There’s an odd sense of deja vu hanging over Rossella De Venuto’s Midday Demons. It’s a haunted house story. And a “foreigner alone in a new country” story. And a “Catholicism is evil” story. There are hints of Rosemary’s Baby and Don’t Look Now. Watching Midday Demons is like watching the echoes of multiple horror films all at the same time. It becomes a task that is occasionally interesting…but more often than not, predictable.

When Megan (Fiona Glascott), an Irish artist, returns to her husband, Leo’s (Pietro Ragusa), hometown in Italy, she is at first struck by the beauty of his childhood home. Leo and his brother, Nicola (Federico Castelluccio), were raised by their late uncle, Monsignor Domenico (Salvatore Lazzaro), a catholic priest in the process of being beatified. As Megan explores her surroundings and meets Leo’s family, she feels increasingly alone and isolated and when it becomes clear that the house and Monsignor Domenico are not all that they seem, Megan must unravel the mystery of her husband’s family before succumbing to the titular midday demon(s).

Midday Demons is entertaining and contains some beautiful shots of a sun-soaked Italian village, but poke too hard on any of its numerous narrative threads and the whole thing unravels. It’s obvious that a lot of thought was put into the production of the film. One can almost hear the discussion between the director and the costume designer regarding Megan’s wardrobe. So the result is a good looking movie that occasionally finds its footing, but ultimately doesn’t bring anything new to the genre.

Then again, for those that enjoy horror tropes, this film has everything: suspicious relatives, evil priests, ghosts, surprise babies and gargoyles. There’s awkward family dinners, flashes of misogyny and flashbacks. a subterranean basement, a sprinkle of mad women, and old photographs that may or may not contain the image of a spectre.

Oh. And sunlight. A lot of blinding sunlight.

Fiona Glascott shines as Megan stumbles through the strange, Italian village of her husband’s youth; the only blonde in a sea of brunettes. But it becomes somewhat repetitive following Megan’s journey through the greatest hits of the horror genres of yesteryear.

First she’s Rosemary, then she’s Robert Thorn from The Omen. There’s a pinch of Chris MacNeil from The Exorcist too, tossed in for good measure. Midday Demons very much wants to be an homage to 70’s horror, but in honouring its inspirations, it forgets its own purpose.

Midday Demons is not a bad movie. Far from it. The cast is strong and the sets are lovely. It’s just so busy emulating the voices of other films that it forgets to find its own. But given the quality of the movies that inspired it, that’s not necessarily a terrible thing. Sure, it’s built like a handful of better films Frankenstein’d together, and it doesn’t always come together in a cohesive way. But with the strong cast and a devastatingly beautiful Italian village, Midday Demons is not a bad way to spend 90 minutes.

Midday Demons is now available on digital formats from 1844 Entertainment.