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Category:    Home > Reviews > Horror > Thriller > Supernatural > Demon Hunter (2004)

Demon Hunter (2004)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Feature: C-

 

 

Running out of options on how to push television, producer Stephen J. Cannell decided to try for an entry in the Horror sweepstakes with Scott Ziehl’s Demon Hunter, a 2004 attempt to pick up where a declining Buffy/Angel franchise and long gone X-Files franchise had left off in the monster hunter category.  Even with more explicit nudity and suggestive sex, it cannot overcome being haunted by every cliché in the book.

 

Sean Patrick Flannery is unfortunately wasted as the title character, who is working in conjunction with the church to battle demonic possession and the occasional succubus.  His character Jake Greyman can see the truth over all others, but unfortunately cannot tell a bad script from a good one.  Flannery does give it his all and is far more appealing than Stuart Townsend was in the even more obnoxious revival of Night Stalker on TV a year later.  However, it does the sex much better than the scares, and it is not so good at the sex, so…

 

In general, what has happened is that for years, many TV and feature film properties tried to imitate and have commercial success with the original 1974-75 Kolchak: The Night Stalker and its preceding telefilms (all reviewed elsewhere on this site) and until X-Files, all had been bombs.  Now, post Buffy/Angel that was actually a whole different thing to begin with, the search for that “Holy Grail of Horror” is on again and the results are often worse than ever.  In this case, there was a little potential, but the schlock and exploitation overtook common sense and unless this DVD is some sudden hit, will end Greyman’s adventures.

 

As a mater of fact, demonic possession has been so badly done, that even the recent set of Exorcist prequels were both a mess for a different list of reasons.  If you want to see how to do this kind of film well today, you have to see The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005) and skip this pretty much.  Better luck next time, Patrick.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.77 X 1 image is on the soft side, lacking detail and likely shot on digital HD or very problematically on film.  At least the color is not totally gutted out, like it was on the amazingly bad Constantine with Keanu Reeves (2005) that is actually worse than this.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has some surrounds and is the highlight of the DVD by default, but even this mix is limited and unimaginative down to its forgettable score.  Extras include a trailer for this and a few other Anchor Bay Horror releases, a featurette, final sequence rehearsal and audio commentary by writer Mitchell Gould and stare Nancy Yoon that is barely better than the film.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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