Dèmoni (1986)
a review by Evan Landon
This movie is one I have wanted to review for a very long time, so this is the perfect opportunity to write a companion piece along with our panel for The Todd Jaeger Experience we do every Sunday, which I am very honored to be apart of. If you have yet to check it out, I implore you to change that as soon as possible! It is a lot of fun, especially for those of us who enjoy B-Movie schlock the way our community do, so definitely come by and say “hello”. . Hope to see you there!
The son of the “Master Of The Macabre” Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, Lamberto Bava cut his teeth as assistant director to his father in such classic films as Planet of the Vampires, Dr. Goldfoot & the Girl Bombs, and Danger: Diabolik, then later for Dario Argento and Ruggero Deodato with Inferno & Cannibal Holocaust, respectively. Lending his name to Demons (or Dèmoni), Argento had little to do with the production of the film, although he is credited as one of its writers. Bava even applauded Argento for allowing him the freedom to run his production the way he wanted, even though by this time Argento had solidified himself as a stalwart director in defining the term giallo (which is the Italian word for “yellow” describing the pulp comics that spurred the crime noir, inspiring the style of filmmaking). Argento's use of lighting is very prominently on display here too.
What Demons (or Dèmoni) is all about is about as simple of a horror premise as you could get: a university student is given a ticket by a man in a metal mask who, in turn, asks her friend to accompany her to the “screening” where another couple of lonely bachelors, a pimp & subsequent hoes, a blind man (for some reason), and a multitude of other victims that seem to show up out of nowhere as cannon fodder. One of the hoes goes and tries on the metal mask on a display of a samurai on a functional dirt bike. Keep that in mind because it will come into play later! That tiny scratch turns out to not be so little because that poor girl turns into a demon and ends up spreading the “demon virus” sort of like a “zombie virus” would. It is also implied that the movie that they are watching is the cause for it all, but that is never explained.
In movies like Demons (or Dèmoni), you never want a plot to get in the way of a good story. Sure, the script might look air tight upon the first glance, but when you factor in how convenience plays a mammoth part in all of it, it will fall apart like a gas station sandwich. However, with how many movies forget the value of why entertaining popcorn flicks will always triumph over art haus, Oscar-baiting bullshit, these are the movies that truly last the test of time and remain cult classics.
NOTE: this movie is extremely gory, so do not take that lightly. There are a lot of scenes that might make you think this is some sort of gore porn. It is not in the least bit, but you would have to have seen a lot of these movies to truly garner that perspective.
Demons (or Dèmoni) has a huge place in the horror community because it is groundbreaking in many ways and continues to remain that. Anything less would be an insult. These are kind of movies Hollywood would never support and in the climate of movies they do sign off on, that is a good thing.
Also, any movie that has a man dismembering demons with a katana riding up and down the aisles of a movie theater is instantly a classic in my book.
4 Out Of 5