[Film Review] White Demise (2020)
There’s something especially sinister about stories that explore gun violence in the United States. While many horror directors are able to use religious motifs or supernatural forces to explain away evil, plots that incorporate gun violence rely solely on the abstract cruelty of human nature. Director Daeil Kim tackles these complex emotions in his first feature-length film White Demise (2021), a psychological-thriller that personifies the true power of a gun.
When Sam (Kelly MacDougall), a doting mother, decides to pursue alternative medicine in the form of a life-saving bullet for her sick daughter, she is forced to face reality when her choice has drastic consequences. She must embark on a mission to find the man with “white bullets,” but that means working alongside the man that shot and killed her daughter.
Director Daeil Kim wrote White Demise in response to his own experience with gun violence and mass shootings following his immigration to the United States from Seoul, South Korea. The increase in gun violence across the U.S. came as a significant culture shock, especially after residing in a country with strict gun regulations, according to Kim. The film takes a unique, neutral perspective to the objective concept of a gun. Working as a commentary on the political and cultural notion of gun ownership, bullets are able to both harm and save others.
The audience follows Sam, who is initially shown as a devoted caretaker to her sick daughter, through a series of flashbacks and retellings from different perspectives. The film’s entire premise begins as a flashback as Sam explains her decisions to Lillian (Olivia Storm) once they’ve reconnected in what the audience can presume to be heaven. While the film is primarily told through Sam’s perspective, the audience eventually realizes that she might not be telling the entire truth.
Kim chose to explain the complex power behind a gun by personifying the bullets, portraying them as individuals trapped within the barrel of the gun. Dash (Logan Spaschak) and Anessa (Yasmine Georgia) take on the role of sentient bullets that are able to communicate and guide the gun wielder. This plot choice creates a unique rift in how accountability is framed within the universe of the film. While each gun wielder still has autonomy, it’s up to Dash and Anessa to guide these characters. It’s also implied that they have the ability to prevent a shot from even going off.
While the concept of white bullets is never really explained nor does it seem to be a publicly known medical option, White Demise relies heavily on suggesting that the audience should trust Sam and her decisions. While the film doesn’t necessarily provide the context needed to immediately justify what seems like a drastic, untrustworthy alternative medicine, MacDougall gives an emotionally compelling performance to suggest desperation. However, the suggestion that the personified bullets are unaware of whether they heal or harm humans comes across as confusing given the lack of context.
Although White Demise is an impressive feat for a first feature-length film, it, unfortunately, falls into the same pitfalls as many other early film projects. Aside from aesthetic flaws, like how certain visuals and effects in scenes trying to imply important emotional conviction comes across as distracting, there are a number of confusing plot points. The film attempts to remain neutral regarding the conversation surrounding gun violence, using its characters to explore morality but choosing not to take an explicit side seems to dilute the film’s message. Each character made choices that would be deemed morally good and bad, and once everything ends, the audience is left wondering if they were meant to root for anyone at all. It also doesn’t help that the non-linear storytelling techniques can be difficult to follow at times.
While White Demise doesn’t come across as a horror film, the realities of gun violence are a horrifying reality for millions of peple each year. While there may not be life-saving bullets, the complex power of gun ownership extends far beyond a complicated political stance. Tackling such a loaded topic in such a unique way makes it clear that up-and-coming director, Daeil Kim, is going to be an independent filmmaker to watch.
When people think of horror films, slashers are often the first thing that comes to mind. The sub-genres also spawned a wealth of horror icons: Freddy, Jason, Michael, Chucky - characters so recognisable we’re on first name terms with them. In many ways the slasher distills the genre down to some of its fundamental parts - fear, violence and murder.
Throughout September we were looking at slasher films, and therefore we decided to cover a slasher film that could be considered as an underrated gem in the horror genre. And the perfect film for this was Franck Khalfoun’s 2012 remake of MANIAC.
In the late seventies and early eighties, one man was considered the curator of all things gore in America. During the lovingly named splatter decade, Tom Savini worked on masterpieces of blood and viscera like Dawn of the Dead (1978), a film which gained the attention of hopeful director William Lustig, a man only known for making pornography before his step into horror.
Looking for some different slasher film recommendations? Then look no fruther as Ariel Powers-Schaub has 13 non-typical slasher horror films for you to watch.
Even though they are not to my personal liking, there is no denying that slasher films have been an important basis for the horror genre, and helped to build the foundations for other sub-genres throughout the years.
But some of the most terrifying horrors are those that take place entirely under the skin, where the mind is the location of the fear. Psychological horror has the power to unsettle by calling into question the basis of the self - one's own brain.
On Saturday, 17th June 2023, I sat down with two friends to watch The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) and The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2012). I was nervous to be grossed out (I can’t really handle the idea of eating shit) but excited to cross these two films off my list.
Many of the most effective horror films involve blurring the lines between waking life and a nightmare. When women in horror are emotionally and psychologically manipulated – whether by other people or more malicious supernatural forces – viewers are pulled into their inner worlds, often left with a chilling unease and the question of where reality ends and the horror begins.
Body horror is one of the fundamental pillars of the horror genre and crops up in some form or another in a huge variety of works. There's straightforward gore - the inherent horror of seeing the body mutilated, and also more nuanced fears.
In the sweaty summer of 1989, emerging like a monochrome migraine from the encroaching shadow of Japan’s economic crash, Shin’ya Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man shocked and disgusted the (very few) audiences originally in attendance.
Whether it's the havoc wreaked on the human body during pregnancy, emotional turmoil producing tiny murderous humans or simply a body turning on its owner, body horror films tend to be shocking. But while they're full of grotesque imagery, they're also full of thoughtful premises and commentary, especially when it comes to women, trauma, and power.
RELATED ARTICLES
If you know me at all, you know that I love, as many people do, the work of Nic Cage. Live by the Cage, die by the Cage. So, when the opportunity to review this came up, I jumped at it.
When V/H/S first hit our screens in 2012, nobody could have foreseen that 11 years later we’d be on our sixth instalment (excluding the two spinoffs) of the series.
When someone is in a toxic relationship, it can affect more than just their heart and mind. Their bodies can weaken or change due to the continued stress and unhappiness that comes from the toxicity.
If you can’t count on your best friend to check your teeth and hands and stand vigil with you all night to make sure you don’t wolf out, who can you count on? And so begins our story on anything but an ordinary night in 1993…
The best thing about urban legends is the delicious thrill of the forbidden. Don’t say “Bloody Mary” in the mirror three times in a dark room unless you’re brave enough to summon her. Don’t flash your headlights at a car unless you want to have them drive you to your death.
A Wounded Fawn (Travis Stevens, 2022) celebrates both art history and female rage in this surreal take on the slasher genre.
Perpetrator opens with a girl walking alone in the dark. Her hair is long and loose just begging to be yanked back and her bright clothes—a blood red coat, in fact—is a literal matador’s cape for anything that lies beyond the beam of her phone screen.
Filmed on location in Scotland, Ryan Hendrick's new thriller Mercy Falls (2023) uses soaring views of the Scottish Highlands to show that the natural world can either provide shelter or be used as a demented playground for people to hurt each other.
EXPLORE
Now it’s time for Soho’s main 2023 event, which is presented over two weekends: a live film festival at the Whirled Cinema in Brixton, London, and an online festival a week later. Both have very rich and varied programmes (with no overlap this year), with something for every horror fan.
In the six years since its release the Nintendo Switch has amassed an extensive catalogue of games, with everything from puzzle platformer games to cute farming sims to, uh, whatever Waifu Uncovered is.
A Quiet Place (2018) opens 89 days after a race of extremely sound-sensitive creatures show up on Earth, perhaps from an exterritorial source. If you make any noise, even the slightest sound, you’re likely to be pounced upon by these extremely strong and staggeringly fast creatures and suffer a brutal death.
If you like cults, sacrificial parties, and lesbian undertones then Mona Awad’s Bunny is the book for you. Samantha, a student at a prestigious art university, feels isolated from her cliquey classmates, ‘the bunnies’.
The slasher sub genre has always been huge in the world of horror, but after the ‘70s and ‘80s introduced classic characters like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason, it’s not harsh to say that the ‘90s was slightly lacking in the icon department.
Mother is God in the eyes of a child, and it seems God has abandoned the town of Silent Hill. Silent Hill is not a place you want to visit.
Being able to see into the future or back into the past is a superpower that a lot of us would like to have. And while it may seem cool, in horror movies it usually involves characters being sucked into terrifying situations as they try to save themselves or other people with the information they’ve gleaned in their visions.
Both the original Pet Sematary (1989) and its 2019 remake are stories about the way death and grief can affect people in different ways. And while the films centre on Louis Creed and his increasingly terrible decision-making process, there’s no doubt that the story wouldn’t pack the same punch or make the same sense without his wife, Rachel.
I can sometimes go months without having a panic attack. Unfortunately, this means that when they do happen, they often feel like they come out of nowhere. They can come on so fast and hard it’s like being hit by a bus, my breath escapes my body, and I can’t get it back.