Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Demented’

Written by Scott Edwards

One of the greatest things you can ever do to recharge your batteries is to take a vacation. A trip out of town, away from all of your cares in the world is something that everyone should be entitled to at least once a year. What could be better? Add your friends to the experience as well and you would be looking at a vacation to remember. 

Six college students from LSU are thinking the exact same thing, it’s time to get away from all of their cares of real life and schoolwork to have a wild week at a friend’s father's summer house. The house is a great place for a getaway, since it has no cell service, no Wi-Fi, no TV, what else could they ask for? Enjoying the solitude away from their busy life in the city, the group embarks on one of their favorite past times, drinking.

The three couples enjoy their time alone and with the group, until a strange phone call comes from Howard’s (the son of the home owner) father, wherein he informs the group that  there has been an attack in the Middle East with ballistic missiles. Going outside of the house, the group thinks that they will be okay, but a missile appears overhead and detonates a couple miles away. Not knowing what to expect, the group hunkers down for the night and the only worry on their mind, is a strange, rabid dog eyeing the home. 

The Demented is a fun little romp that shows how a group of friends can band together during an outbreak of something they have never seen before. The story follows three different couples and the twists and turns they deal with when it comes to love, betrayal and survival. With the windows being busted open, the group has only one plan of action… get to town and try to survive. Trying to wait it out until an evacuation helicopter makes it to them, the group has to move around the town without being seen or heard by the new predators. 

‘Not your regular zombie flick.’ That is what is says on the back of the box and no one is disputing that. A good story with some young actors that make you think about what you would do if faced by a zombie outbreak. The zombies freeze in place when there is no one to chase, but spring into action when a noise is made, as they seem to only be attracted by sound. The classic methods to kill a zombie, such as destroying the brain, may also have gone by the wayside in this film, but that is not where the true scares lie. Having to trust the ones you are with if they are or are not your friends seems to be the scariest thing you will have to deal with. When the world is coming to an end, will you be able to fend for yourself, or will you have to depend on your friends. If it is the latter, make sure you don’t do anything to piss them off. Stay scared.  

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