E-Demon (2016)

directed by Jeremy Wechter
USA
85 minutes
4 stars out of 5
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I honestly watched this because I was curious about just how awful it would be based on the title. I mean, no movie can be called "E-Demon" and be decent, right? Wrong.

It's a found-footage movie in the form of recorded video chats between four friends who slowly get picked off by an ancient and vicious demon after one of them opens up an old haunted trunk in his attic that his grandma warned him was cursed. It's established that the four friends have a history of pranks on each other, which provides some context as to why they don't immediately call the police and freak out when one of them appears to get killed on camera. Whether or not the "haha it's a prank right????" trope is overused and boring or not is up to you, but in this instance I actually didn't mind it, possibly because it was in the past, and the characters are all a little older than the mischievous college kids who usually populate films like this.

I also genuinely liked the idea of the demon. It's hard to explain why it appealed to me, maybe because it was taken so seriously and cast as this thing that has existed since forever and has simply adapted to the internet as its new method of getting victims. Good acting has a lot to do with why this was a good film, too. The group's only girl, Kendra, was a really strong character and probably my favorite, because she was so capable and was the only one who actually did anything that had an impact on the situation as a whole. Tied into that is another thing I appreciated about this- that it doesn't give any quarter to sexual assault, doesn't exploit it but states clearly that it's a line that isn't to be crossed. 

My opinion on this might change later but I've seen so many bad movies in the "screen sharing" format that a good one like this takes me by surprise. It doesn't wear out its welcome, it doesn't pull punches, it reveals what has to be revealed at the precise best moment for maximum effect. I'm surprised this is a first-time director, but I also think a first-time director is the only person who could have the courage to try their hand at a format so widely derided.