If you are a fan of action horror like me, you may find it refreshing when the punch-to-scare ratio is even and fair. Balancing exciting action set pieces and intense scares creates a unique viewing experience that only this subgenre can offer. Lim Dae-hee’s directorial debut, Holy Night: Demon Hunters (2025), premiering at Fantasia, brings this balance back to the big screen despite a shaky foundation.

Starring Ma Dong-seok, who earned widespread acclaim for his performance in 2016’s Train To Busan and briefly joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Eternals (2021), the film follows a trio called the Holy Night who hunt demons. The plot thickens when they are approached by a neuropsychiatrist who believes her schizophrenic sister is possessed. Despite the premise seeming rather plain for an action horror piece, the film makes up for this by approaching it with as little sarcasm as possible, reminding me of the later Resident Evil games (like the one where Chris punches a boulder). Everything sounds incredibly goofy, but it comes together as a fun, campy action horror that echoes the early 2000s in the best way possible.

Ma does the majority of the punching in this film, acting as the brawn and the leader of the trio. His co-stars, Seohyun of K-pop group Girls’ Generation and Lee Da-wit of the recently concluded Squid Game (2024-2025), act as the majority of the comedic relief but flesh out their characters through small mannerisms and jokes. Seohyun’s character, Sharon, is the witchy exorcist of the group, and there is a running gag where Ba Woo and Kim Gun (Ma and Lee, respectively) are repeatedly jumpscared by Sharon innocuously entering a room without them knowing. These little gags and jokes scattered throughout keep all of the characters in focus in a film that leans so much on a leading actor’s presence.

Holy Night never does anything different with its subject matter, playing it rather straight when it comes to the horror set-pieces. This might turn audiences away by appearing formulaic, and at times it is, but the focus remains on the grisly exorcism sequences to make the audience uncomfortable. These sequences are juxtaposed by the film’s action sequences, which refresh and maintain the excitement while also showcasing Ma’s ability as a fighter. This is more than enough to keep me entertained, but others may find the shift between genres awkward and confusing. 

Holy Night: Demon Hunters explores themes of wavering faith in both higher powers and science. This has been done to death in many supernatural horror films around the world, so it remains unsurprising, but any attempt to use the horror genre to explore themes below the surface level is an attempt worth witnessing. The underdeveloped nature of these themes provides a rather thin foundation for the actors to work with, but that may just be an issue with the film’s hasty 90-minute runtime. Regardless, it is a noticeable problem that bogs the film down before it kicks into high gear in the second act.

Despite feeling rushed thematically, Holy Night: Demon Hunters is a fun, campy Korean horror flick that gives audiences a decently scary time. Ma punching demons into hell is more than enough to sell me and many others on a film like this, but the Constantine (2005)-style premise makes it even more worth the watch. This was another pleasant sleeper hit from Fantasia, and I cannot wait to see even more films like this and films starring Ma in the future.

Review Courtesy of Nadia Arain

Feature Image Credit to Lotte Entertainment