FrightFest 2024: ‘The Daemon’ mixes psycho-drama with cosmic horror

Iconic horror films often root themselves in strong emotional or thematic ground. From The Exorcist‘s dissection of religion to The Babadook‘s grief rattle, many genre delights poke into the darkest recesses of the mind as a way to transmit their guttural terrors. With their brand new feature, co-writers and co-directors Matt Devino and David Yohe venture into a cavernous space where death and grief are intrinsically bound. The Daemon reads intensely raw and personal, a psycho-drama unraveling slowly before dipping into cosmic horror waters.

When his father Elliot (Nick Searcy) drowns himself, Tom (Tyler Q Rosen) emotionally detaches from the tragedy and makes a snide remark about finally being rid of him. He’s not shaken until he receives a handwritten note from Elliot, in which his father admits that Tom was right all along about what was living in the nearby lake. Visibly startled, Tom drives out to the family lakehouse for answers. The site of the unfortunate suicide changes right before his eyes, somehow taking on a more sinister presence. But his eyes don’t linger long and soon wander off in the direction of the lake.

As Tom mentally spirals out of control, reliving the moment his mother was dragged into the lake, his wife Kathy (Sara Fletcher) suspects something is wrong and decides to head out to the family lakehouse. Her brother Mark (Oscar Wilson) and his girlfriend Jess (Adriana Isabel), who harbors her own demons, tag along for support. Together, the group encounters a manic Tom spouting nonsense about how he won’t be able to save them from the lake’s scaly tentacles.

With an emotionally potent script, the film gives its actors room to sink their teeth into meaty material. There are moments when Rosen truly shines in the role, as he gives himself over to the urgency required to convey the story’s pulsing, central themes. The rest of the cast delivers equally sturdy performances that give the film even more weight – and there’s not a single weak link among them.

Despite the rich dramatic mechanics, the film suffers from its slow-burn approach. The Daemon takes 40 minutes to rev its engines, demanding quite a bit of patience. Flecks of sci-fi peppered into the mix function to thread the film together yet fail to keep the audience engaged for much of the runtime. But when the creative team swings for the fences in the third act, they hit a home run. Is it worth the incremental build into the climax? Only viewers can properly assess the film’s effectiveness.

Cinematographer J.R. Kraus brings a strong sense of mood and color to the story, allowing his choices to accentuate the characters and their life-or-death plight. Swampy greens and silver blues penetrate the camera lens and invite the audience to seek deeper meaning in the visual layers. Even when using digital manipulation to build the lake creature, there remains a great depth and attention to detail. When thinking about indie features and their often limited resources, leeway can certainly be permitted as long as a well-defined vision is evident.

Matt Devino and David Yohe don’t lack in that department. In fact, The Daemon feels emotionally resonant and strikes upon individual experiences that cut deep. While it isn’t without its flaws, the film emerges out of the festival circuit as a real treat. From its performances to many visual gags, The Daemon teases great promise and bright futures for its band of creatives. It’s certainly worth the price of admission.

The Daemon made its world premiere at this summer’s FrightFest.

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