IFC Midnight has released the official trailer for Demonic, the new twisted sci-fi horror movie from director Neill Blomkamp. Set for a release in theaters and on VOD on Aug. 20, the movie was shot in Canada during the pandemic and held its world premiere at Berlinale in March. IFC Midnight has since picked up the U.S. rights, and ahead of its release next month, a new trailer has been released. You can watch it below.

Demonic is written and directed by Neill Blomkamp. Stuart Ford produced the project. The movie stars Carly Pope, Chris William Martin, Michael J. Rogers, Nathalie Boltt, and Terry Chen. In Demonic, "a young woman (Pope) unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades old rift between mother and daughter are revealed."

Blomkamp and the Demonic filmmakers utilized a new patent-pending method of volumetric capture, a form of technology that scans an actor from all sides and re-creates them in digital form. It's been compared to the tech found in the Microsoft Kinect camera on the Xbox One and has been used by the VR and visual effects industries. Demonic is reportedly using the most volumetric capture ever seen in a movie to date, and you can catch a good look at the technology on display in the movie's new official trailer.

At one point, Neill Blomkamp was planning to develop an Alien sequel with Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ellen Ripley. For better or for worse, the project was shelved in favor of Ridley Scott's prequel Alien: Covenant. Fans have petitioned for 20th Century to revisit the project, but no progress has been made on that front. Blomkamp later planned to instead direct RoboCop Returns for MGM, though he announced in 2019 that he was departing the project to focus on a horror movie, which we now know to be Demonic. Apparently, Blomkamp had been looking to scratch that horror itch for years.

"I was always a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. I was also a fan of the way that those filmmakers just went out and shot something in their backyard," Blomkamp said of the inspiration for Demonic, via Empire. "One of the things that was fun about doing the film was working in a different subgenre to what I'm normally in. A sense of dread brewing under the surface was something I wanted to try to capture."

Neill Blomkamp came onto the scene as the director and co-writer of District 9, the acclaimed sci-fi action movie released in 2009. The screenplay earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Blomkamp and co-writer Terri Tatchell. He followed this up by helming the dystopian sci-fi action movie Elysium, which was also praised by critics and hit well at the box office. Blomkamp also helmed and co-wrote 2015's Chappie with Tatchell, though it performed below studio expectations, cancelling plans for a sequel.