Dèmoni 2... l'incubo ritorna

Maybe Lamberto Bava's original Demons was like a strike of lightning that couldn't be replicated or maybe this sequel was rushed into production too fast, but something is missing from Demons 2. The makeup effects are still well done even if the gore has been toned down significantly (and curiously so).

The biggest disappointment is that the story is basically the same as the original film, except the cursed movie now plays on TV and the rules of how to get possessed are a little bit different and don't make as much sense. In the original, a character was cut by the demon mask (just like in the movie within the movie) and that's what turned her into a demon and, in turn, allowed the virus to spread. In Demons 2, the demons emerge from the TV at whim with nothing channeling them to emerge from the screen. It all points to poor planning.

Demons 2 always trades a theater location for a high rise apartment complex, which just isn't as moody. Bobby Rhodes returns as a completely different character from his character in the original which further complicates things.

This isn't to say that Demons 2 is necessarily an awful film or anything. It's entertaining and gets the job done, but it feels like there was a lot less thought and passion put into it than the first.

Follow-up to ¨Demons I¨ , an extremely violent and horrifying film that spawned several sequels and imitations , here the Nightmare Returns . While in original picture the scary events occur when selected at random , people on the street are invited to an advance screen of a new horror movie , as a group of people are trapped in a large movie theater in West Berlin and then a prostitute is bitten turning into a lethal demon , here in ¨Demons 2¨, deeds happen in Hamburgo buildings . As a group of tenants and visitors are trapped in a 10-story high-rise apartment building infested with demons who proceed to hunt the dwindling humans down . There appears blood-thirsting demons chasing humans and a little boy demon who was played by an adult dwarf as well as another small demon , a Gremlin-alike . Gruesome picture in enough budget plenty of chills , suspense , screams , lots of gore , blood and guts . This actually is a very terrifying and eerie flick ; dealing with a demonic infection spreads people in a block of apartments . Meanwhile , a juvenile bunch finding a lifeless corpse of a demon and one of the young boys causes the resurrection . Later on , a party girl becomes a drooling , fanged demon . In a killing rage , she tears apart other in the flats that are infected by ravenous , clawed demons who proceed to kill and posse the humans one-by-one, transforming into bloody creatures who attack the remaining humans , thereby multiplying their numbers . When the party members attempt to getaway , they find themselves caught within .

This exciting picture contains thrills , chills , graphic violence , action-filled with fierce fights and loads of gore and guts . The horror and action moments are fast moving and compactly realized . This is an effective and simple movie ; it results to be a passable Italian horror , including functional special effects realized in traditional style , but also some plot elements are plain stupid . The creepy images of wide range from the genuinely horrifying to the bizarre along with scary and amazing frames . The flesh-eating demons appearance deliver the goods , plenty of screams , shocks and tension . The picture displays shocking and well-crafted transformation in charge of expert make-up artist Gianetto De Rossi . The make-up assistants create a truly horrible cannibal demons , zombies-alike . Pretty good special effects , the resurrection of the first demon was done by shooting a melting wax head in reverse and the first demon popping out of the television was done by having an actor wearing a mask press his face against a latex screen . Unknown cast , though there appears a famous little girl : Asia Argento's film debut . Bobby Rhodes, who played Tony the pimp in Demons (1985), returns as a completely different character in this sequel and Lino Salemme also reappears, this time as a security guard . Commercial musical score by Simon Boswell , full of hard rock and catching songs . Acceptable cinematography by GianLorenzo Battaglia and good production design , as the building used for the exteriors and interiors result to be modern constructions from Hamburgo , Germany .

The motion picture was compellingly directed by Lamberto Bava , as he shows nice visual style , though being lower to former installment in which he cites this as his personal favorite of the flicks he has filmed . His father, Mario Bava (1914-1980), was a legendary filmmaker ; he entered the cinema as his father's personal assistant, starting with ¨Planet of horror ¨(1965). Bit by bit he gained experience from his father, who made him the assistant director for most of the rest of his films . He even co-wrote the screenplay for ¨Shock¨ (1977) . Lamberto enjoyed his best commercial success to date with this "Demons" , produced by Dario Argento, co-written by Dardano Sacchetti and filmed in West Berlin, Germany . This international hit smash allowed him to co-write, produce and direct this sequel, Demons II (1986) that was also successful and turned out to be a certain improvement here and there on previous film ; however, being inferior follow-up . He also directed a remake of his father's "Black Sunday" (1960), which was titled "La Maschera del Demonio" or International title "Demons 5: The Devil's Veil¨ . He used the pseudonym of "John Old Jr." , which was a tribute to his father Mario, who often used the pseudonym "John M. Old" . Lamberto has directed films about all kind of genres such as : ¨Blastfighter¨ , ¨A blade in the dark¨ , ¨Shark: red on the ocean¨, and ¨Macabro¨ that achieved critical fame in some quarters ; however , today Bava Jr. only directs television movies : ¨Fantaghiro¨ and sequels , ¨Caribbean pirates¨ , among others . ¨Demons 2¨ , rating : Acceptable and passable atmospheric film-making from genre master Bava's son that achieved great acclaim among gore buffs . A must see for horror fans .

Aug 21

So not as good as the first film but still decent stand alone film.

Different characters and different setting so this can be watched independantly of the first film.

Still its an 80s Italian horror so i like it.

7.5 out of 10.

This movie's script was poorly written and can be as senseless as the 1st movie though it's more consistent. This movie also has the same problems as the previous film (such as technical problems, cartoonish performances, etc.) but it is a fun ride if you just wanna cheap thrills.

Okay, first of all, anybody who is expecting The English Patient from a movie called "Demons 2" will be sorely disappointed. This is an 80s low-budget Italian horror movie and as such has serious plot, dubbing and acting problems. That said, this is actually a very good movie for the genre.

The connection to the original movie is a bit blurry but it does try to connect the two together. Apparently somebody made a movie about the first incident, and it is this movie that "infects" a new building filled with badly-dubbed Italian actors.

The make-up effects are quite good, and the demons pretty unsettling. I'd say this movie is on par with the original Demons (largely because it is almost exactly the same movie). This is a pretty brutal movie. None of the humorous subtext that you'd find in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" sequels, "Scream" or most other modern horror movies. Nope. Just a bunch of people desperately fighting to survive, and not doing a very good job of it. They aren't all stupid either....they do try. Unfortunately the screenwriters arranged it so that all the windows are unbreakable, and the electric doors unable to be opened.

The movie also breaks some horror movie taboos as children were surprisingly made into victims.

On a lighter note, I would also say that this is the first horror movie I have ever seen (barring Antichrist/Second Coming films)in which a character goes into labor while fighting demons.

An entertaining horror movie.....Never looked at my watch once.