WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Neill Blomkamp's Demonic, currently in theaters and on VOD.
In Neill Blomkamp's Demonic, Carly (Carly Pope) is plagued by satanic visions after visiting her mom, Angela, in an experimental Los Angeles medical facility. The company, Therapol, uses neurology and bio-mapping for comatose patients to create a memory-scape, which Carly shares with Angela, someone who committed many homicides years ago. However, the inciting moment where Carly buys into Angela having a demonic presence in her is all due to Blomkamp using The Exorcist's spider walk to produce this film's creepiest scene.
In the film, Carly is mentally fracturing, not realizing the demon is targeting her. Her friend, Martin, admits he too was plagued by such visions, even sketching them to reveal a raven-like creature haunting him. He tells Carly they've all been marked since they found Angela at a sanatorium decades ago when her medical team tried to see if the place could be rehabilitated.
The demonic presence possessed Angela then, which is why she killed dozens and went to jail. However, it kept note of the teens, which is why Carly -- someone Angela held precious in her mindscape -- is the next chosen host. Martin confesses he did research and the place was built on haunted grounds, known for possessions. This is not a conspiracy theory, and he reaffirms the demon will break the mind of its target with devilish dreams and visions, which Carly hides she's having.
She leaves after berating Martin for being silly, but that night while asleep, her best friend Sam (who was also with her and Martin that fateful night) visits at 3am. Sam's concerned over Carly's well-being, asking to do a trick to lighten the mood as they have tea inside. She shockingly puts on a raven's mask and as her voice distorts, her body contorts as well.
She drops backwards onto her hands and feet, inverted on all fours and begins doing the walk. Her bones break and she mutates into the raven, teleporting all over the house as Carly tries to flee. It's quite a scary scene, ending with her cornering Carly in her bedroom before she wakes up in a frenzy from the nightmare. It inspires her to go find Sam and Martin as she finally believes in the supernatural.
This is an homage to when young Regan did the walk down the stairs in The Exorcist. She attacked her mom in one of horror's most iconic moments, flicking her tongue to indicate she had a demon inside. It was cut from the original film, though, as director William Friedkin felt it was too much of a spectacle to have so early in the story. He also thought it undercut the impact of Chris MacNeil having just learned of Burke Dennings' death, and that the wires used to make the stunt work were too noticeable, diminishing the intended effect.
The scene would later be remastered and included in the extended director's cut, which the author of the book, William Peter Blatty, was grateful for as he felt this sequence really showed the torture the family endured. While the rest of Demonic doesn't quite hit those terrifying heights, this is a pretty cool tribute to the unforgettable The Exorcist scene, which left an indelible mark on, not just horror, but the entire film industry.
Written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, Demonic is currently in theaters and on VOD.
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