Battling Tayrn's Demon

Battling Taryn's Demon

Bruce Von Stiers

Even if most of us won't admit it, evil is all around us. Some of it is implicit and some of it is extreme. Some of it is in the open, but a lot of it hides in the shadows. In fiction and in films, evil is often personified as demonic beings. And there is usually a specific demon who is in charge or the leader of a group of those demonic beings.

What if you had a specific person to track down and destroy that demon leader? That person could well be Taryn Barker. She is the lead character in the action horror film Demon Hunter.

As the film starts, Taryn is given a briefing by the team she works with. There is a target that she has to take out. She locates the target and initiates a fight. This fight involves swords and martial arts. Finally, Taryn kills the target and cuts off his head, which is what she is supposed to do. The cops are coming and she's running down the street with a trash bag, presumably with the target's head in it.

Taryn is picked up by the cops, but not before handing off the trash bag to a member of her team. She's held by the cops for the gruesome murder. But they don't know that she's killed a demon minion.

Beckett is the lead detective in the case. At the murder scene he finds a bracelet with the name Annabelle on it. When trying to interrogate Taryn about the murder, he wants to know if she is Annabelle or who is she?

As the film moves along the audience gets the backstory of Taryn. Her sister was Annabelle and she was killed. Taryn is tricked by a guy named Falstaff, thinking he would lead her to Annabelle's killer. Falstaff is actually evil incarnate and will stop at nothing to claim Taryn's soul.

The film has a bunch of gruesome murders and demonic incidents. There are mutilations, decapitations, gun shots and swordplay. Taryn is kind of a badass martial artist who is as adept with a sword as she is with her hands and feet.

A couple of the plot elements didn't seem to make sense at first. How did Taryn go from possibly being a demon alongside Falstaff to become his hunter? Why did Falstaff want Taryn so badly? These questions get answered later in the film.

Taryn was played by Niamh Hogan. She starred in the short horror films Inexorable and Carnivores. She has also done a lot of stunt work including being a stunt double for actors such as Becky Lynch, Millie Brady and Kerry Condon.

Beckett was played by Alan Talbot. Demon Hunter is his only IMDB film listing.

Shane Robinson played Hall, the leader of the demon hunting team that Taryn works with. He co-starred in Dublin Crust and the Irish Connection. Kevin O'Malley played Ethan, a member of the demon hunter team. He starred in the short historical romance mystery film Staccato. Nic Furlong played Barnes, another team member. He wrote and directed the short drama films Seed and Lola.

Michael Parle played Falstaff. He co-starred in the thriller The Second Coming and the sci-fi adventure film The Revenge of Shinobi.

Sarah Tapes Jenkinson played Kudrow, Beckett's boss. Alsi Moran played Annabelle, Taryn's little sister. Margarita Grillis played Taryn and Annabelle's mom.

Other actors appearing in the film were Emma Bartlett, Meaghan Gallagher, Dave Duffy, Mark Schrier, Seamus Hanly, Bob Robertson and Derek O'Sullivan.

The film was directed by Zoe Kavanagh. She also co-wrote the screenplay. Her other films as director include the short drama Wounded Ella and the short horror films Meat Cute and Inexorable.

The cinematographer was Luca Rocchini. A few of the other films he was cinematographer on included the mystery thriller Love of Magdalena and the crime drama Oh Boy Charlie.

Tony Flynn was the other screenplay writer for the film. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Wounded Ella with Zoe Kavanagh.

The majority of the actors and production crew for the film were Irish. And as such, the filming was done at various locations in Ireland. The film also had a decent soundtrack with over a dozen songs from artists such as Grieco, VHS Glitch, The Enigma TNC and Voxillary.

Demon Hunter provides a slightly different angle on established good versus evil and demon hunting film plots. Taryn is battling for control of her soul while trying to destroy the demon that wants her soul. Vengeance and retribution weave their way throughout the film as well. The film might seem a little uneven at times, but I think it was intended that way. I think that Kavanagh wanted this film to stand out, away from tried-and-true demon hunter films.

Demon Hunter was originally released as Taryn Barker: Demon Hunter. The production companies involved in the film were Constant Motion Pictures and Up On Blue Bridge Productions.

Demon Hunter is available on various streaming platforms. You can watch it for free on Tubi.

And if you're into side scrolling action/adventure video games, there is also a Taryn Barker: Demon Hunter video game out.

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