Review: Demons (1985)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Lamberto Bava
Starring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny
Writer: Dardano Sacchetti

Demons is a heaping helping of Italian Horror Cheese and boy is it tasty. To tell you the truth I actually watched this by accident. I was trying to get Night of the Demons but couldn't remember the title at the time. Still this was one of those pleasant mistakes as the movie was pretty damn entertaining.

First off I should state that this movie is not the purveyor of great acting. Add to that some weird English dubbing, you get a blend that could turn people away. However there are things to keep the horror hound interested.

One such thing would be the practical effects. Sure it may not be up there with some horror classics but it's gory enough to be entertaining. These Demons are particularly vicious and will scalp a bro if it's needed. Also the actual Demon make up itself is pretty simple but for some reason I dug the red veins expanding all over a possess persons face.

Bava also brings a lot of style to the film and manages to use lighting to really create some visually arresting scenes. There are also some nice camera tricks used in the more action packed scenes that I kind of dug. Mainly involving a katana and a motor bike.

Story wise we have an interesting set up, but nothing of any substance. People go to a movie, movie is about demons, people in cinema turn into demons, chaos erupts. That's about it and I didn't need any more. But I couldn't help feel that the whole film within a film was slightly miss used. But just when I was going to question it, someone's jaw got ripped out.

Horror fans need to make a stop at the demons station. There's plenty of fun to find here even if the movie isn't that substantial story wise. Cool visuals, nice gore. A recommend for a horror movie night, for other's who don't like horror. Um. Maybe move on, nothing to see here.

Category	Rating	Reason
Entertainment	1 crucifix out of 1	Fun as hell.
Script	0 crucifix out of 1	Bare bones of a story.
Acting	0 crucifix out of 1	Just bad.
Directing	1 crucifix out of 1	Bava gives the movie some stylish moments.
Technical	1 crucifix out of 1	Old school practical effects in the hizzie.
Overall	3 crucifix out of 5	It's a devilish good time but don't expect high art.