With the surprise hit District 9, director Neill Blomkamp had positioned himself as the next great sci-fi hope – and would even make Alien 5 at one point. That would probably have been better than shooting Demonic…

Of course we don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, because there is a fan for almost every movie. But we really just don’t recommend the sci-fi horror movie “Demonic”, which you can now stream for free on Amazon Freevee. We’ve only awarded 1.5 out of 5 possible stars to Neill Blomkamp’s 2021 film. But hey – at least you can watch it on Freevee without paying anything for it. You don’t need a Prime subscription for this, but you do have to put up with a few commercial breaks. Those interested in the genre can at least watch “Demonic” without obligation…

“Demonic” on Amazon Freevee*

It’s a real shame that “Demonic” didn’t work out and it’s quite a disappointment for fans of Blomkamp’s work – because the South African filmmaker is actually a science fiction specialist. His exciting and original sci-fi hit District 9, based on his short film Alive in Joburg, was a surprise hit in 2009. With “Elysium” and “Chappie” more successful sci-fi productions followed – but no longer at the level of “District 9”.

With “Demonic”, which Blomkamp quietly shot during the pandemic, he ended up doing himself (and us) no great favor – the result is a “demon horror with no real scary effect, which quickly spoils some interesting visual approaches with a messed up script and bland characters”.

“Demonic”: Good idea, boring execution

The story has a lot of potential: In Demonic, Carly Spencer (Carly Pope) has left her past behind and made a fresh start – and rightly so. Because her mother has been convicted of 21 (!) murders. But then Carly is contacted because of her mother of all people: she is now in a coma and an experimental technique makes it possible to enter her mind – although only close people can do this. Carly agrees to dig into her mother’s memory to find out what really happened back then.

In “Demonic”, Neill Blomkamp mixes sci-fi with horror, reality with virtual reality, and at least gets creative when it comes to visuals. The big problem, however, is the script. This time Blomkamp wrote it alone, and not, as is usually the case, with his wife and writing partner Terri Tatchell. Poorly developed characters and well-worn horror clichés meet empty content and a lack of logic there, according to our CELEBTAP review.

“Alien 5”: The promising project was put on hold

But why would we wish Blomkamp would have shot “Alien 5” instead, even though the director is apparently no guarantee of quality cinema? Blomkamp’s planned “Alien” movie was especially so eagerly awaited by fans of the horror series, because the content is directly reminiscent of the masterpieces “alien‘ by Ridley Scott and ‘Aliens – The Returnby James Cameron and should ignore parts 3 and 4, which many disliked. So Blomkamp’s “Alien 5” would have been an “Alien 3”. More about this and why the plug was pulled from the project can be found here:

The canceled “Alien 5” should fulfill this fan wish. This is Blomkamp’s next film

And what can we expect from Neill Blomkamp in the future? Let’s put it this way: new genre, new happiness. Blomkamp’s most recent project is not a science fiction film, but an auto-actioner, and we’re excited to see how he fares in this video game adaptation. Gran Turismo, starring Orlando Bloom, Davod Harbor and Djimon Hounsou, will hit theaters on August 10, 2023. There’s no real trailer yet, but here’s a preview:

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