The Demoness (2026) by Andrew de Burgh

Director: Andrew de Burgh

Year: 2026

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Supernatural

Plot:

Desperate to spice up her life, a demonic succubus, trying to play with humanity and lead them into their darkest, depraved desires, makes a deal with the devil to assume human form and turn into a full-on seductive being capable of going after the genuine figures she craves.

Review:

Overall, this one has a lot to like about it. Among the main factors to enjoy here is an intriguing central setup that allows for an extremely likable demonic figure to take over the film with how the whole thing is structured. Taking more of a free-flowing anthology approach instead of a straightforward narrative, where each of the various interactions she has takes over the plot for several minutes before moving on to the next in a random manner, this provides the chance to move quickly through the different personalities she meets in the city, from the married couple who are experiencing marital problems, to the tech-bro engineer who's trying to pick her up, and finally the neighbors. These interactions come together into a solid setup where she goes through each of these encounters before moving to the next one. The approach on display is a great touch to keep the film moving along as her human persona meets up with these various individuals who are shown to deserve the gruesome torments and deaths that are bestowed upon them, as we learn about the various perceived infidelities, corporate scheming, and clandestine organ harvesting operations that the true people turn out to be involved in.

What gives these elements their fun here is the outright fun and glee that comes in their execution. The sheer joy that comes from the maniacal nature she has when going through the reveal of who she really is, bringing the demonic powers to the forefront and influencing the encounter so that she can manipulate her target into doing anything she wants before transporting them into a separate dimension to finish everything off, makes for a wholly engaging time with the spastic movements, cackling laughter, and perverse glee at carving someone up. These scenes of her strapping helpless victims down and then engaging in the kind of over-the-top sequences involving the captured victim forced to endure her deranged plans. Giving off a hint of her devious personality by turning each of the torture scenarios into a cruel twist based on how their interaction went down beforehand, there's a lot of fun to be had here with some fun gore and a great look for the demonic succubus' true form to give the film a lot to like.

There isn't much wrong here, but this one has some slight issues. The main drawback with the film is the randomized structure present, which may allow the Succubus to confront these depraved characters and rightfully torment them with a scattershot approach that doesn't provide much in the way of a coherent story. The entire structure comes across as a series of sketches involving the demonic spirit with random, scattered characters across the city, and then put together in this style, so it spends more time on her than the random people she meets, who are then dispatched, and a new set takes their place. This isn't terribly detrimental, but it does make for a lack of focus on everything when it randomly introduces strange people before moving on to new people and repeating the process again, as if dealing with these types of figures is the point. With there only being one set of characters who are familiar with anyone else in the film and very little interaction, it just never presents much of a conventional storyline, and some cheesy low-budget effects are what lower this one slightly.

Overview: ***.5/5

Graced with some solid, energetic elements and a somewhat workable central storyline, this one comes off pretty well in this particular style, as those few drawbacks aren’t too damaging overall. Those with an appreciation for this kind of genre fare or who are intrigued by what’s on display will have a lot to like here, as most others might want to heed caution.

This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.