The Seventh Day is a confounding flick. It’s somehow not a good movie but oddly compelling to watch. I wasn’t bored. Yet the movie fails at just about everything it tries to do…. from acting to scares to the world building (or lack thereof). Yet… I was intriguing despite the movie constantly failing.

The Seventh Day is about an rookie exorcist teaming up with an experience exorcist as he shows him the ropes and what its like fighting demons on the streets. Yes, it’s somehow Training Day and imagines a world where demons are pretty active in the community. Out intrepid duo investigate a case where a boy murders his family, pretty sure he was possessed by a demon.

A world where demon possession is common enough the Church has decided to stop pretending its not real and opens a training camp is interesting. But the movie does nothing with the idea leaving two random priests roaming about the city inexplicably walking into police offices and interrogations. It’s our world but with demon-fighting cops. And at barely 85 minutes, there’s no time to really get into it… or really show us a “training day” for that matter.

But that’s only a small part of the problem with the film. Its main issue is that it’s aggressively not scary…. yet (and this is the confounding part) there is a… certain mood… the film generates. When it’s not trying to be scary, it kind of feels off-putting or creepy. But any time it tries to go for a scare or show a demon or exorcism, it’s comically inept. I laughed out loud at scenes that were clearly meant to be scary.

Another problem is that the acting is almost universally bad, even from veteran Guy Pearce. I didn’t believe any of these characters including the constantly confused-looking lead (Vadhir Derbez) who looks agog more than aghast (if that makes sense). The kid actor who gets possessed is, sadly, also pretty miscast.

So, yeah, I can’t claim I was so bored but I should never find myself chuckling at a horror movie. But that’s better than being bored out of my mind, I guess? So I was entertained… maybe that’s hate watching, maybe there was something there.

Score: 68