Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another spooktacular “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update as this time around we will be heading to the waters of Mexico to talk about the massive shark that is called The Black Demon! This 2023 indie horror film had a limited theatrical release and. also had a comic mini series based around it thanks to indie comic publisher Scout Comics. And as I have said many times in the past, I wish these horror filmmakers would team more often with horror comic makers to do releases like this as horror comic readers eat them up and it’s a great way to promote your film. So with that said, let’s get in this tiny rotting boat and hope that we don’t get chewed up by the massive Black Demon Shark who is hunting these ink waters.
Lets start off by taking a look at The Black Demon and its ways of bringing death to foolish humans that enter its cursed waters. The Black Demon is a massive megalodon shark that is very supernatural in nature as it is a creature that is set free by an Aztec God to punish people who do the environment harm in the Baja Coast in Mexico. Black Demon is massive in size and is scarred up from all the years of roaming the waters and eating up humans on boats, and his appearance brings terror to those who see it…let alone just saying its name strikes fear. The Black Demon is a fast swimmer and can also make his prey hallucinate by seeing things that are horrific like body parts floating or even give them a false look as something that will give them safety like rescue boats, but these mind tricks are just a way to scare you and leave you open for death. It’s main way of killing humans comes from its massive razor sharp teeth and big mouth that can swallow up a boat and the people on it with ease. But The Black Demon, while a supernatural creature, can be hurt and or killed as being blown up with explosives seems to do it in for good, its size as well seems to work against it when it comes to being able to squeeze into spaces to get to its prey. The Black Demon is a true terror of the waters that strikes fear and spreads death in the waters of Baja and is a creepy killing machine.
So as you can see, The Black Demon is a massive shark that is truly looking to end some lives and make people live in fear! And now I think that it is time that we take a look at the 2023 film that it’s from and like always, we will be taking the films plot from our good pals at IMDB and after that I will write a little about the film’s production as well as my thoughts of the film. So with that, let’s head a little deeper into the water and see what The Black Demon is all about.
Black Demon (2023)
“Paul Sturges takes his family on a trip to Mexico to inspect an oil rig his company owns. Once they get out there, he finds the place almost abandoned with only a few terrified workers left who tell him that the rig has been repeatedly attacked by a monstrous shark that is part of a Mexican legend. With the rig sinking into the water and the shark hunting them, he must find a way to get his family to safety and stay alive.”
Film director Adrian Grunberg along with scriptwriters Carlos Cisco and Boise Esquerra came up with the idea to turn the Mexican legend of the giant shark known as The Black Demon into a film in order to bring its tale to horror fans outside of Mexico as well as to deliver a frightful watch much like Jaws, Orca The Killer Whale, Sharknado and Meg before it. The film would be set around a family stuck on a crumbling old oil rig in the ocean as the Black Demon attacks and waits for them to enter his water so he can make a snack out of them. The film cast such names as Josh Lucas, Fernanda Urrejola, Hector Jimenez, Venus Ariel, Julio Cesar Cedillo and Raul Mendez, to name a few. The film was shot in the Dominican Republic and shooting would be last for a few months, and the craziest part is that for the longest time the creators of this film kept the plot very quiet and all anyone knew was that it was a shark movie! The film once done would be scored by Ricardo Acasuso and would get a limited theatrical release on April 28, 2023. The film did not do great at the box office and was pretty much panned by both critics and viewers leaving it to have to try and truly build it’s following once released to home media. It would bring in $3,446,755.00 for its run in the theater worldwide. The film was released in 2023 alongside such other Horror films as Scream VI, Cocaine Bear, Fear, Infinity Pool, Evil Dead Rise, Winnie The Pooh Blood And Honey, Skinamarink and Grandma to name a few.
The Black Demon was one of those indie horror films that I saw the trailer for and wanted to see on the big screen as I thought you could not go wrong with a giant shark movie! And lucky for me one of the local theater chains ended up picking it up and showing it a handful of times and so on a lazy Sunday afternoon my lady and I checked it out, and while we had a good time at visiting the theater, the film was sadly a slight letdown as it had a surprisingly lack of The Black Demon and was more about what we as humans are doing to our bodies of water and how greed and fear will cause people to turn the other cheek even when they know something is causing major damage to the world as well as those workers in the unsafe environment. I also have to say that in the film the main character is a man named Paul Sturges who works for the oil company and is one of the most unlikable “heroes” that I have ever seen as he is just a jerk who is very self serving and endangers people and animals for his own greed, and even when he tries to right all his wrongs I still feel that he is a jerk. I do think that most of the acting in the film was good and it was great to see Hector Jimenez in the film as most viewers will know him from the 2006 film Nacho Libre where he played Esqueleto, and here in Black Demon, he plays a boat driver that works for the oil company. I also think that actress Fernanda Urrejola who plays the wife Ines does a good job in what little she was given, and viewers would know her from the 2021 film Cry Macho. But over all Black Demon is one of those horror films that could be an ok watch on a boring night, but for those looking forward to giant shark attacks, this will be very disappointing. And for those wondering, I did end up buying the film on DVD that was strangely released by Paramount Pictures.
So now that we have taken a look at The Black Demon, the supernatural megalodon shark and its ways of killing humans as well as the film it’s from, I think it is now time to take a look at the comic mini series based around the indie film. I would like to thank Game Swap Kettering for having the comics in stock and making this update possible. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s make some noise and see if we can draw The Black Demon out!
Black Demon Tales # 1 **1/2
Released in 2023 Cover Price $4.99 Scout Comics # 1 of 3
In 1984 a Mexican Navy boat is giving chase to a smaller boat that has protesters and researchers are going to leak to the press about the Black Demon, but unknown to these whistleblowers they are heading toward their deaths as the massive sharks appears and kills them all leaving wreckage and carnage behind. The Navy Captain is being yelled at by his crew member and daughter Bella Gonzalez who is upset that they knowingly lead these protectors to their death, but before things can be settled, their ship is also attacked by the Black Demon who destroys their boat, leaves all the crew dead besides Bella who makes it to shore with a seriously injured arm. Years pass and in 1986 Bella lost her arm and it is replaced with a metal prostatic and she now is building a weapon that she hopes will kill The Black Demon who not only took her arm but the life of her father. Bella heads to the Baja Coast with her new weapon in hand as a giant squid has washed ashore and inside it is the remains of a man, these deaths are the doing of The Black Demon! She then heads out on a boat to try and use her weapon on the shark and is able to do so but it does not stop the supernatural shark that destroys her boat and knocks her out cold. She wakes up on the beach and a fisherman is holding his hand out to help her up.
The first issue of Black Demon Tales is a cool start to the series as we learn that The Black Demon has been roaming the waters in the 80’s and has made an enemy out of Bella Gonzalez, a Navy researcher who was the victim of one of The Black Demon’s many attack that left her missing an arm and worse her fellow crew members with one being her father dead! Bella Gonzalez is clearly a woman who wants to do the right thing as she does not like that her father lead the protestors to their death, and she is all for revenge as she wants to kill the demon shark and is using her smarts and science to try and do so. Sadly at this point it appears that she has failed as even with her special bomb she finds herself once more injured and on the beach defeated. And as for the stranger who comes to her aid, I am sure we will get to know him in the next issue. The Black Demon is a killing machine as in just this issue he kills a boat full of protesters as well as a navy men as its quest to kill to right the wrongs of mankind against nature is truly what drives it. The story is a fast read and as of this first issue The Black Demon shark is pretty badass and I can not wait to see what more mayhem and terror it causes in the rest of this mini series. The comic is not bloody and the horror comes from the giant shark attacks themselves as well as its massive appearance. The cover is pretty cool and shows a lady about to be swallowed up by The Black Demon, and for fans of the film or even just shark attack entertainment it would be eye catching. The interior art is pretty good stuff and is done by Vincenzo Sansone who I think draws The Black Demon shark very well. Over all not a bad start for this mini series based on the film that is based on a legend in Mexico, so lets see what issue two has in store for us.
Black Demon Tales # 2 **
Released in 2023 Cover Price $4.99 Scout Comics # 2 of 3
Father Mateo sits near the ocean in Mexico and tells the tale of female warrior Erendira who would not allow her people to be taken over by the rule of Spain. Erendira has taught herself to ride a horse and has trained many other warriors in her group to do the same as they are ready for a fight, she also goes and visits an old wise woman who lives near the beach who tells her of a God that watches over the waters, fills it with many fish for eating and also has a very evil protector. Meanwhile a ship of Spanish soldiers are on their way to Mexico and come across some native fishermen and they decide to kill them as they think they are savages, and this pisses off Erendira and the old wise woman who ends up summoning The Black Demon to get revenge! The massive sharks kills so many of them and as the Spanish Soldiers get to the beach they attack the Aztec Warriors who end up fighting back and in the end the Soldiers are killed as is the old wise woman who puts the curse of being the watcher of The Black Demon on the Father that was with the Spanish fleets and that man was Mateo who has been alive now for over three hundred years keeping an eye out for wrong doings in the ocean so that he can free Black Demon to get revenge.
This second issue at this point has zero to do with the first issue and is kind of a boring tell of a female Aztec Warrior who watches as The Black Demon kills off most of there peoples enemies in the waters, and then she kills off the remaining once they touch land. And the “big” part of the story is the old Aztec wise woman who gets killed in this fight passing down the watcher label and curse to the Spanish Father that was washed ashore who is still doing that job to this very day. The main character is Erendira, an Aztec female warrior who learns how to ride a horse and gets a group of other warriors to help her fight against the Spanish who are trying to claim and take over their land, she is skilled fighter and while she does take out many soldiers she also fails to protect the wise old woman who gets killed right in front of her. Speaking of the old wise woman she loves the open water, but she also seems to hate unleashing The Black Demon as she understands that this massive shark is a protector…but it also seems a little evil. And poor Father Mateo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time as he is pleading with the Aztec’s for help, but his own people being blood thirsty and attacking the warriors makes him become cursed, and now he is force to please Aztec Gods and be the keeper of The Black Demon. Speaking of The Black Demon he does his job as he kills many Spanish soldiers and is doing what he does best and that is chomp down on ships and people. The issue has some blood and kills the Horror comes from The Black Demon’s attack on the boats, but sadly the story and pacing is just kind of bland and is not a great Horror Comic at all. The cover for the issue is pretty cool and shows Erendira with The Black Demon creeping up behind her. The interior artwork for this issue is done by artist Armando M. Zanker and I like it for the most part as it has a dash of cartoony look and the way he draws Black Demon is good. Over not a great issue but I do feel that if you like the movie you might enjoy this issue as it goes back in time to show kind of how the Aztecs used The Black Demon during a hostile time.
Black Demon Tales # 3 *
Released in 2023 Cover Price $4.99 Scout Comics # 3 of 3
Joseph Stalin is sick and sends one of his most trusted man to the South America waters to search for a cure, and along the way this hired Russian also crosses the path of Americans as well as locals who are caring on rituals to protect the waters from outsiders. And he finally finds the cure that can even cure dismemberment! But seeing the Russian ship in the waters one of the natives dives in and summons The Black Deamon that destroys the ship and kills the crew and makes it that Stalin never gets his cure.
I first have to say this comic series got worse with every issues as the stories became a mess and in the case of this third and final issue it was just boring and very lackluster and lacks any true Horror. The plot is very simple and as a man is sent to find a cure for a ill Russian leader only to find it and then be killed by The Black Demon. None of the characters in this issue are interesting as they are all just kind of around and barely move the plot along. The cure that can cure people even in death is never explained and the reason for The Black Demon being sent to kill a ship full of people is also very clumsy and kind of confusing. The Black Demon shows up at the very end of the issue and massacres the bot and it’s crew adding in some blood being spilt, and I guess the Horror as well. And that is one of the big issues with not only the film but also this comic series is that we want to see The Black Demon as this massive shark is the star and we don’t need every issue in the case of the comic to be tied into a person or a group that is summoning it by the end only for it to appear in a few panels. All three issues as well never connect besides for the waters and The Black Demon and really I just did not dig this series at all. The cover for this issue is kind of cool and shows The Black Demon in the water doing what he does, and the interior art in this issue is done by artist Jose Esteban Urabayen and his work is good and the highlight of this issue as I do like the way he draws Black Demon as well as all the death carnage. Over all not much too talk about here, as this series really was a letdown and one that I would not recommend unless you’re a mega fan of the film. Check out the artwork below to see the style used in this series. Oh and on a side note by the third issue they do not acknowledge the film at all, almost like the distanced itself from it.
Black Demon is one of those horror films that had lots of great potential, but it just never got going and spent way too much of its time on family drama and not enough on the giant shark who truly felt like an afterthought. And with this comic series from Scout Comics it was a great idea to showcase the shark during different time periods and use this comic to help promote the film, it’s just that many of the Tales are just kind of chugging along and don’t pack the terror they should. And with that I think that it’s time that we leave The Black Demon behind and I tell you that our next update will be about that sci-fi, horror and action films known as I Come In Peace and the indie comic series based around it. So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Do you think that a drug-pushing alien with a blade on his arm that steals brain fluid really does come in peace?
