The Black Demon (2023) Trades Thrills and Coherence for Uniqueness
Title: The Black Demon
First Non-Festival Release: April 26, 2023 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Writer: Carlos Cisco, Boise Esquerra
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Starring: Josh Lucas, Fernanda Urrejola, Jorge A. Jimenez
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Nature has a way of fighting back against humans when progress and money is deemed more important than the survival of the planet. What happens when something more supernatural takes charge in the battle?
A Mexican legend known as The Black Demon, a megalodon shark with a vicious appetite and temper, is responsible for the deaths of fisherman up and down the coast of Baja, California. Paul (Josh Lucas) decides to bring his family with him on a routine inspection of an oil rig near a small coastal town so they can vacation while he works. Unbeknownst to them, the locals have called upon the help of a spirit to take vengeance against the company that is ruining their lives.
Tepid supernatural shark attack movie The Black Demon squanders its interesting premise in favor of plodding social commentary.
The idea of combining the wrath of an Aztec God with the primal terror of a megalodon attacking an oil rig sounds like a great concept. The Black Demon stuns in its fumbling approach to both creature feature mayhem and supernatural terror. A much more eco-horror-based plot than anticipated, The Black Demon opines for most of the film about the damage done by humans to the town and surrounding environment. The economic and ecological impact is evident, which makes the introduction of this sunny American family stick out even more as inappropriate.
From there, the feature falls into the predictable SyFy original shaksploitation film which is disappointing to say the least. Dull action sequences and a lack of bodies make the film hard to take seriously given its zany premise. Aside from a bizarrely out-of-place barfight, most of the action in The Black Demon takes place on the isolated oil rig in the middle of the ocean. A great setting in an otherwise mediocre film, The Black Demon stagnates in its repetitive shark attack frenzy. While working to pull off their escape plan, the only thing the group can do is find ways to get themselves into water, on purpose or otherwise. The titular creature doesn’t have to do much to lure the group into the jaws of death because they are working overtime to do it for him.
Possibly the only thing that the film does right is giving a plausible reason for why the group cannot escape to safety. Between the supernatural biddings of an ancient deity and the conspiratorial sabotage from humans, The Black Demon effectively isolates its crew in a reasonable manner and forces them to creatively free themselves from the terror.
Uninteresting characters and uninspiring performances add unnecessary weight to this shark disaster flick. There’s something to be said about an American man facing the consequences of the corporate greed inflicted terror brought on to undeserving people, but The Black Demon doesn’t do much to develop him beyond the essential character redemption arc. His family is rather flat with his wife, Ines, serving as a translator and his daughter, Audrey, serving as a makeshift engineer in plotting their lifeboat escape. The oil workers are there for comic relief and to make Paul feel better about his mistakes while denouncing the big wigs at the top. It’s bland which begets more blandness, especially in terms of the one-note performances by most of the cast.
Poor production values don’t help the film either, as the choppy special effects work and odd cinematography choices spoil the chum further. The few hallucinogenic sequences the audience is given are underwhelming in the worst ways. Churning with cgi eyeballs and unnaturally bright neon jellyfish, they serve as a distraction from the roughly rendered computer generated shark which changes size depending on the needs of the shot.
This reviewer has a particular soft spot for shark horror films, and it is with much disappointment to share that The Black Demon continues the trend in the genre of horrifically mediocre offerings served to cinemagoers. Light on much carnage and heavy on exposition without much story or character development, this sci-fi horror film has a genuinely intriguing concept marred by its inability to execute any tension. Never mind the poor effects and lifeless performances, The Black Demon rides on its unintentional ludicrousness before the waves crash ashore. Far from the worst shark film release, it certainly is the most fumbled sharksploitation project that made it this far to theaters in the last decade.
Overall Score? 4/10
