Reviews
[REVIEW] Demon Knight (1995) Is A Delightful Character Actor and Special Effects Extravaganza
The film follows a transient named Brayker, who after being run down by a mysterious cowboy, ends up at a church-turned-boarding house with seven strangers. It’s soon revealed that Brayker and his pursuer, The Collector, have been in a game of cat and mouse for decades: The Collector is an immortal demon, who wants to take a holy artifact from Brayker for himself. Destiny itself has brought these people together, and if it means killing everyone in the boarding house to get the relic back, The Collector won’t shy from that method.
Despite being a massive horror fan, I have to admit that I don’t really have comfort horror films. I have a catalog a mile long of horror films I admire greatly, films I would consider the best of all time. But the ones I specifically rewatch because they make me feel outright comfortable or lift my spirits are few and far between.
I don’t have many outside of Demon Knight, at least.
It’s got everything I like in a horror movie: wild effects, lots of intricate supernatural lore, a whip-smart pace, and an insane amount of character actors reading off of a very fun script. It feels a lot like a campier version of Legion, but if I really had to sell someone on Demon Knight quickly, I would say that above all else it feels like the Raimi movie Sam Raimi never actually made. It’s gooey, goofy, fun in that distinct style few directors can emulate.
The film follows a transient named Brayker, who after being run down by a mysterious cowboy, ends up at a church-turned-boarding house with seven strangers. It’s soon revealed that Brayker and his pursuer, The Collector, have been in a game of cat and mouse for decades: The Collector is an immortal demon, who wants to take a holy artifact from Brayker for himself. Destiny itself has brought these people together, and if it means killing everyone in the boarding house to get the relic back, The Collector won’t shy from that method.
Demon Knight was the first full-length Tales from the Crypt film, and the first in an intended trilogy that was being planned out by Universal Pictures. After the abysmal sequel Bordello of Blood bombed both critically and financially, Tales from the Crypt has been on the backburner ever since. It might be a bit dramatic to say that Bordello was so bad it killed the franchise, but it certainly didn’t help the legacy of the series. Which is a shame because Demon Knight is a really enjoyable film, and it deserves sequels like it in that irreverent, slightly immature style of horror that Tales from the Crypt is known for. It’s got the energy of Tales from the Crypt’s very origins, the feel of an old-timey horror comic book; this is something the film plays up to and even acknowledges in its most stylized sequence.
The cast, led by William Sadler (playing Brayker) and Jada Pinkett Smith (playing criminally underrated final girl Jeryline) are phenomenal. It’s the aforementioned character actor Olympics here, as everyone is bringing the full force of their “‘isms” to the table. By which I mean, the little acting quirks they’re known for; for instance, the most notable Saddler-ism being William Sadler’s very breathy and dramatic acting breaks out when it’s time to get dire. Pinkett Smith spends the entire runtime giving her signature “Are you serious?” stare, Dick Miller doing his iconic little laugh that makes you feel like you’re talking to your grandpa who just pulled a quarter from behind your ear. And of course, it wouldn’t be CCH Pounder if she wasn’t being a Terminator-level hard-ass on the people around her, even when her whole arm has been ripped off and she shouldn’t be able to talk let alone walk. It’s very endearing to watch if you’re familiar with them from other films, and it’s a little cozy in its familiarity, which I can appreciate. It’s in these little quirks you start to really enjoy their characters and begin rooting for them, as they become unwitting pawns in a chess game between heaven and hell.
The cream of the crop here, though, is Billy Zane, who is genuinely explosively charming and violently funny as The Collector. He’s a human cartoon in his physical performance, with the appeal of Him from Powerpuff Girls wrapped into the physique of a 90’s fashion model. He’s an eldritch abomination you don’t trust at all but can’t help but find charming because of how charismatic he is. He just makes you want to smile a little with each of his quips. The Collector is an all-time villain trapped in a mostly forgotten movie; like the lineage of demons he’s supposed to be spawned from, trapped in darkness, there’s a stupendous character hidden in this film that not many people have seen, and that’s the true crime of Demon Knight’s general obscurity. Free Billy!
Regarding the film’s special effects, Demon Knight spared no expense in creating The Collector’s cohorts of slimy little hellspawn. The film has some impressive work for the reported time and budget constraints they had between sudden rewrites, and it’s mostly thanks to Todd Masters, an SFX maven who’s worked on everything from James Gunn’s Slither to Denis Villenueve’s Dune (he rescued the film’s Pumpkinhead-inspired creatures from being replaced with guys in suits, a version of the demons he jokingly called ‘the Blues Brothers’). Outside of some sparing digital effects and glowy rotoscopes for exploding demon eyes and magical blood, the film is 99% practical, and it’s top-tier stuff. Ernest Dickinson’s directing of not just the actors, but of these effects and the creatures make for an exciting film that reminded me of Raimi’s work heavily in the visual energy it packs.
I struggled quite a bit to find things I don’t like about Demon Knight. It’s hard to critique something in my usual mode when all you have to say is positive. Maybe it’s the comfort film bias, or maybe it’s because it’s actually a real hidden gem. Maybe it’s because it has one of the craziest heavy metal compilation albums for a soundtrack. Regardless of the reason, you should take this rundown of the film’s strengths as a full-throated endorsement of Demon Knight and watch it as soon as possible.
Happy watching horror fans!
Reviews
‘Shutter’ (2004) Review: Is Aughts-ful
The aughts were the wild wild west when it came to remakes and reboots. One subgenre that excelled in striking fear into the hearts of North Americans was unquestionably J-horror. It was a craze that gave a 10-ish-year-old me nightmares for too much of my childhood. Out of all of the J-horror remakes that frightened me, the one I never got around to checking out was Shutter. Which is what I was initially going to open this review with. That was until I realized that Shutter wasn’t a J-horror remake! Talk about egg on my face!
A Haunting Tale in Japan
Shutter follows Ben Shaw (Joshua Jackson), a seasoned photographer who moves to Japan with his new wife Jane (Rachael Taylor). Their first night in Japan gets off to an awful start when Jane runs over a mysterious woman at night. Jane starts seeing this mysterious woman throughout her daily life, and Ben’s photos become unusable when a spirit takes them over one by one. Is this spirit coming after Ben and Jane for the accident? Or, is this spirit haunting them for a more sinister reason?
This hastily assembled remake is directed by Masayuki Ochiai and written by Luke Dawson. After Shutter, Dawson’s only other notable script would be the 2015 flop The Lazarus Effect. Which is what I was initially going to write until I learned that The Lazarus Effect brought in nearly $40 million at the box office. It’s difficult to say what the worst part of Shutter is, but the script is definitely at the top of that list. Not only is the script boring and bereft of any real terror, but the characters are beyond flat. Even without having seen Shutter (2004), it was clear what direction this film was taking, and any suspense that could have existed flew right out the window.
Failed Cultural Commentary
Dawson’s script attempts to take a look at white people forcibly inserting themselves into a culture and making it all about themselves. But it’s such a surface-level observation and handled with the care of a five-year-old’s crayon drawing that it’s nearly laughable. At the very least, Shutter does succeed at being a good-for-her film. And for that, I can tip my hat.
Director Masayuki Ochiai and cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima fail to explore any space in any meaningful way. Japan is a beautiful location, and it’s completely wasted throughout this film. The only really visually interesting moment is the well-choreographed car crash. From there, things quickly go downhill. I’m sure there’s a way to make a film about spirit photography feel interesting and scary, but this is definitely not the right approach.
Shutter is a Forgettable Horror Flop
I’ve covered a lot of films during my tenure at Horror Press that I’ve never seen before. It’s a gamble I’m happy to risk. Whether they hit or miss doesn’t usually matter to me. For some reason, I held Shutter in high regard. I thought people were over the moon for this film. I suppose I can add this to my list of films, such as The Barrens and Warm Bodies, as ones I could easily consider a complete waste of time.
Reviews
Brooklyn Horror Film Festival 2025: ‘Buffet Infinity’ Review
Within the found footage subgenre exists an even more niche and untapped market. Screen life has slowly overtaken found footage; hardcore fans, like myself, ache for something different. One of the more interesting sub-subgenres of found footage is something that I don’t think has a name yet, so let’s name it here and now. How about…TV-gone-rogue! The TV-gone-rogue subgenre is small. Ghostwatch got the ball rolling for these gone rogue-like films, but there was radio silence for quite some time. It would be Chris LaMartina’s WNUF Halloween Special that really brought this idea back into the limelight. Many filmmakers have tried to make TV-gone-rogue interesting, and many have failed. That is until Simon Glassman stepped onto the scene with Buffet Infinity.
Buffet Infinity: A Chaotic Tale of Westridge
The town (city?) of Westridge is whisked into chaos when the new Buffet Infinity restaurant rolls into town. Local sandwich shop owner Jennifer Avery (Allison Bench) is the first to take the soon-to-be conglomerate to task with increasingly pointed advertisements. Suddenly, local restaurant owners/workers go missing in droves as Buffet Infinity expands into neighboring businesses. Sinkholes, missing cityfolk, quarantines, and mysterious sounds abound, leaving residents to ask one question…who really has the sauce?
On the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival schedule, the header image for Buffet Infinity shows multiple people T-posing and floating in the sky. I was immediately sold. I had no clue what I was getting into, and I didn’t want to know. The film was introduced as “one of the craziest we have this year.” (Slightly paraphrasing.) What was I about to watch? Little did I know, it was about to be an hour and forty minutes of small-town madness.
Writers Allison Bench and Elisia Snyder, and writer-director Simon Glassman, transport viewers into an upside down world of weaponized local ads; a thriving town invaded by the deep pockets of monopolized capitalism. As someone who grew up in a decently sized town, though probably not large enough to be considered a city, there was a tinge of nostalgia that accompanied Buffet Infinity. Westridge feels cozy and intimate, a town where everyone knows your name. It’s a “baked in a buttery flaky crust” town. Sure, they have their McDonald’s and Burger Kings, but the real townsfolk eat at Jennifer’s sandwich shop–local knitting circles murmur about what they think is in Jennifer’s secret sauce. Simply put, Westridge feels like a home that many people like myself grew up in. And it reminds us of a simpler time that’s long gone.
A Unique Blend of Humor and Eldritch Terror
Buffet Infinity hides its horror well. It slowly guides the viewer into a sense of unease. As easily as the creators have you laughing, they have you squirming. The absurdist joy quickly transforms into Eldritch terrors from beyond. Many filmmakers say they’re inspired by the idea of it’s-not-what-you-see that’s scary, but many times it feels performative. Bench, Glassman, and Snyder have crafted a truly special script that edges you with terror and excitement. They constantly push you to the edge of release, and then back away. It’s the Japanese water torture of exposition. And, for me, it works incredibly well.
One of the most important aspects of Buffet Infinity is the over-capitalization of our lives. While the creators tackle this idea in a tongue-in-cheek manner, their message is highly effective. For the most part. This constant tete-a-tete between Buffet Infinity and the locals is highly amusing, but brings a larger conversation to the forefront. The town I grew up in is a shadow of what it once was. And I know many feel the same about the towns they grew up in. I can already hear the moans of people who dislike this film: “Brandon, it’s not that deep.” And I would highly disagree. Buffet Infinity feels like a reflective protest film–a loud and proud middle finger at what we should have said when the Super Walmart put mom and pops out of business.
Sorry, this review has gone off the rails. Let’s reel it back in a bit.
Why Buffet Infinity Redefines Found Footage
Buffet Infinity is a riotous romp, a hilarious horror that goes from zero to 100 pretty damn fast. Each commercial slowly builds on its last and uniquely tells its story. This film sets a new precedent for the TV-gone-rogue subgenre. Not to directly compare, but a film like WNUF Halloween Special (a film I love) uses its commercials as a coda; it’s a separation of what you saw/heard and prepares you for the next movement. Buffet Infinity uses its commercial to create the story. Instead of watching news pieces, then irrelevant commercials, then back to news pieces, Buffet Infinity breaks the mold. Hell, it creates the mold.
As someone who has been dying to see a Welcome to Nightvale film, Buffet Infinity is the closest thing I could ask for. It is full of killer performances (looking at you, Ahmed Ahmed), is well-crafted, and sets a new precedent on an underutilized side of found footage. Buffet Infinity is a full-course meal. I highly suspect that Buffet Infinity will gather the unwavering support that Hundreds of Beavers gathered and will go on to be considered an instant classic of the 2020s.


