Poor little Cha So-mi will be a nasty case of demon possession. Father Ban ought to know. He has experienced some bad ones, including his own. That is what motivated him to become an exorcist. He thought he had successfully cast out her demon, but just as the young girl started to calm, she suddenly died.
Her traditional three-day funeral will be particularly hard, because the demon still inside her body starts tormenting the mourners, especially her father, Cha Seung-do. He is also not inclined to accept anymore of Father Ban’s help, even though he is obviously in over his head. Even he will admit as much when he discovers he was set up by a mysterious satanic cultist, when he was cutting corners to arrange So-mi’s organ donor heart.
In fact, Devils Stay turns rather zeitgeisty when the shadowy satanist turns out to be Russian (in light of South Korea’s concern regarding North Korea supplying troops and arms to Russia, for their brutal war in Ukraine). The demonic particulars are also especially sinister.
Indeed, Devils Stay is an insidiously effective demonic horror film that bends (if not breaks) the template in several places. It is tense and scary—and good gosh, do we ever feel bad for the poor beleaguered Cha family.
Regardless, Hyun definitely knows how to get under the audience’s skin. He resorts to some manipulative tricks, but they work. This is a frightening film, which is presumably what genre fans want in a horror film. Recommended for those who appreciate demonic terror, Devils Stay releases tomorrow on VOD, DVD, and BluRay.
