Slashers. Demons. Time travel. Future Tech. Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill has it all. A sequel to writer/director Zoe Kavanagh’s Demon Hunter (2017), this continuation brings back demon hunter Taryn through time and space as humanity is on the line.
On the hunt to find the pieces of a medallion that can end the demonic control over Earth, Taryn is forced to go through time to save the future.
Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill, IMDB
Protagonist Taryn (Niamh Hogan) is on call again when a medallion called the Necrox — the only thing keeping demons and other creatures from taking over the planet — goes missing. Elysia Cronika (Lisa Wilcox) and her cronies have time on their side as they force Taryn back to the late 80s. There, a rag-tag team of teens help her find the Necrox pieces and restore the balance between good and evil, all while fighting off a menagerie of monsters along the way.
First thing’s first: Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill is a sequel. While I haven’t seen the first Demon Hunter, I didn’t feel lost in the story at all. Sure, there were objects and people mentioned that perhaps I didn’t know about at first, but the only thing required on my part was reading into the context and continuing the story. Easy money.
As for the plot, Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill was surprisingly energizing. It’s a good-sized feature (97 minutes), but there was very little down time, if any; those slower spots were built around background and world-building, explaining the story without hand-feeding it to us. I was expecting just a run-of-the-mill action horror with lots of fighting scenes — and I did get that — but adding in a whole time travel aspect and Slasher put this film in another category entirely. It was as if we were going through all of the subgenres and fitting them into one exciting movie. And on top of that, it all fit well together.
What Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill excelled in the most, I think, is its monsters and effects. Effects-wise, we’re not getting some big Hollywood budget CGI; we are getting something in between that and Syfy though, where the effects are clearly computer-generated but not so off-putting that they stick out completely. The monsters were the same with one-piece suits and enhanced features, but way more well-done than a store-bought costume.
On that same note, some of the backgrounds of scenes were obviously digital (for example, one scene took place in space). Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill‘s filmmakers took great care in using their budget where it counted and making everything as seamless as possible. One scene that I loved was Cronika’s wading through a blood-filled pool. Her slow-motion, tiara-wearing entrance showed that while the background is important, having a kick-ass foreground that everyone’s eyes are directed to can really seal the deal.
Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill was a fun watch. Action-horror isn’t usually something I go out and seek, but the science fiction elements and Slasher mid-section did the hard work of keeping this flick in the horror realm.
Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill is out now on VOD and physical through X4 Pictures. For more, follow writer/director Zoe Kavanagh on Instagram.
