Demons

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Directed By: Lamberto Bava

Screenplay By: Dario Argento

Starring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey

Plot Synopsis:

A group of people are trapped in a large West Berlin movie theater infected by ravenous demons whom proceed to kill and posses the humans one-by-one thereby multiplying their numbers,

Review:

Demons is one of those movies I would always see on the back Horror shelf of the video store as a kid.  I remember looking through all the vhs boxes imagining what these movies were like.  In the process, I would freak myself out and most likely have a nightmare that night.  Finally, 20 years later I’m catching up on all the great horror flicks of the 80s, and the Italian gore-fest Demons is 80s mayhem at it’s best.

Fueled by an awesome metal soundtrack, including Motley Crue, Billy Idol, Accept and Scorpions this screams 80s in all it’s glory.  Whether or not it was intended at the time, this really helps set the tone for the romp that Demons is.  Horribly dubbed, I’m not sure it it was originally in Italian or maybe the accents were so bad it had to be dubbed.  Either way, it’s humorous at times, but doesn’t take away from the flick as a whole.

The plot is simple, like most of these films.  People go to a midnight movie, some start turning into demons, a small group must band together and battle their way out of the demon horde to survive! With the plot what it is, what makes Demons so rad is the amazing gore and make up effects.  There are plenty of great gore moments, better than most modern horror flicks.  In fact, if you’re planning on going into the special effects and make-up field, Demons should be required viewing.  There are some great effects.

For what it is, Demons works.  It’s a lot of fun and not as scary as my 10 year old imagination made it out to be.  I’d been meaning to watch this for the past couple of years, I’m glad I finally got a chance.  If you haven’t seen this, and are a budding horror fan, check this out.

Rated R for graphic violence and gore.