Amazon.com: Lamberto Bava, son of the Italian horror legend and giallo godfather Mario Bava, teamed up with modern master Dario Argento (cowriter and producer) for this slick gorefest, a triumph of style and special effects over movie logic. Set in a refurbished German movie palace, our hapless soon-to-be victims arrive for a sneak preview of a horror movie only to see the gore unfold in the audience, as well as onscreen. While the exposition remains murky, one patron finds that an infected cut leads to a gooey transformation, and every one of her victims follows suit until the snaggle-toothed monsters outnumber the humans. The survivors, trapped in the tomb of a theater, must fend off attacks à la George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Borrowing liberally from films such as Dawn of the Dead and The Tingler, Demons also anticipates Scream in its cinema-savvy references, not to mention its undeniably Neve Campbell-ish heroine. The blaring heavy-metal-hard-rock soundtrack and the carnival horror-house atmosphere helps remind us that this is all just stupid fun. Despite the overwhelming body count, excessive gore, and rivers of green demon pus, the cartoonishly grotesque killings avoid the sadistic edge of many Italian horror films. By the climax of the film the premise is long forgotten in a ghoul apocalypse, but who's watching this for the story anyway? --Sean Axmaker
A gorehound and Metalhead's delight of Grindhouse cinema. Demons(1985) is not a good movie. It features bad acting,an incoherant plot and stupidity galore.Yet,this directorial debut for the son of the great Mario Bava,Lamberta,is so over the top,it's tough to dislike.
Grindhouse fans rightfully cite this as a party favorite,and it's great for get togethers of like-twisted minds. The plot(?) is about a diverse group of people who get free tickets to a new theatre to see the premiere of a New Horror Movie. The film is about Nostradumus and demon possession(!) and soon fiction becomes reality as the movie goers are besieged by demons! VERY gory with effective make up FX and some seriously twisted moments that linger in the moviegoer's mind. The insanity is amplified nicely by an 80s Metal/Hard Rock soundtrack that is quite amusing at times. Whether it be punks snorting coke to Billy Idol's "White Wedding",motorcyclists riding in to the lyrics of Motley Crue's "Save Our Souls" or the showstopper of them all,the hero drving in the theatre on a Motorcycle and sporting a Katana sword(!) ready to save his girl as Accept's classic,"Fast as a Shark" blares away on the soundtrack!
This film is alot of fun,nothing great,but it's a must see for the gorehound and fans of Zombie movies. Followed by a more suspenseful sequel a few years later and Dario argento's The Church(1989),which was supposed to be the third one. The DVD features Trailer,commentary and behind the scenes footage.
Nice DVD at a decent price. Hope you have fun,splatter fans!(and Metalheads might want to check it out as well.)
Demons in a Theatre!!! I received this as a Christmas present. I thought it was demons coming out of the screen to attack people rather than a woman turning into a demon at the theatre and killing people. It had some pretty good gore scenes. I'd probably recommend DEMONS!!!
Kind of a let down, but still ok It's about what you would expect from a 1980s European horror movie. The movie is dubbed, the acting is bad and there are continuity problems that are pretty funny. One scene, a girl has a pony tail and a second later she doesn't. There is another scene where a dead person has their eyes open and then the next time you see the person a moment later, the eyes have closed (not because they were supposed to, but an obvious blooper). The dub acting was so bad, whoever was talking for the black guy reminded me a lot of Robert Downey Jr.'s character on Tropic Thunder. Maybe it was him! The gore itself is not a splatter fest like the comment on the cover of the movie suggests. It is basically typical of what you would see on a zombie movie like Night of the Living Dead. Maybe it was shocking in its day, but it is very tame by today's standards. I'd say that the movie is overall ok, it is enjoyable and the demons look cool, but that is about as best as it gets.
Classic 80's Italian Supernatural Barfest. When I first viewed Demons in the late 80's on VHS, I thought it was pretty scary and none of the styles or acting seemed out of time or place. Now, twenty years later, this movie is caught in an 80s time capsule which is actually what gives it it's charm. Demons is more adventure and suspense with gory horror elements and plenty of goofy characters. It could be the Love Boat of gorefests (though set in a weird Germanic theater and redhead replacing hostess Julie).
As with most classic Italian scream fests, the colors and lighting and general style stand out over the plot. You want acting? Forget it, between the dubbing and cartoony characters there's nary a fine actor in sight but that's another element that gives Demons it's comic book/giallo charm. And, the Demons' green vomit/drool, lit eyes and teeth replacement just enhance the overall gory effects.
if you're in the mood for stylish Euro grindhouse, this is the demonic movie within a movie for you. Maybe have some fine Italian wine and creamy green dip with it for culinary enhancement.
One of the top horror movies ever I recommend this product to every horror fan. It's Classic. I cannot say it's a best horror ever, but very decent.
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