A remake that doesn’t suck??…YAY!
Night of the Demons (2009)
Directed By: Adam Gierasch (Autopsy)
The Prologue
To be 100% honest with you, I probably haven’t seen the original Night of the Demons that came out in 1988 since it hit VHS (remember those?). As a result, I can’t really base my review off the original (which one probably shouldn’t do anyway). At the time of writing this I do have the original on the way in the mail, it may be there now, I dunno..I’m too lazy to check, BUT lets just deal with the 2009 remake shall we? A remake that had a bit of hard life out the starting gate. Made in 2009, rumored to get a theatrical release, Night of the Demons got the straight to DVD treatment in 2010. And while it may not be ground breaking, it is at least a whole lot of fun.
The Movie
So Angela (Shannon Elizabeth) is tossing a party at a pretty infamous house and inviting a whole lot of people to it. She’s also charging for them to come to the party since she needs money. Now things are going great and all, but then the cops shut the place down because she didn’t bother getting a permit (seeing as how she’s charging and all). Leaving Angela and six other people trapped in the giant house. Did I mention that the house is pretty much haunted with demons?? Yeah, it is, and they got until sunrise to take over the bodies of everyone in the house and be set free upon the earth.
Shannon Elizabeth who we all remember from American Pie (boy don’t I remember her from that back in the day), Monica Keena who looks good and looked good in Freddy vs. Jason, and Edward Furlong who seems to have spent all his Terminator money on Twinkies. This makes up a good core of our cast, and you might not think you’d get much from it, but what you get is a lot of fun as it’s clear nothing in this film is to be taken too seriously. I’d dare say, while not on the same level, the film at times seems to almost channel Return of the Living Dead. Of course, that could just be the humor and punk rock soundtrack, but it works. And these days it doesn’t matter what works just as long as something works. And if that does nothing for you, we also got Diora Baird and Bobbi Sue Luther here for some T & A value.
The movie also seems at times “Tarantino” like with the way it’s shot. That also could do the with the fact that Furlong’s character Colin, plays a drug dealer and it gives us a glimpse of some types of crime films that ol’ QT is known for. Then again, it also has dialogue that isn’t a total waste as well. Also in the dialogue the film seemingly appears as if the characters are also aware as to how ridiculous things seem and takes shots at it in their own “wink wink” fashion. Dare I say it, a film that has a scene with demons having anal sex is actually..smart? Like I said, I haven’t seen the original since I was a kid, and I can’t recall what that was like off hand, but I’d be willing to bet this is at least one thing the remake probably does a whole lot better. Even if the original is entertaining, I can’t believe that it’s on an entertainment level such as this.
And how about the gore?? People have faces ripped off! Guts are pulled out of people! I mean this thing can at times pack a bit of a punch. However, like soo many horror films seem to do, things start off great and end good, but there is a lot of lag in the middle and of course, there are plot elements and actions in the film that just don’t make a whole lot of sense or add up. The endings a little too cute for my taste, but I guess you can’t always get things perfect and such is the case with this, it’s not perfect by any means..But, it is gory and a lot of fun! So while at this moment I can’t really tell you how it adds up while matched to the original, I can say it’s a movie that you could get a kick out of and as a result should watch..Plus, this chick does a pretty cool trick involving her breast and her private area that you just gotta see..Ewww!
The Conclusion
Hell, it sold me on it! I think it’s probably one of the more fun horror films of the year and I believe the fact it’s as good as it is came as a shock to many. But if you take a look around the horror landscape you’ll see that funny, yet bloody and kinda shocking horror films have for sure found a place with the horror loving crowd, and as a result I’m sure we’ll see a lot more like this one in 2011.
The Rating (7/10)
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