It’s been six years since District 9 director Neill Blomkamp delivered a feature film, and it was the disappointing sci-fi action movie Chappie. But when Blomkamp returns to the big screen this year, it will be in an entirely new genre.

Demonic is a new supernatural horror thriller debuting at the end of the summer that involves a family rift between a mother and daughter and the literal demons that are at the root of their pain. Instead of coming right out of the gate with a teaser trailer, IFC Midnight has debuted some 8mm footage from the set of Demonic alongside a couple first look photos. Check it all out below.

Demonic Set Footage

Though the 8mm footage presentation does lend a certain ominous style to the proceedings, there aren’t a lot of details to pick up on here. There’s a shot where a woman is floating on a harness, presumably for some kind of demonic possession scene, and the footage ends with an intriguing shot of what appears to be the end of some kind of ancient spear. Besides that, it’s just footage of drones, equipment boxes, and Neill Blomkamp on set.

Honestly, the first look photos that IFC Midnight revealed are a little more enticing:

Demonic First Look Photos Demonic First Look Photos

In these photos, we see a woman hooked up to some kind of neural helmet, though we’re not sure if she’s partaking in this situation of her own volition or if she’s being held there against her will. Someone who definitely isn’t a willing participant is the man chained up in the other photo, who also has a pentagram and other demonic markings scratched on his skin.

Neill Blomkamp arrived on the Hollywood scene with a splash thanks to District 9, but follow-up films in the same vein like Elysium and Chappie have left something to be desired. Hopefully a change in genre will help reinvigorate the filmmaker’s career and he can get back to the top of his game. If not, then we’ll have to wait to see what happens with that District 9 sequel that’s supposedly in the works. In the meantime, here’s the official synopsis for Demonic:

A young woman unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades old rift between mother and daughter are ruthlessly revealed in this horror-thriller from director Neill Blomkamp.

Neill Blomkamp’s Demonic arrives in select theaters on August 20, 2021 and hits VOD and digital on August 27.

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