SO, YOU'VE DOWNLOADED A DEMON (2003)

I have long suspected that amongst the popup advertisements, viruses and pornography, the Internet hides a much darker and more twisted malevolence. I’m not talking about web sites dedicated to Pauly Shore , but portals filled with power-hungry demons ready to posses the souls of the feeble to achieve world domination. Such is the premise of filmmaker Todd Livingston’s gleeful comedy horror which takes the stupidity of youth and combines it with bile spewing demons and DIY exorcisms. Now doesn’t that sound fun……
Dave (Zak Kreiter) doesn’t wear black, he doesn’t have an unhealthy interest in death and he knows nothing about the occult. But hey, when cupid shoots that arrow, its anyone’s guess where its going to land and this time its got our Mr. Average drooling for Miranda (Casidee Riley), a cute chick whose thorny friend Cat (Sommer Fain) does nothing to alter their freaky Gothic stereotype. Its almost too much for Dave’s geeky pal Brian (Daniel Paul Schafer) to bear, he thinks his friend should be concentrating on the upcoming election for student president, a position which Brian himself would love to run for if it wasn’t for his phobia of public speaking. As Dave plans to make his move on Miranda, fate intervenes as our Goth girls find themselves kicked out of the local coven and in need of Dave and Brian’s services as they try to access a restricted web site called DemonicPossession.com. As Brian stretches his computer hacking skills to the maximum, Dave and Miranda’s relationship begins to blossom, that is until Dave is the unwitting recipient of a Demon set loose from the web site leading to much hijinks as his friends attempt to exorcise this very unwelcome visitor.

For all those cinema snobs who think nothing decent ever comes from the low-budget end of the film market, think again my friend. This is a classic example of what can be achieved with a great cast and even better production team. So, You've Downloaded a Demon is the first feature to come from the stables of Accidental Films, a Los Angeles based motion picture production company owned by Demon’s director/co-writer Todd Livingstone and producer/co-writer Nicholas Capetanakis. Imagine a funny version of Repossessed with out the annoyance of Leslie Nielson and you won’t be far from what this film is all about. Its much less spoof (and hence not all that self-reflective) but it is definitely all comedy with some wickedly funny moments stemming from both very funny dialogue and a gaggle of titillating visual jokes. Former comedian turned writer/director Todd Livingstone (who is also known for his work on graphic novels such as The Living and the Dead and The Black Forest) and Nicholas Capetanakis have written a screenplay which is sharp and surprisingly fresh given their relative inexperience in this media, but despite their grass colored gills, nothing could disguise my hearty laughter as Dave, possessed by his inner demon, violently projectile-vomits evil bile all over his fellow students during one of his door-to-door campaign promotions. Immature? Sure, but great fun to watch!
Many potentially enjoyable independent films have been destroyed during the filming process due, in no small part to the weak technical knowledge of its amateur crew. Poor sound is one area which consistently niggles me, but I’m very happy to say that, thanks to a good team of audio editors and mixers, Demon has a solid and clear sound track which never becomes muffled or confused, ensuring that all the hard work placed into the script is well received by the audience. The same applies to the visuals, and whilst it’s clear that the film was shot on video stock, it never hinders the stories enjoyment. Speaking of story, don’t go expecting anything highbrow here. As you have probably already come to realise, the plot is very silly and often gleefully childish and despite its supernatural theme, never delves into true horror but simply plays with the genre to help fuel the humor.

The films cast feature an endearing bunch of newcomers who all do an excellent job with their characters. Zak Kreiter plays the films unfortunate possession victim, turning from a mild mannered Joe into a demonised megalomaniac. Sommer Fain and Daniel Paul Schafer have the lions share of the films more memorable moments and the fiery onscreen relationship that their respective characters have is a joy to watch as they constantly bicker with each other. The sexy Casidee Riley just about holds her own amongst the films strong character competition and whilst she has her fair share of screen time, her character is written with much less humor than the others, but hey, she’s great eye candy, so who cares? Overall this is one of the most enjoyably silly films I have watched for a long time and look forward to seeing what comes next from these promising filmmakers.