There’s an argument to be made that B-movies, as we once knew them, no longer exist, as that term originally referred to the lower quality second half of a theatrical double feature. However, while literal B-tier productions meant to pad out theater experiences with cheap thrills are no longer a thing (and neither are the straight-to-video shlockfests that used to inhabit the dark corners of rental stores), I’d argue that the spirit of low brow cinema is alive and well thanks to the existence of budget-friendly genre productions.
As a fan of these unapologetically absurd films with cheap effects and bizarre storylines, I was understandably excited when I first saw the trailer to Jon Keeyes’ supernatural thriller Speed Demon. After all, this more action-oriented take on the exorcism subgenre feels exactly like the sort of flick I’d pick out from the “weird” DVDs at the back of Rogers Video in the days before streaming. However, Keeyes’ movie isn’t exactly what you might expect judging from Speed Demon’s marketing.
In the film, we follow the troubled nun Sister Lu (Katie Cassidy) as she embarks on a high-speed train ride with her mentor and experienced exorcist Father Novak (William H. Macy). Unfortunately for the bickering duo, an archeologist also happens to be making the trip alongside a cursed statue of the demon king Asmodeus. What follows is a high-stakes test of faith as Asmodeus escapes his inanimate prison and takes control of the speeding train.
It’s ultimately up to Sister Lu to confront her past in order to save the lives of the desperate ensemble of terrified passengers surrounding her before they all reach a hellish final destination.
An unexpected combination of Speed and The Amityville Horror, Speed Demon’s premise conjures up imagery from nunsploitation classics and even the supernatural action-horror flicks of the 2000s (such as Francis Lawrence’s Constantine), but Keeyes’ movie is a lot less over-the-top than you might initially expect. While Sister Lu’s characterization and Asmodeus’ interactions are delightfully exaggerated, the film’s overall tone and atmosphere are disappointingly tame.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the film’s polished photography and even some of the relatively impressive CGI (at least for a modest horror production), but it feels like the screenplay here fails to grasp the true entertainment value of its absurd setup. Despite a few brief moments of inspiration – like when Sister Lu is forced to confront her substance abuse problem or when one of the most annoying side characters decides to step up and become a hero – the narrative ultimately stumbles into familiar genre pitfalls and relies on the same old tropes we’ve seen a thousand times in other exorcism movies.
While there is an interesting ensemble of supporting characters here to both aid and hinder our intrepid nun, one of the biggest issues with the film is casting. William H. Macy is certainly a joy to watch as a jaded exorcist trying to keep his protégé on the right path, but he’s not in the film as much as I would have liked, and Cassidy feels like she was miscast in a role that requires equal measures of grit and traditional religious devotion. There are also a handful of stilted line deliveries from minor characters that really take you out of the experience during a couple of pivotal scenes.
That’s not to say that Speed Demon isn’t an enjoyable film, as there are a handful of effective scares and memorable character moments here. It’s just a shame that the filmmakers couldn’t quite come up with the appropriate vibe for the subject matter. I thoroughly enjoyed watching our lead nun face off against the demon and his zombified thralls (and the idea of a woman having to take on a traditionally masculine role in order to protect those around her has plenty of merit, especially in this religious context), but I feel like all of these ideas would have been more entertaining if they had shown up in a less solemn project.
In fact, the insistence on taking everything so seriously ends up highlighting some of the less intelligent aspects of the script. I may not have been a star pupil in Catholic School, but I paid enough attention to know that the film’s depiction of church doctrine is far from accurate. Not only that, but there are plenty of leaps in logic concerning the operation of the train itself and how Asmodeus is keeping everyone trapped. These things could have easily been hand-waved away in an unrepentant B-movie, but it’s a lot harder to justify lapses in narrative judgment when your film expects audiences to take things so seriously.
That’s not the entire story, however…
Speed Demon does a complete 180° when it comes to its action-packed finale, with the last fifteen minutes or so feeling so comparatively bonkers that they must be seen to be believed. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the best part of the movie, but suffice to say that the ending alone is worth the price of admission, even if it also serves as an example of why the flick would have been better had it committed to the absurdity throughout the entire runtime.
Your enjoyment of Speed Demon will likely depend on your tolerance for overly ambitious filmmaking, but I think there’s enough creativity on display here to warrant a watch despite some minor gripes with the flick’s tone. It may not be a groundbreaking genre experience, but I’d certainly be on board for a sequel expanding on that ridiculous ending.
Speed Demon arrives in theaters, On Demand, and Digital on May 31.
