Demon Squad – review

Director: Thomas Smith

Release date: 2019

Contains spoilers


This is an urban fantasy film sporting alternative titles Night Hunters and Full Moon, Inc. The easiest way to describe it is probably that it is a low budget film in the mould of Cast a Deadly Spell. Like the earlier film this sports a visitation of a vampire (Martin Ross Henne) – though the presence on screen is longer in this and I cogitated over whether to class this as a fleeting visitation and, eventually, decided the on-screen presence was just enough to warrant a full review.

Daisy and Nick

In the film noir style this follows PI and mage Nick Moon (Khristian Fulmer) and his empathic secretary/partner Daisy (Erin Lilley) as they search out a missing artefact. The father of client Lilah Fontaine (Leah Christine Johnson) has been kidnapped, and the police are looking into that, but she realises they aren’t equipped to deal with the theft of an ancient, priceless artefact – a dagger that can carry an antediluvian power core (which may or may not have something to do with the Elder Gods).

Martin Ross Henne as Skeeter

In good old film noir style they follow a twisting, turning path of clues, whilst menaced by supernatural creatures. It’s a world where demon prostitutes hang out on street corners and we see at least one vampire, Skeeter, haunting a bar. Skeeter interferes in the case, is later hunted down by Nick and Daisy, interrogated (as he is a henchman for the baddy) and has his fangs removed and then later appears at the end of the film as a good henchman should.

being interrogated

The film itself is low budget but the primary leads (Fulmer, Lilley and Johnson) imbue it with a level of charm that makes it watchable. For the most part it uses practical effects to create the various monsters. It certainly isn’t as slick as Cast a Deadly Spell but it is so personable it is very watchable with enough world-building to create the urban fantasy but not so much as it gets mired (indeed it could have done for some more) and enough hinted backstory to warrant further exploration in a sequel. 5.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

On DVD @ Amazon UK