''Demons Never Die'' (originally titled ''Suicide Kids'') is a 2011 British
slasher film
A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
starring
Robert Sheehan
Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...
,
Jennie Jacques,
Jacob Anderson,
Jason Maza,
Emma Rigby,
Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to:
* Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor
* Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist
{{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...
,
Reggie Yates and
Tulisa Contostavlos.
Plot
While at home alone, Amber (
Tulisa Contostavlos) is attacked and murdered, with her murder being passed off as a
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
by police investigator Bates (
Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to:
* Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor
* Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist
{{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...
). A group of troubled teens, made up of Archie (
Robert Sheehan
Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...
), Ricky (
Jacob Anderson), Ashleigh (
Shanika Warren-Markland
Shanika Warren-Markland is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in '' More Than Love'' and ''4.3.2.1.''
Early life
Markland attended Sion Manning Roman Catholic Girls' School in West London. At the age of thirteen, Markland ...
), Cain (
Femi Oyeniran
Femi Oyeniran is a Nigerian-British actor and director who started his career in the cult classic ''Kidulthood'', playing the role of "Moony" in 2006. It was followed by the 2008 sequel ''Adulthood''. His first feature film as a director "It's ...
), Samantha (
Emma Rigby), James (
Jack Doolan), Jasmine (
Jennie Jacques) and Kenny (
Jason Maza) have been contemplating suicide for a long time, and after hearing of Amber's death, decide to make a
suicide pact
A suicide pact is an agreed plan between two or more individuals to die by suicide. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed.
General considerations
Suicide pacts are an important concept in the study of suicide, and h ...
and kill themselves at Ashleigh's upcoming party. However, as Samantha is making a suicide diary in the college's dressing room, she is stabbed to death by a masked killer. After Ashleigh leaves her house, Kenny breaks in with his friend, Davey (Andrew Ellis), to set up cameras around her house, so the group's suicide can be recorded, and Davey can exclusively release the footage. Meanwhile, Archie and Jasmine start a romance, which leads to Archie suggesting he and Jasmine remove themselves from the suicide pact, but this repels Jasmine.
The following day, the group is shocked by the death of Samantha. At college, Jasmine is attacked by the killer, but manages to phone the police and lock herself in a room. Archie finds Jasmine, and as she is taken to the hospital, he is questioned by Bates and Mason (
Reggie Yates) who seem to think Jasmine is suffering from a condition which made her imagine the attack. At night, Ashleigh, Ricky, Cain, and James meet up and contemplate who could have attacked Jasmine, before having doubts about whether they want to continue with the suicide pact. Elsewhere, Kenny, who is now being filmed by Davey for a suicide diary, decides he will shoot everyone at Ashleigh's party so his death will be more famous. The following day, while walking down the road, James encounters a bully, Curtis, but the rest of the group defends him. The group then meets with Kenny and tells him they are not going to do the suicide pact, angering him. Mr. Hudson, a teacher at the college, makes a phone call to an unknown receiver, telling them he is out of the deal. Upon returning home, Hudson finds his wife dead, before he too is murdered.
As the group try to figure out who the murderer is, suspicion falls on nearly everyone. At night, while making his way to Ashleigh's party, Ricky, believing he hears Samantha's voice, has his throat slashed by the killer. While people party inside Ashleigh's house, Bates and Mason patrol the grounds. Curtis and his date go to the bathroom, where both are stabbed to death. Outside, Kenny and Davey arrive, but Bates and Mason apprehend Kenny before he can enter the house with the gun. As party guests start to leave, James is stabbed to death in the kitchen; Ashleigh witnesses this and is chased into the garden. The killer cuts the electricity off, sending the rest of the party-goers home, and when Ashleigh tries to get their attention, she is stabbed and dragged away.
Archie and Jasmine, who have been spending time alone together, return to the party to find the house empty. Inside, they are stalked in the darkness and discover Cain and Davey's bodies, and are eventually split up. Moments later, Jasmine emerges from the house distraught, while Bates enters the house and finds Archie dead. Outside, Jasmine reaches the police car and finds both Mason and Kenny murdered, before Bates attacks her, revealing himself to be the killer. As he is about to kill Jasmine, Archie reveals himself to have faked his own murder and attacks Bates, giving Jasmine an opportunity to shoot him. As Jasmine tends to an injured Archie, Bates narrates the line "Demons never die", before opening his eyes.
Cast
*
Robert Sheehan
Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...
as Archie Eden
*
Jennie Jacques as Jasmine
*
Shanika Warren-Markland
Shanika Warren-Markland is a British actress and writer. She is known for her roles in '' More Than Love'' and ''4.3.2.1.''
Early life
Markland attended Sion Manning Roman Catholic Girls' School in West London. At the age of thirteen, Markland ...
as Ashleigh
*
Jacob Anderson as Ricky
*
Femi Oyeniran
Femi Oyeniran is a Nigerian-British actor and director who started his career in the cult classic ''Kidulthood'', playing the role of "Moony" in 2006. It was followed by the 2008 sequel ''Adulthood''. His first feature film as a director "It's ...
as Cain
*
Jack Doolan as James
*
Emma Rigby as Samantha Rearden
*
Jason Maza as Kenny
* Andrew Ellis as Davey
*
Ashley Walters Ashley Walters may refer to:
* Ashley Walters (actor) (born 1982), English rapper and actor
* Ashley Walters (artist) (born 1983), South African artist
{{Hndis, Walters, Ashley ...
as Bates
*
Reggie Yates as Mason
*
Patrick Baladi as Gary Hudson
*
Tulisa Contostavlos as Amber Johnson
Release
The movie opened to 121 cinemas (one late night showing per day) and made £47,536 in its first week. The movie was released on DVD on 20 February 2012.
Reception
Shot in 19 days on a shooting budget of just £900,000 the film was distributed by new firm, Exile Media through an online campaign. Youth media such as RWD magazine gave the film 4 stars, whilst traditional media such as
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
described the film as "part bleeding heart
emo
Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
love story; part urban Brit flick; part high school
slasher
Slasher may refer to:
* Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball
* Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film
* Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement
* ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film
* ''Slasher'' (2007 film) ...
" and gave it two stars out of five.
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
said "Interesting when the kids are debating whether or not they really want to die and boasting a very decent cast. Surprisingly, the actual 'horror' part is the let-down" and also awarded two out of five stars.
Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
has collected 8 reviews, all but one of which have been negative resulting in a 13% approval rating.
Demons Never Die - Rotten Tomatoes
/ref>
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 1777612, Demons Never Die
2011 horror films
British slasher films
2011 films
British horror films
2010s slasher films
2010s English-language films
2010s British films