THE IRREFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS

Not to be confused with THE TRUTH ABOUT CATS AND DOGS, this New Zealand flick did little to convince me that it really knows the irrefutable truth about demons.  The story of a man and his long-standing feud with a Satanic cult, THE IRREFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS is a slickly-produced 90-minute goth-rock video gone somewhat awry.  That’s not to say that it didn’t have its moments, but despite some scenes assured to offend the faint-at-heart, I felt it wasn’t over-the-top enough.

Karl Urban (best known as Eomer in THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies) plays a University Professor (yeah right) who specializes in Satanic cults with an aim to reveal the truth behind them.   In other words, he’s out to de-fraud them.  I didn’t realize Satanic cults were such a major problem that it took a PhD to dedicate his life in order to burst their bubble.  Well, maybe in New Zealand – a country which, according to this movie, is apparently in a permanent state of night. 

Anyhow, to be fair to Urban’s character, his brother committed suicide after being ensared in one of these cults, so it makes sense that he would attempt to take them on.   Little does he know that his work will lead to a deadly feud with a cult leader named Le Valliant (cool name), who starts by sending threatening video-tapes to Urban, but then takes it up a notch by killing those around him, kidnapping him, and then some.

One little twist to the character I did enjoy is that Urban is a pretty serious drug addict, so when some of the deaths start occurring and the cops interrogate him, you’re not entirely sure if he’s not making the whole thing up.  More events later in the film contribute to this confusion, and to this moment I’m not really sure if the guy was suffering from paranoid delusions or what.

What I do know is that I sat through 90 minutes of goth girls and guys running around acting nutty, insect dissections, crucifixions, and more.  After 40 minutes it starts to get pretty repetitive, and I got the sense that I was watching MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball on a repeat loop.   But, in the film’s defense, it did do a lot with very little budget, relying often on mood, sound effects, and even a little nudity.

THE IRREFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS is not a bad movie and its production values are pretty decent considering it essentially had no budget.  But the movie suffers from a bit of identity crisis – does it want to be a mood piece or a nasty horror movie?  It tries to get away with being both, but it didn’t quite work for me. If they’re going to show the gore, then take it up a notch, go crazy.  I mean, when Peter Jackson, New Zealand’s favorite son, made his early horror films, he held nothing back.  If only Glenn Standring, this film’s director, had learned that lesson he might have hit upon something.

As of new, THE IRREFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS is probably best watched by goth-wannabes and rebellious teenagers who think piercings = cool.  For any serious horror fans or those truly seeking the irrefutable truth about demons, no need to rush out to see this one.

RATING: ** (out of four)