DVD review (region 1)
Directed by Lamberto Bava
Starring Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Asia Argento
Released September 25 2007

In Demons a packed cinema is overrun by a group of zombies and there is no way out. In Demons 2 a young girl’s birthday party becomes a nightmare when the title creatures manage to evoke demonic possession via a television set. Yes, really…

1985’s Demons remains the best Italian horror movie that Dario Argento never made. Instead he produced it, with Lamberto Bava stepping behind the camera and no doubt making his late father proud with a rollercoaster ride full of non stop special effects, illogical set pieces and an oddly believable atmosphere of dread and helplessness.

Severely indebted to Night of the Living Dead, the film finds art mirroring reality when a variety of celluloid beasts somehow escape into the real world at a sold out movie premiere. As with the Romero classic, Demons then concentrates on the plight of the survivors as they attempt to bond together and get out of the locked theatre in one piece.

Although CGI has made the feature’s once-spectacular transformations look a tad dated, there is still plenty to enjoy here, including Bava’s nihilistic approach to the action and an unexpectedly haunting, post-apocalyptic ending. Sadly, the soundtrack is peppered with awful 80s hair metal bands and a synthesizer score that induces an instant migraine.

However, considering that Bava’s creepy creations can spread their disease through a simple drop of blood it is also easy to view Demons as the main influence on 28 Days Later. Interestingly, both films also feature speeded–up zombies and a male/female duo that is forced to battle against seemingly impossible odds.

Although the bigger budgeted Demons 2 (1987) features a young Asia Argento, this outing has less to recommend to it - including a hair-brained plot in which a television set acts as a portal for the zombies to once again invade the real world. This time around the creatures take hold of a multi-storey apartment block but, aside from featuring similarly spooky “demons”, this follow-up has nothing in common with the original and, stupidly, introduces some ridiculous slapstick comedy.

Still, if you can handle the tongue-in-cheek tone of the flick, and a soundtrack just as bad as the original, there is some fun to be had with a scene of demonic child birth and an insane sequence when the monsters invade a gymnasium full of buffed up weight lifters. However, what makes both Demons movies so oddly intriguing is that literally no one is safe - including children, dogs, pregnant women and blind people. Really, these might be the two most politically incorrect horror flicks of their decade.

Released for the first time in anamorphic widescreen editions, both features look great and Anchor Bay has, thankfully, included the extras from their previous DVDs – namely the Bava commentary tracks and behind-the-scenes goodies. Calum Waddell

VERDICT
Demons: 8/10
Demons 2: 6/10
A great original is followed up by a lacklustre sequel but both flicks are well worth your time.