Who Needs Holy Water When You've Got Fists?—Review of Holy Night: Demons Hunters

I’m not usually a fan of movies that revolve around demons and exorcism. They often follow the same recycled plot: someone gets possessed, someone else with spiritual powers comes in to save them(usually a woman or a baby), and there’s a lot of chanting and chaotic scenes. So, Holy Night: Demon Hunters wasn’t something I planned to watch. It just popped up on my movie app, and when I saw Ma Dong-seok on the poster, curiosity got the best of me. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that bad. It had its moments, and I found myself slightly spooked for a while after watching.

Holy Night: Demon Hunters is a 2025 South Korean horror-action film directed by Lim Dae-hee, starring Ma Dong-seok (also known as Don Lee) and Seohyun in lead roles.

The story centers on Holy Night, a trio of demon hunters with supernatural powers. When a powerful demon-worshipping cult invades Seoul and begins terrorizing the city, the police can’t handle the situation. This group is called upon to save the victims and destroy the worshipers.

Bao is the leader of the group. He has supernatural strength and fights both demons and their worshippers. Sharon is the exorcist; she can identify demons and perform exorcisms. Kim-kun is a videographer who records the exorcisms. He’s also very knowledgeable about history, which makes him useful to Bao and Sharon during their missions.

Storyline

The movie opens with Eun-seo’s sister, a psychiatrist, documenting her younger sibling’s mental health. It's the 34th day with no improvement, and Eun-seo continues to display bizarre, unsettling behavior.

Meanwhile, Seoul is in chaos, and the police, unable to manage the situation reach out to Holy Night, offering a large sum of money for their help. The trio handles several cases until Eun-seo’s sister, desperate and having lost faith in science, turns to the supernatural. Father Marcom refers her to Holy Night. Bao refuses to help because of his issues with the priest, but later on he has a change of heart and decides to take a look at the demon possessing Eun-seo. This leads to the greatest battle of their lives, as the demon turns out to be a very powerful one.

In the movie, Bao is in charge of punching, throwing down both demons and their worshippers.
But the real struggle comes when his painful past is used against him. Flashbacks reveal he once had a brother, Joseph, with whom he grew up in an orphanage.

Sharon faces her own spiritual dilemma. The demon constantly tempts her to choose darkness, promising peace and rest from the endless war she wages. But Sharon strives to remain in the light, knowing that those who work with the devil will end up in a hell of burning fire.

My Opinion

To be honest, this movie won’t leave a long-lasting impression. I felt very empty after watching it because there were many dots I couldn’t connect. But it wasn’t a total waste of time though.

Ma Dong-seok, as always, brings that rugged charisma, but his role didn’t do much beyond throwing punches. That worked well in zombie flicks like Train to Busan, but here, it felt a little off, especially in a genre that usually leans on spiritual tension rather than brute strength. Even though he’s supposed to have supernatural strength, I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at how that seemed to be the holy water in this movie.

Some scenes were wacky, or maybe I just didn’t find them interesting. A few even made me roll my eyes. But I won’t lie, there were moments that made me feel a bit tense, and I found myself sleeping with my lamp on after the movie ended. So, even though it’s not a scream-fest or full of jump scares, it did give me a short-term creep factor, which I guess counts for something in a horror movie.

Somehow, I believe the movie might have a sequel, as the ending shows Holy Night on another extreme mission. I also want to believe that they would finally introduce Joseph and a few other demons, and maybe make the backstories more understandable.

Recommendation

If you’re a fan of exorcism-themed horror with a touch of action, you might enjoy this. It’s not scary in the traditional sense, no relentless jump scares or terrifying monsters, but it does enough to make you think about demons for a while after:) That said, don’t expect a mind-blowing plot or anything emotionally profound.