Demons (1985)
Directed By: Lamberto Bava
The Prologue
Demons, is another one of those movies that I was a little late to the party for. Directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by the legendary, Dario Argento, this movie seems to be a film that Argento gets most the credit for. Coming out in 1985, a year after America’s Return of the Living Dead, this movie somewhat reminds me of that movie. Up til this, I remember most Italian horror films being really slow in spots, but this one packs a very nice pace. And I also think it’s just unique enough that is deserves all the credit you want to toss at it.
The Movie
Art imitating art is the basis of this demonic tale of a group of invited guests who are granted a free lunch in the form of a screening of a horror film that brings naturalism to life. Baited and penned in, this walled-in feeling quickly turns to screams and fear as those who are dead lust after the flesh of those living. The free lunch has turned full circle in the cinema of hell and it is only a question of time before the demons from the abyss are asking for second portions.
In Demons, we mostly follow a character named, Cheryl, as she accepts a free ticket to a movie from a dude that looks a lot like Kano from Mortal Kombat. This ticket is for a horror film, so soon she drags her friend off to this movie. While there they run into a couple guys who try their best to put the moves on these two young ladies. Cheryl is more or less accepting of this while her friend doesn’t seem to down with it. Also at the theater, we are introduced to a few other cool characters. We have a pimp named, Tony, and his hoes. We have a blind man, a couple of love birds, and a very grumpy middle aged old fart. So that is pretty much the base of the cast in the theater.
They start watching a movie and soon enough all hell breaks loose in the theater. We are soon joined in by a load of demons and some coke heads on the run from the cops. That’s our movie in a nutshell. But what really works for the film is all the gore and the fast pace. As far as the gore goes, this is really REALLY good stuff for 1985. And on top of all the splatter we got a kick ass soundtrack, so I can see why people are all about Demons. I mean hell, we have a dude on a motorcycle riding around lashing demons with a sword! But in the middle of all the blood and green stuff flying around, I still have to question a couple things about the movie.
Mild spoiler ahead here, during the film one character is a woman who is taking up the tickets at the start of the movie for the ill fated movie in Demons. How is she not a part of what’s going on? When she went in for the job interview did she talk to a demon? Did the Kano look alike hire her? That’s just weird to me. And also, thank God for random helicopter crashes, huh? Is that not far fetched to anyone besides me? These two things not withstanding and the fact I think the ending scene runs a little too long, I did enjoy Demons a whole whole lot. It’s got gore, a great pace, a good soundtrack, and it does what it does right to near perfection. So I do highly recommend anyone to watch it.
The Conclusion
Not counting a few odd flaws here and there, mostly due to my personal taste and not the actual film, I dug Demons. Probably one of the better Italian films I’ve seen and it does a lot that the usual Italian giallo films I’ve seen doesn’t. Not that this is a giallo, I’m just saying it works better than most of those and that’s most of what I’ve seen that’s Italian.
The Rating (7.5/10)
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