By Martin Unsworth
Following the release of his 2019 film Murder Box, director Gerald Varga fell into a depression. In the following years, Varga, his roommate and best friend all disappeared, with some scraps of video footage being the only thing that remains to give any idea of what happened. We see the disintegration of Varga’s mind and his friendship as he attempts to teach people how to master the found footage subgenre and make the most of your poverty row filmmaking.
While Murder Box had a clearer narrative, My Inner Demon has a more scattershot approach. It brings us closer to the characters behind the film, with Varga’s skin cancer treatment being a regular topic. It feels like you’re watching a cathartic experiment from the director, who slips in and out of his psychotic ‘horror comedian’ character Gerald Gerald Geraldson with great ease. While it’s still mounted in the realms of fantasy, it feels like there are many home truths and soul-searching on display here.
Taking the viewer behind the tropes of the found footage style is a neat way to introduce some really chilling elements, and it’s not hard to warm to the bickering pair who appear to be nearing the end of their friendship.
Low-budget filmmaking isn’t easy; generally, the audience that can and will tolerate the pitfalls and limitations that come along with it is pretty small. We must celebrate the likes of Varga, who recognise these restrictions and give structure to their story around them rather than pretend they don’t exist. My Inner Demon works as both a found footage film and video therapy session, with added grimness to keep the horror hounds on board.
