31 Days, Day 21: Creator of DEATH METAL Strikes Comedy Gold Again with WE SUMMONED A DEMON

[Editor’s Note: Like Garrett, I enjoyed the hell out of this short and believe Chris McInroy needs to be greenlit on a feature very soon. For info on where this awesome short is playing, head to their Facebook page by clicking here!]

Just a few weeks ago at PUFF I had the opportunity to see Death Metal, an incredible short film by director Chris McInroy that is easily one of the most gore-tastic comedies I’ve ever seen. And now McInroy has unleashed his latest short, We Summoned a Demon, and it’s every bit as ridiculous as his previous effort, if not quite as effective.

Where Death Metal mines gore itself for laughs and plays very minimally otherwise, We Summoned a Demon gives us a couple of wise cracking lamewads to follow as they do exactly what the title suggests in an attempt to be “cool”. The comedy is more centered on quips from the characters than the physical humor of Death Metal, and I’m not sure it works quite as well. That’s not to say it isn’t funny, much like its predecessor it has a final turn that is absolutely nuts and garners big laughs, but the cheesy jokes leading up to it don’t land quite as hard. That said, there’s yet again some excellent practical FX work here, as well as some really stellar make-up and lighting design.

I would love to see McInroy be given the budget for a full length feature. I feel like he’s got a perfect 89 minute splatter picture in him that would be stellar. Not that I want to see this happen, but in a world of reboots, this is the guy that should be hired to remake Re-Animator if that’s a thing someone decides to do one day (and they will). Or give him one of those Conjuring spin-off movies – imagine the audience of those crowd pleasers being given a Dead Alive-like mad cap horror comedy? McInroy is clearly a talent and deserves a shot at that, I know I’d see it at least twice.

Garrett Smith

Resident Funny Man / Film Geek

Garrett Smith is a Philadelphia based comedian and podcaster surviving on frozen pizza and macaroni and cheese. Follow him on Twitter and Letterboxd to see if he ever develops lactose intolerance, and check out his milky smooth voice on his podcast, I Like To Movie Movie.

Tags: Black Comedy, Chris McInroy, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Death Metal, Demon, Film Review, Gore, Gore Gags, Horror, Horror Comedy, Review, Short, Short Film, We Summoned a Demon