Rating: D+
Dir: Joston Ramon Theney
Star: Tonya L. Harris, Mariana Evans, Paul Howard, Brinke Stevens
I sincerely think the person with most talent involved in this is the person who wrote the IMDb synopsis. And I quote: “When hard-as-nails demon hunter Ramona uncovers the Devil’s plot to scorch the Earth, she enlists the murderous talents of long-retired demon-hunter Lady Jasmine (Brinke Stevens) and the infamous Lady Black (Tiffany Shepis). Together, these three ladies will wage a hellish war against evil that will show the Devil what Hell really is!” I would pay good some money to watch Brinke and the Tiffster hunt demons. Unfortunately… There’s a reason this came out fifteen years ago, but has just 34 IMDb ratings since. That obscurity is thoroughly well-deserved, to be blunt.
This is more like a knockoff of Constantine, made on a budget of sixpence, and with Keanu Reeves replaced by an angry black woman. Which isn’t necessarily a terrible idea, on either front. But the execution is bad across the board. It feels like almost the entire thing unfolds in a single NYC apartment block. Again, I can see how that could have worked. Just in different hands as far as the writing, directing, photography and editing are concerned. Here, they are all the responsibility of Theney. Normally the issue in such cinematic multi-tasking is, the person’s talents are not equally spread – some areas being better than others. That isn’t the case here: Theney is consistent. It’s just that he’s not good at any of them.
The story concerns Cassie Newton (Evans), who has been picked as the vessel to receive a demonic entity. This comes as a shock to both Cassie and her ex-boyfriend, James McCormick (Howard). Meanwhile, demon hunter Ramona (Harris) is prepared to go to any lengths to make sure the plan doesn’t come to fruition. Both Stevens and Shepis play other demon hunters, the former retired, but who still has a few tricks up her sleeves. The latter opens the film, with a blisteringly intense scene, which nothing else here comes close to matching. It sets wildly unrealistic standards in regard to the level of performance you should expect in the remainder of proceedings. Plan instead for excessively chatty dialogue, typically delivered in a stilted fashion.
I would also restrain my hopes of seeing [checks notes] “a hellish war against evil.” There is, indeed, precious little war of any kind, and matters are not helped by bad foley work on things like gunshots. Demonic possession is basically represented by people speaking in a growly voice. An early burst of gratuitous nudity, comes over more as creepy than sexy. The entire film is ninety minutes of decent (for some loose definition of “decent”) ideas, ruthlessly shredded and cleansed of all potential. It may be more disappointing than a film with no decent ideas to begin with. Because it’s a waste, not just of time, but of concepts. Though, let me know when someone gets round to making the movie described by the synopsis.