re into the film and you feel a reaction when a character meets an untimely end. When that happens, you become interested and it also makes the action more intense.
“The Demented” kind of surprised me, as I didn’t think that I was going to like this. I thought this would be a “28 Days Later” rip-off, but the intense action, good direction and a very good cast makes this film work.
Review Rating: Four Stars
