Satan-worshipping demon gangs are on the rampage and violence engulfs the city. And when you have nowhere else to turn, and you desperately need someone to punch a malevolent spirit out of a loved one, there’s only one place to turn, a group called Holy Night. Bow (Ma) is the leader and the muscle, pop star Seohyun is Sharon, who handles the bulk of the exorcism duties, and Kim Gun (Lee Da-wit, Squid Game) is the intern who catches it all on film and delivers large loads of exposition when necessary. They’re kind of like a spiritual A-Team.
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At first, it feels like the movie is going to be about what amounts to a sprawling demonic gang war. Evil continually ups its game, wreaking havoc at every turn. Ma has old beef with a high-ranking priest. And there are various factions and crews and spiteful beings to contend with. Eventually, however, the plot focuses in on one woman, a doctor, at her wits end, needing Bow and company to exorcise her sister (Jung Ji-so, Parasite). Jung is excellent, but from here, it’s standard possession movie stuff. There’s a creepy girl in white talking in sinister voices, eerie videos, levitation, their deepest darkest secrets exposed to the world, the whole nine. You’ve seen it before, and it works well enough—Ma has so much beefy charisma, you can watch him do anything and enjoy it—but at best it’s just kind of fine.
When it turns into an action film with horror trappings, that’s when the fun begins. It only makes sense to learn Holy Night: Demon Hunters is based on a popular webtoon, because it watches like a comic book come to life, full of big, broad, chaotic throwdowns. And Ma in a track suit, wearing his special demon-punching gloves and clocking fools is as wildly entertaining as it sounds. It’s the good stuff for sure. And added bonus here, because they’re evil deities, sometimes there’s smoke and sparks when he lands a blow. It’s all the fighting you want, cranked up even further.
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At times Lim relies too heavily on camcorders, surveillance cameras and the like. A certain amount makes sense, as all Holy Night’s exploits are captured on video, but it’s overused and intrusive at times. The film cuts back and forth from a standard, established view into a shot from a shot from a camcorder. There’s not internal logic to the cuts. It’s jarring and jagged and most of it serves little purpose. Fortunately, the bulk of the action is filmed like a real-ass movie, so it’s not a huge issue, but there are times when it becomes a distraction and annoyance.
The backstories and side plots don’t often amount to much. Touches like how Bow and his childhood bestie went different ways—his friend became a priest, but corrupt, while Bow went criminal, but never became a bad person—add texture, but most of them are tepid and too underdeveloped for interest. Again, they tend to blur with every other exorcism movie out there.
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Still, Holy Night: Demon Hunters is a blast. It delivers exactly what it promises, amped up demon-punching mayhem. Is it a bit like one of The Roundup movies added devils and satanic gangs? Yes. But that sounds awesome. And if any of what’s described here sounds like a fine time, track this down at your earliest convenience. You won’t be disappointed.
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