Review: Malefice - A True Story of a Demonic Haunting

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2021
Images from the Internet

Malefice: A True Story of a Demonic Haunting.
Directed by Billy Lewis
Orange St. Films; Scarenetwork.tv
91 minutes, 2021
www.scarenetwork.tv/

Let me start off by showing my hand: I am a religion skeptic. I believe there is no real evidence for the existence of a god, let alone the devil. I have never been a Christian, and was not raised in a Christian household. However, I do believe “good” energy attracts “good” energy, and “bad” attracts “bad,” even though I have no real basis for that belief, which is just as reliable as the Judeo-Christian heritage.

That all being said, I approach this documentary with the question of whether or not it is a Christian film. Sure, nearly all exorcism films have Christian elements, especially Catholic, as is the nature of the – err – beast, but there is a difference between, say, The Exorcist (1973) and the unintentionally funny and obscure Christian demonic possession film from the early 1970s, The Enemy.

Sean Austin, Eric Connor

What I am assuming is also driving this film (again, before seeing it) is the number of “psychic” and “supernatural” reality television shows that are readily available and common on cable. In fact, the head of the team here, Sean Austin, was the lead investigator on The Travel Channel show “Ghost Loop” (I do not believe I have ever seen it, as I do not watch TTC).

This film, we are told, was shot over a four-day period in a maskless COVID-19-heavy January 2021, on an acreage somewhere in Northern Ohio; the cast and crew drove up from North Carolina. We meet the two protagonists, Austin and “clairvoyant” Dave Spinks, who are heavily into prayer, start off by explaining a previous experience at the house in 2015, as we hear an electronic voice phenomena (EVP) recording of a demon and his victims talking. Honestly, the believability is already getting close to being out the window for me, but that does not mean it is not fun.

This definitely is preachy, and is directed towards the Catholic Christian god (apparently, if you envision in your mind’s eye a white dove, a female passes over to heaven, and for men, it’s a white horse), ignoring all the other thousands of gods that are worshiped around the world. But then again, Ohio is a “Red” state, so no surprise there.

Ralph Sarchie

Ten minutes in, we get a sermon on God and Jesus from Zoom guest star Ralph Sarchie, a Catholic Demonologist (and Austin’s mentor) who is a retired NYPD Sergeant, and was the model used in the film, Deliver Us From Evil (2014; Eric Bana played him). At this point, I am not sure if this is a film denouncing demons or an excuse for promoting Jeebus.

After the 30-minute or so introduction, Austin and Spinks return to the house with buddy and paranormal investigator Eric Conner (who wears crucifix earrings and says “dude” a lot). And what is their purpose? In the words of the film’s publicity: to rebuke the demon by “sending it back to where it belongs…HELL!” Will they succeed? I’m not tellin’.

Almost immediately there are sounds and screams (EVP). And while they do react to it, they also seem pretty damn calm. One of the questions I have is whether or not the three folks involved believe in this. I honestly would say, both yes and no. On one hand, I do believe that they are certain of God and the Debbil, and they are doing a service to try and convert the unbelievers. On the other hand, whether this story is real, I’m not convinced. If a demon is threatening them, especially Austin and Connor starting at about the halfway mark, they sure do not seem to feel overly nervous if this was real. Perhaps it is because they have JC on their side? Or perhaps foolish bravado? Or they are performing a narrative to preach?

What really got under my skin though, personally, is how anti-abortion the film is (fetuses are repeatedly referred to as “babies,” who are “screaming out”), with the “bad guy,” Robert (either influenced or possessed by a demon) having been an abortionist at the turn of the 20th Century, when the house was a brothel. Apparently, the demon made Robert enjoy his work, and torture women. Could it be any more of a Catholic pro-birth agenda (rather than pro-life)?

There are lots of images of a hillside with a huge cross on it that looks right out of a Hallmark card. And there aren’t just hints of religious fervor, there are actually sermons, like I said, and devotions, such as “The Lord’s Prayer” from “Matthew.” Despite the compelling and enjoyable story, there are so many hiccups and God stuff; it is distracting, for example, when Austin repeatedly says “Oh, shit” such as after a EVP conversation with the demon, and even the occasional F-bomb. Austin explains that anything in threes (such as knocking) is a mockery of the Holy Trinity, and their aim is to twist the human’s “free will.” Nearly all religions in the world do not have a holy Trinity, so does that mean every other religion is wrong? And even if they believe that, well, so does most other religions (my god can beat up your god).

There is an interesting meta-aspect of this documentary, which is not uncommon in ”reality” shows; in this case, the director, who calls himself a skeptic, describes what it was like to shoot the film, and events he found odd. I find this kind of aspect interesting, as the crew looks at its own production.

Through the first three days, there are lots of voices and sounds through the EVP, and the fourth is the actual exorcism of the property, which is essentially, you got it, more praying. Does the ritual work? Watch the film, and then you tell me. Maybe in 2025 or ‘26, after another five years or so, they should go back and follow-up. I would be interested in that.

Is this something that can be seen as a pseudo-event, in the words of Daniel Boorstein, or something more sinister? Either way, let’s talk about the production itself for a moment. Billy Lewis actually did a bang-up job here, putting the transcriptions of the “voices” from the EVP on the screen, making it easier to follow along. That was a really smart thing to do; as with every supposed EVP I have ever heard, it is really hard to make out (though sometimes the voices are suspiciously clear). Is it a case of we hear it because it is on the screen? Couldn’t tell you, but I am grateful they did that, otherwise it would be too distracting by trying to focus on that rather than the story.

As for distracting, the film is actually nicely compelling for the most part, but it is way too preachy to be completely comfortable. It comes off more as a religious propaganda tract than a fun flick to watch on a Saturday night, but even with that being said, it took a bit to get into it, but as time wore on and I was able to somewhat weed out a bit of the religious talk, I started to enjoy it more. Again, it is put together really well all things considered, and may be your cuppa if you like spirituality reality shows and/or need conformation of your beliefs. You just know this will be recommended in churches across every Red State, especially below the Mason-Dixon line, even though it is Catholic-based rather than evangelical.

The film is exclusive to the spankin' new streaming platform, ScareNetwork.tv.