St. Cloud director explores loneliness in new horror film, 'Demon'

St. Cloud director explores loneliness in new horror film, 'Demon'

Local writer and director Matthew Luczak is releasing his third film, “Demon,” at the Cold Spring Quarry Cinema on July 25 and 27.

The majority of the film was shot in St. Cloud on a roughly $15,000 budget and became Luczak's first horror film.

The roughly two and a half hour long film follows Ben, played by Matthew Benton, a young man going through life alone after being broken up with. He finds a cult-like group called the New Progeny, as well as an old friend named Tess, played by Ayden Giswold.

Ben comes to find out that the man he has been a follower of may not be exactly who he thought he was.

Luczak, who attended film school at St. Cloud State University, was influenced by the way the younger generation of men carry themselves, especially in today's political climate.

“I started doing research on the male loneliness epidemic and what goes into that,” Luczak said. “I found out a lot of people are just people who are looking for a connection, people who are looking for something to be a part of.”

Despite not enjoying horror movies as a child, Luczak realized horror can be used in many ways.

“As I’ve grown up, I’ve started watching more of them, and I think there are a lot of things you can do creatively within the genre that you can’t do with anything else,” Luczak said.

Luczak also said the ability to do practical effects was another part of horror directing he liked.

Both Benton and Giswold attended the initial script reading where Luczak quickly realized he found his Ben and Tess.

“I really like Matt for Ben,” Luczak said. “If Ayden’s not our Tess, I may quit this movie.”

Luczak added that Benton and Giswold both truly understood the characters and nailed their performances.

Giswold felt some vulnerability when entering her character’s head space. She said her script reading was nerve-wracking when she realized she had to act out a particular scene.

“I felt really bad for her (Tess), something not so great happened in her past,” Giswold said. “That was really hard to portray in a way that was respectful.”

Giswold added that it was hard to be respectful and gentle about her character's past, while also not hurting her own psyche.

Both Benton and Giswold had some scenes they felt were tough to portray without feeling some unease. Particularly for Benton who had a physical confrontation scene with Giswold.

However, during his first read of the script, Benton was still very excited to audition.

“I was very, very fond of the monster,” Benton said. “I had to audition because I really, really liked the monster, and when it came to Ben, I liked that he was kind of a pathetic person.”

Benton and Giswold both come from theatre backgrounds and worked together on a play called “Eurydice” based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Neither realized the other was at the script reading, despite reading multiple scenes together.

Luczak took some inspiration from Robert Egger and Michael Flanagan, by making Demon have a slow-burn plot that isn’t introduced as horror until later in the movie.

There will be short film at 6:45 p.m., with a full showing at 7 p.m., July 25 & 27 at Cold Spring Quarry Cinema at 111 East Hwy 23. Here’s a link to tickets:https://www.eventbrite.com/o/pale-horse-studio-121238847525?aff=ebdssh