Demons - Filhos das Trevas

Demons (Demoni) is directed by Lamberto Bava and Bava co-writes the screenplay with Dario Argento, Dardano Sacchetti and Franco Ferrini. It stars Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Paola Cozzo, Fiore Argento and Geretta Giancarlo. Music is by Claudio Simonetti and cinematography by Gianlorenzo Battaglia.

A wonderfully nutty spiced Spaghetti Horror, plot has a group of people trapped in a Berlin movie theatre that suddenly comes under attack by ravenous demons.

It could reasonably be argued that Bava's movie has some cheeky narrative depth underneath the gloop and schlock, this is after all purposely set in a movie theatre and features a film that basically becomes real, sort of. But really it's a pic that's set up for like minded horror buffs to feast upon, to jump head first into its feverish horror comic book glee.

The script is as poor as the dubbing is, with a roll call of cardboard cut out characters and loose end scenarios jettisoned in readiness for the next plasmatic explosive sequence. Yet the care free abandon of the gruesome killings on show, and the rapid pace of it all, ensures it's a fun packed ride.

Even the musical score is schizo as it ranges from typical 1980s synth plods to heavy metal thunder - joyous. 7/10

In West Berlin, a stranger wearing a mask randomly distributes tickets for the reopening of the Metropol movie theater on the streets for different persons, including a blind man. Cheryl (Natasha Hovey) gets two tickets in the subway and invites her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo) to skip their music class and go to the movie theater to watch the film. The viewers come to the restored Metropol without having any information about the film they will see in the advance screening. While waiting for the beginning of the preview, a woman sees an exposed promotional mask of a demon and accidentally scratches her face with the object. When the film begins, the foregoing woman transforms in a monster in the same way it is happening on the screen with the characters of the film, in a kind of weird connection. She attacks the audience, and each viewer that is infected by a monster, is contaminated and transformed in another monster, threatening the rest of the defenseless persons. Sooner the survivors realize that they are trapped in the locked building.

The first time I saw "Demons" was in the mid 80's. I recall that it made me feel very uncomfortable. Then I saw this film many other times on VHS and today (04 November 2010) I have just seen it on DVD. This claustrophobic and sick film is a scary horror movie indeed. The story recalls "The Night of the Living Dead", only using gruesome demons instead of zombies. The disgusting make-up and special effects are excellent and compensate the weak performances of most of the cast. Bigas Luna used part of this idea in his 1987 "Angustia". The music score is awesome and this movie is only recommended for fans of trash-movies and is a classic in the genre. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Demons – Filhos das Trevas" ("Demons – Sons of the Darkness")

For an 80s gore-fest, you couldn't want anything more. This is another one of those "kitchen sink" movies that's in the same vein as "From Dusk Till Dawn". Put the same scenario in a movie house, back in the 80s, substitute the vampires with demons, and you pretty much get the picture. You can definitely see the influence here. With that said, if you liked "From Dusk.." and don't mind dubbing, then you should be right at home with "Demons".

There isn't a whole lot there in the way of plot. Some random folks are invited to a screening in an old movie theater. As the movie that they are viewing gets more and more violent, real life starts to imitate art and pretty soon, they discover that they are locked inside and what we're watching becomes a survival flick. That's pretty much it.

As far as gore, there is PLENTY of the red stuff with enough eye-gouging, throat ripping, and blood spurting to satisfy even the most ravenous gore hound. To say much more would give away a lot of the surprises, but it's well worth a rental. Check it out.

Lamberto Bava's "Dèmoni" aka. "Demons" of 1985 is a gory, stylish and very entertaining horror flick written by the master, Dario Argento. I'm sure getting acknowledged in Horror cinema wasn't easy for director Lamberto Bava , being the son of Mario Bava, beyond doubt one of the all-time greatest horror geniuses in motion picture history. Expectations must have certainly been high. But although Lamberto Bava does certainly not manage to reach his father's brilliance, "Demons" is definitely worth watching.

Cheryl (Natasha Hovey) is given free tickets for a sneak preview by a mysteriously dressed man at a Berlin subway station. Accompanied by a friend, she goes to see the movie at the eerie-looking 'Metropol' cinema. Before the film starts, a woman scratches herself on a creepy silver mask in the waiting hall. The film, which turns out to be a Horror flick tells the story of a prediction by Nostradamus, connected with a demonic mask.

The plot is not that original, but the film is made in a very stylish manner, with a good cinematography, and great color play in the tradition of Mario Bava and Dario Argento. The gore is intense, lots of slicing, stabbing cutting and biting. The cast may not be phenomenal, but Natasha Hovey delivers a good leading performance and there are a bunch of funny characters, such as a black pimp named Tony (played by Bobby Rhodes) and the two hookers he is accompanied by, as well as a strange blind guy and his wife and a very strange usherette. The main part of the score was composed by Claudio Simonetti of the great Progressive Rock band Goblin, whose ingenious soundtracks have also complimented many of Dario Argento's movies.

Being a huge fan of Dario Argento, I must say that "Dèmoni" does definitely not live up to most of the movies Argento directed himself. Nevertheless, it is an extremely entertaining Horror flick that doesn't scant with blood and gore, and especially the gory sequences are very stylishly made. If you expect the quality of Argento's or Mario Bava's masterpieces, you will probably be disappointed. Just expect a very stylish, gory and extremely entertaining Horror flick, and your expectations will easily be fulfilled. Recommended. 7/10

I like to think about older movies I'd love to see on the big screen. I'm lucky enough to live near a place that tends to do at least one classic movie screening a week. It's something they started to do more when COVID-19 was affecting new movie releases, and I think they've just kept with it because people understandably flock to them. I've been fortunate enough to see a bunch of Kubrick and Miyazaki movies on the big screen, as well as other films like The Wild Bunch and The Godfather. I'm still holding out hope they'll screen some Sergio Leone or Akira Kurosawa one day, because both seem like no-brainers.

Anyway... I tend to think about how great epic, lengthy, big-budget movies would look on the big screen, but it's less common for me to watch a small-ish movie and feel a little sad I couldn't see it at the movies. But Demons is the rare movie that is fairly simple/low budget that I imagine it would be even better if watched in a cinema. This is because the premise is essentially people inside a cinema needing to survive hordes of demons that attack while they're watching a new horror movie. Cool visuals, ludicrous gore, and cheesy performances ensue, with all proving to make this a fairly fun movie.

It would be more impactful if watched inside a cinema, especially with the early scenes where people don't know whether the screams they're hearing are real or part of the movie they're watching. Divorced from the ideal viewing experience, this is still a very entertaining and no-nonsense Italian horror movie that's frequently silly but also never boring. It's probably not for everyone, but it was a good movie to watch on a Friday night that never proved too challenging or mentally taxing.