The Demon Disorder

It’s the 4th day of Spooktober and time for another horror movie review! The last new horror movie I covered, Oddity, was a critical darling and told a restrained spooky tale that relied more on implication and creepy imagery – not so much for this one! Among the first things I heard about The Demon Disorder were how great its gory special effects are, and I am kind of a gorehound so I couldn’t resist this Australian splatterfest. The Demon Disorder’s story is very simple, it tells the story of three brothers living in rural Australia, reunited after the death of their father. Their father became very strange in the days before his death, and though his sons thought that they would simply move past the traumatic experience, the bizarre events on the family farm continued, with the youngest son beginning to act like his deceased father.

While The Demon Disorder isn’t the most complicated in terms of plot, it more than makes up for that in terms of visuals, both in the atmospheric nature of the movie and in the awesome gore effects that hit hard and don’t stop hitting once they start. Rural horror has always been interesting to me, and the quiet desperation of the rural poor trying to deal with a bizarre horrific situation when they know no one is coming to save them is more compelling than many realize. Even though the horror is supernatural in origin, the main thrust of what’s scary comes from the isolation and powerlessness of dealing with family situations, and the use of a supernatural aspect to not soften, but translate something like that is a pretty smart move. So many movies try to be about trauma without doing anything with it, but The Demon Disorder tackles this topic in a much smarter way.

The Demon Disorder doesn’t redefine cinema, but it is another good addition to the possession genre that is still doing weird things without just being another ripoff of The Exorcist. This definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you enjoy over the top gore and great special effects, this is definitely something you should give a watch.