The Dæmon – Lovecraft fans, we have something very special!
It’s not often that I can write a review and have such wonderful, personal insight into the film. This is very much the case with The Dæmon.
Firstly, this is the feature-length debut from David Yohe and Matt Devino, if you can believe that. After getting to know these guys at FrightFest, I learnt about their filmmaking backgrounds, but not only that, I learnt about their personal backgrounds – the struggles both of these guys faced, the struggles that made this film possible and the struggles that got them to a sold-out premiere in the biggest genre festival in the UK. Well done, dudes!
The Daemon is one of the most ambitious and impressive debuts that makes Yohe and Devino the most exciting cosmic horror duo since Benson and Moorhead. These guys have the cinematic cosmic flare. This is some straight-up Lovecraftian cosmic horror and a mind-melting descent into insanity and madness just like Lovecraft would have loved.
The Dæmon focuses on real-life issues and throws them into a blender of cosmic Lovecraftian madness. The horror comes from above and it comes from the dark depths of the murky lake. When things get started, you know that no mind is safe from crumbling.
The Lovecraftian creation in The Daemon is Azathoth – a wonderful choice and part of the mythos that is never used (sorry, Cthulu)
Tom (Tyler Q Rosen) receives a letter from his estranged father who just took his own life at their lake house home. His father is claiming that an unfathomable creature lurks in the depths of the deep lake at their lake house. Tom’s worst childhood fears and memories start to resurface and he is drawn back to face his traumatic childhood past to say a final farewell to his dead father.
When Tom enters the lakehouse, there are signs of madness and insanity everywhere. Dark, shadowy drawings of monster-like abominations, almost impossible to describe cover the walls. Was his father right? Is there truth to the madness?
Tom’s wife, Kathy (Sarah Fletcher) is worried about the state of his mental health. Because of this, Kathy can’t take the stress and hits the bottles pretty hard.
She arrives almost blackout drunk at her brother’s place asking him for help . Her brother is almost ready to burst from work-related stress and his girlfriend, Jess (Adriana Isabel) is haunted by past addiction trauma and plagued by nighmarish visions of an encounter with an inmate at a therapy session.
Jess looks to the lighthouse for answers – Fig. 5. “Jess (Adriana Isabel) at the Lighthouse,” Directed by Matt Devino & David Yohe, THE DÆMON, 2024
Before it’s too late, the damaged trio set out to save Tom from meeting the same, gruesome fate as his estranged father but soon start to succumb to the same, dark nightmarish forces, forces that elevate their worst fears into living reality.
A film about broken souls. A film about grief, loss, stress, addiction and abuse, all wrapped in cosmic madness. A unique Lovecratian tale that stands confidently above the rest. Matt and Dave handled the Lovecraft mythos with love, care and knowledge. This is the Lovecraft film I have been waiting for.
And, we can’t have Lovecraft without insanity and madness, right? Each character in this film already has a lot going on inside them. They’re almost at full mental capacity, ready to pop, and on the verge of a breakdown of some sort;Alcoholism, work-related stress, drug use and abuse – this was very clever! Azathoth will make you lose your mind and go insane for sure, but I’d imagine he’d have more fun if you’re mind was on the verge of already being broken.
A huge congrats to the whole team behind The Daemon!. What all of you achieved will not go unnoticed in the the cosmic horror sub-genre.
I am so happy to have met you all at FrightFest – it was one of my most cherished memories and I hope you all know that. Here’s to many more in the future!
A huge special thank you to Dave, Matt, and Adriana. Thanks so much for the interview! It will be posted soon.
And, Sarah, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you too.
Adriana, if this was your feature-debut (well done), I can’t wait to see what you do in the future!
More FrighFest coverage coming soon!
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