Neill Blomkamp is a filmmaker whose work commands immediate interest on this website. From District 9 and Elysium to Chappie and his Oats Studio short films, Blomkamp is an innovative director. While his projects have primarily been in the science fiction genre, his latest is his first foray into horror. Demonic, starring Carly Pope, utilizes a new immersive technology that blends elements of virtual reality for something unlike anything put to film before.
Here’s the synopsis for Demonic.
A young woman unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades-old rift between mother and daughter are ruthlessly revealed.
I was lucky enough to see the film and I got the chance to sit down for an extended conversation with Blomkamp as well as Carly Pope about their experience making this film during the COVID-19 pandemic. Blomkamp was frank about his inspiration for the project as well as some brief tidbits about his attempts to make films in both the Alien and Robocop franchises. He also gave an update on the long-anticipated sequel to District 9.
Carly Pope is a veteran of multiple television and feature film projects and talked to me about her process for creating this character’s unique look while channeling a legacy of badass leading ladies. We also touched on how this project developed from a small scale, found footage movie to the intense genre hybrid it ended up as.
IFC Midnight will release Neill Blomkamp’s Demonic in Theaters and Everywhere You Rent Movies on August 20th.