Le Souffle maudit

From its fiery opening credits, we know that DEMON WIND means business!

Cory (Eric Larson) and his friends are led to an old shack in the middle of nowhere. This has something to do with Cory's dad and a series of nightmares. From the weird gas station to the creepy diner, we can tell that DW is attempting to build an atmosphere of doom like EVIL DEAD.

Does it succeed? Hmmm.

Unlike this film, EVIL DEAD had a definite gloom-factor that hung over the entire project. Unlike EVIL DEAD, this movie has a karate-kicking magician! Sort of dull at first, upon arriving at the aforementioned shack, it all hits the fan! Actually, some scenes are reminiscent of something Sam Raimi might have done: a scary journal, squawking demons, squirting goo, etc.

There are also seven sacred daggers, like in THE OMEN, and some unmistakable NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD moments as well. All leading to the big finale, starring Satan himself, covered in corn syrup and mashed potatoes!

With the proper amount of intoxication, and the right group of friends, this could make for one transcendent viewing experience!...

Demon Wind (1990)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Corey (Eric Larson) wants to know what happened to his grandparents so he takes a group of friends out to the grounds where they died. Even though a local warns the kids not to travel there, they do it anyways and sure enough they unlock the secrets, which includes demons.

Charles Philip Moore's DEMON WIND is a rather interesting horror movie that has a lot of good things about it but also some bad things that really keeps it from being better. Going back to the 1970s there have been countless movies about people going onto sacred ground and having to battle a variety of evils. The evils here are some demons with a connection to Satan and whenever the movie is focused on them it's quite entertaining.

The biggest issue with this film is the fact that it runs way too long. At 97-minutes the film really do seem to last at least fifteen-minutes too long and it also didn't help that there were a lot of slow moments. The pacing is another issue as it just moves way too slow and this isn't helped by the extended running time. In all honesty this here was the biggest issue I had with the film and sadly it brings down the good moments.

Where the film does succeed is with its make-up and costume design. I've seen a lot of low budget movies in my life but there really aren't too many out there that contain as good of costumes as this film does. I was really impressed with the look of the demons and we're also given some pretty good bits of blood and gore as the demons rip into people. The make-up team certainly deserves a lot of credit for their work here and it's what keeps the film entertaining.

The performances are also decent for this type of production and best of all is that the cast at least make for some good characters to keep you interested in them. DEMON WIND isn't a complete success due to the issues I mentioned but if you're a fan of the genre then it's worth watching.

My review was written in August 1990 after watching the movie on Paramount/Prism video cassette.

There's a screw loose in "Demon Wind", a nonsensical horror film that fits the description one damn thing strung after another. Direct-to-video title has a tilt back and forth 3-D style box and not much inside.

Writer-director Charles Philip Moore has trouble presenting a coherent storyline in this overlong gore opus in which young people gather at a haunted house, intored in a cryptic prolog filled with religious imagery.

Hallucinations proliferate as the kids are victimized by satanists and their creations amidst exploding gore. Hero Eric Larson literally goes through hell and is defeated by the demon only to wake up and find his teen friends alive and well after all, unless that is another hallucination. Any way you slice it, film makes no sense.

Absolutely awful movie. Plot holes are followed by plot holes. Followed by awful effects and even worse acting. I know it was probably meant to be as cheesy as it came out but for a 1990 movie its just horrendous and hasn't aged well

Now onto the best part: came across that movie just because its featured in High on Life game, that came out recently on the XBOX

The game is made by the Squanch team who are behind the Rick and Morty show.

What makes this movie remotely watchable is the commentary that was added in. Demon wind can be watched in one of the respawnable locations and one of them happens to be a cinema. It has 3 watchers already in it and who provide a 90 min long, non stop, commentary

Go and play the game and go and watch the movie🙂

Ah, Demon Wind. I've seen this movie so many times I can actually quote it now! Cory and 9 of his friends travel to his grandparents' farm to figure out what happened to them decades earlier. What proceeds is a virtual remake (or ripoff)? of Evil Dead. One by one, the friends either become possessed by the demonic force that has inhabited the land or are killed by the demons and in turn become possessed. The special makeup effects were rather poorly done, but remained effective on a cheesy level. The director did quite well with maintaining a dreadful atmosphere. Demon Wind is high on the suspense, that's for sure. The acting was from the cast was very convincing for a film of this type. The ending was definitely lifted (or "inspired", if you will) from Night of the Living Dead, but not as effective as that film was. It also left it open for a possible sequel. Let's pray we do see a sequel! Demon Wind is a nice time waster. I don't believe it has ever been legitimately released on DVD, but you can bet the VHS and bootleg DVD's are floating around on ebay or ioffer. Check it out.