SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Steineded How sad is this?

ClassyWas Excellent, smart action film.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

simonconnolly72-467-863881 This movie stuck with me from my first viewing as a 14 year old, purely through it's originality of style and setting. Even as a 14 year old I thought it was good stuff, and it stuck in my memory. Watching it again at 45 years old I was pleasantly surprised at how much enjoyment I got. It hits the tone perfectly in many departments and things that should work against it only make it more fun. For example, I have never thought it a good idea to use heavy metal in a horror film as most end credits of 90/00's horror movies do - but the use of it here works. The awful script, ropey acting, heavy metal music just make it all the more campy and entertaining. When the first demon appears with green foam exploding from her mouth, I couldn't stop laughing, as with most of the gore splatterfest scenes that followed. I'm not sure if this was intentional or whether it's just dated but whatever, it's funny as hell, and in a good way that does not ruin the film. The difference between the gore in this movie and modern horrors is that this is all done with such a sense of humour that it never becomes too sick or gross. It just looks like they had a great time with as much blood and guts as they could. The European feel to the film, the locations, including some seriously contrasting 80's red and blue lighting just adds to the campness and the 80's atmosphere, while still leaving the film to be atmospheric and creepy without going into total comedy. The shots of demons approaching with glowing eyes with bright light behind them, or as they approach from the back of the cinema or at the bottom of staircases is creepy as hell, and the use of the cinema space and it's claustrophobia is well done. There are some things that don't make sense but you can easily bypass it and enjoy the story. If there is a weakness, I'd say the middle third of the story when they are all trapped inside can start to wear slightly thin, but at an hour and a half it doesn't labour too long. A delight for horror fans, who like a funny, eerie, well made splatterfest with a difference

moonspinner55 At a newly-reopened theater, a preview of an unnamed horror flick has dire consequences for the in-house crowd. The plot of the movie-within-the-movie has a group of kids digging up Nostradamus' grave and finding a steel mask that scratches one of the teens, his wound quickly becoming a bloody, festering sore that turns him into a raging zombie. One of the young ladies watching the picture realizes she was just scratched by a lookalike prop mask in the lobby--and now her cut won't stop bleeding. Italian-made gore-fest, produced and co-written by Dario Argento, designed to shock and repulse non-genre fans while tickling those who are. It has an appropriate hard rock soundtrack and wildly grotesque make-up effects, however there's confusion in Lamberto Bava's direction right from the start. The dialogue isn't very clever, the non-demons in the cast aren't very interesting and the finale is a cheat, but splatter-aficionados will take some delight in the throat-rippings and slashings, the kissing couple strangled together mid-lip lock, and the assorted post-"Exorcist/Dawn of the Dead/Evil Dead" gross-outs. Followed by "Demons 2" the following year. * from ****

Troy Schulz My status as a film buff seems to exist in two separate states. On the one hand, I will wax lyrical about the subtle genius of Godard, Fassbinder, and Bertolucci. I'll watch pretentious European art-house cinema of the most stereotypical variety without even a hint of irony. I will regard Ingmar Bergman as a literal god-figure to worshiped in all of his glory. On the other hand, I will spend forty-plus dollars on a blu-ray of Dario Argento's Phenomena and gush over the sheer lunacy of B-movies. Demons (or Demoni, in its native Italy) is everything a geek like me could want. Gratuitous gore and violence, questionable dubbing, explosions, and a kick-ass eighties soundtrack. Co-written and produced by Italian horror maestro Dario Argento (Suspiria, Deep Red), Demons came from Argento's desire to create a purely commercial film after tasting such success with 1978's Dawn of the Dead. Thus, Demons is a film with little in the way of a coherent plot or deep characterization. And yet somehow it manages to be wholly appealing at the same time. The plot, which follows the spread of a zombie-like form of demonic possession spreading through a Berlin movie theater, exists solely to facilitate the numerous action and scare sequences. The score by Argento regular Claudio Simonetti (of Goblin fame) manages to be exciting, creepy, and perfectly suited to adrenaline-soaked visuals. This film is entertainment, pure and simple. To anyone looking to get into B-movies or Italian horror (or better yet, both) I highly recommend this film as it's a very accessible entry point into both genres. Just sit back, open a can of Coke, shut your brain off, and prepare to have the time of your life.

darksyde-63508 While previews for this make it seem like a zombie flick, its technically a demon possession one, the demons share some similar traits to zombies. They move slowly and attack their victims in a swarm. The movie begins with a selected group of people being invited to a movie premiere. So for about the first fifteen minutes, its a movie within a movie. It doesn't take long for the first victim to become possessed, and then the fun begins. Although this is a gore flick, the gore is daily restrained. Throats are torn and ripped open, and a blind movie goers eyes are gouged it. (Why there's a blind guy at a movie premier is anyone's guess). As the bodies pile up, the survivors barricade themselves inside the theater to product themselves from the onslaught of demons, while repeatedly telling those of us watching that "demons are instruments of evil", as if we didn't know it already and needed to be reminded Meanwhile while the survivors are trapped inside, the movie cuts to a side story with four coked out losers who really don't serve any purpose except as fodder for the demons shortly after being introduced. After being reminded of how horrible 80's metal music really was as the demons attack in a non stop barrage, only two of the main characters survive after hilariously underacting as they watch their friends become demons one by one, a helicopter inexplicably crashes thru the roof of the theater, offering a way out. As the heroes escape back into the outside world, they see what they just went thru was a city wide occurrence, not just isolated to the theater, leaving the door open for the sequel. While it has many many flaws, this is still a.classic for midnight viewings