Zoe Kavanagh’s Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill has everything: time travel, corporate Satanists, an ’80s camp slasher, but it’s also assuming you watched the first film. Fine for returning fans, but a little bumpy for anyone wandering in cold, that is, until the gruesome gore and breathtaking fight scenes kick in!
We follow Taryn (Niamh Hogan), who’s in the demon-slaying trade, chasing the two halves of an ancient relic called the Necrox before it lands in the hands of Elysia (Lisa Wilcox) — formidable CEO by day, Satanic cult leader by night.
When her demon enforcers keep losing battles, Elysia changes tactics, sending Taryn back to the ’80s, into a deadly summer camp currently under siege by a masked slasher named Lucien (Lar Mclachlan). Now Taryn’s pulling double duty—keep the campers breathing, find the artifact, get home before the timeline unravels behind her.
The back half plays like The Final Girls (2015) with a sci-fi twist. The time jump itself is disjointed. The mash-up works once it clicks — but a sharper visual cue, like period-accurate wardrobes, would’ve spared me the confusion.
“We follow Taryn, who’s in the demon-slaying trade, chasing the two halves of an ancient relic called the Necrox…”
The fight scenes are some of the film’s biggest highlights—dynamic, brutal, and incredibly well choreographed. Having a lead actress who is also a professional stunt performer adds a level of authenticity and physicality that you rarely see outside of big-budget films. She fully commits to every action sequence, making the fights feel electrifying from start to finish.
While the supporting cast leans into the movie’s mix of horror and over-the-top comedy, it was Kevin O’Malley as Ethan who gives the film much of its heart. Ethan and Taryn are put into impossible situations, with his character going from a passive sidekick to confronting the threats they encounter head-on with grounded performances.
As a practical-effects devotee, this is where my loyalties are split. The gore is the real deal — visceral, gritty kills with enough in-your-face splatter to quench this horror gal’s thirst. But the demons don’t quite make the cut. Too much of the creature work leans on rudimentary CGI that feels unnatural and weightless in motion, with almost a video game cutscene quality that yanked me out of the scene. The film clearly knows how to make a kill feel dangerous. It just hasn’t figured out how to make the monsters feel real.
Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill won’t be for everyone, but it earns its place with cult genre fans who embrace fearless ambition, have a soft spot for slasher throwbacks, and delivers a bloody good time.
"…Visceral, gritty kills with enough in-your-face splatter to quench this horror gal's thirst."
