Demons 2: A Sequel That Doesn't Quite Live Up to the Original (Special Edition Blu-ray)

The Film:

When it came to Lamberto Bava's 1985 cult classic "Demons," we got a film that was a delightfully gory, over-the-top experience that reveled in its silliness, turning it into a highly-entertaining ride that remains a fan favorite to this day. With its commercial success, it comes as no surprise that a sequel was ordered immediately, and in fact was released the very next year. Could Bava and his team possibly recreate what had made the first film such a fun horror outing, or would this simply end up being a case of trying to go back to the well too quickly and ending up with a sub-par sequel?

The film follows the residents of a high-rise apartment building, many of whom are watching what appears to be a sequel to the previous film on their TVs. That film tells of a group of teenagers who venture into a section of the city that had been blocked off to contain the demon outbreak. They come across a demon that had been killed, but when a bit of blood from a cut on one of the teens falls into its mouth, it gets revived and attacks them.

Meanwhile, in the apartment building, Sally (Coralina Cataldi Tassoni) is celebrating her birthday with a bunch of friends, but gets angry when one of them accidentally invites a boy named Jacob to join them. She closes herself in her room and starts to watch the movie, but is shocked when the demon comes right out of the TV and attacks her. As had happened at the theater in the previous film, this causes a demon outbreak that once more has everyone fighting for their lives against a hoard of the deadly creatures.

You may recall that the original film started a little bit slow as it set up the scene & characters, and "Demons 2" is no different. It gives us an idea of the different people living in this apartment building (a couple expecting a baby, a young kid left alone, a group of people in the gym, and, of course, the kids at the party) and let's us know that the movie on TV is a popular attraction for several of them, while also once again showing us a fair amount of it. You'll likely find yourself wondering what the possible connection is, or how this particular outbreak will get started throughout the first act, which leads to what ends up being the film's biggest twist (and biggest nonsensical moment): a demon popping right out of the TV to kick things off in reality.

This might have seemed odd or out of place in another horror flick, but for those who've seen the first film, such ridiculous moments don't really end up being that big a surprise. What does end up being a bit of a disappointing surprise is that this follow-up doesn't have much more in the way of silly moments like that, the ludicrous kind of moments that helped make its predecessor a lot of fun to watch and helped you to stop caring about the already-nonsensical plot. The closest we get in the sequel include the aforementioned young kid getting possessed, which is quickly followed by an attack by a smaller puppet demon, and demons that look like they're magically trampolining over a fire.

What we do still get plenty of are the impressive special makeup effects that are strewn throughout the film as the demons go on their rampage, but that only ends up taking this outing so far, for without the higher amount of absurdity to keep you distracted, you actually start to look to the plot to keep it entertaining. On that note, there's not a whole lot there besides constant attacks and people trying to get out, culminating in a somewhat bland melee fight in the parking garage. There are a fair share of fun moments, but it does become rather noticeable that it's just not living up to what came before.

That said, it's hardly a bad sequel. It just seems like things got toned down a little to the point where it felt a lot more straight forward. Perhaps it was due to the rush to get a sequel out (again, it came out just one year later) to capitalize on the original, or maybe it was just a general decision to keep things a bit simpler. Again, there's plenty of blood & mayhem to keep at least some of the gorehounds happy, but if you're looking for something a little more memorable along the lines of the first film, you just might find yourself a bit disappointed at the result.

Video/Audio:

Synapse Films' new Special Edition Blu-ray features the film in a 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of excellent quality. It's been derived from a 4K scan of the original camera negative, and looks absolutely fantastic throughout, even in its darkest scenes. Likewise, the various uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio tracks (5.1 English & 5.1/2.0 Italian derived from the original archival audio masters, and the 2.0 English true stereo theatrical mix) all sound fantastic, giving you the dialogue, sound effects, and the '80s soundtrack in outstanding quality. Overall, the film looks & sounds great, no doubt giving it its best presentation since the original release.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary by Travis Crawford

Together and Apart (27 Minutes)

Creating Craeture Carnage (20 Minutes)

The Demons Generation (35 Minutes)

Screaming for a Sequel (16 Minutes)

A Soundtrack for Splatter (27 Minutes)

The Blu-ray comes packed with several extras that include a critic's commentary, a new visual essay about both "Demons" films, and several extensive archival featurettes featuring interviews with Lamberto Bava, composer Simon Boswell, and more. Just like its predecessor, there's plenty here for fans to sink their teeth into.

Conclusion:

Lamberto Bava's "Demons 2" has its fair share of impressive special makeup effects and a handful of amusing moments of silliness strewn throughout its 90 minutes, but the toned down amount of ridiculous spots leave a bit of a void that it isn't quite able to fill, resulting in a sequel that doesn't quite live up to the original.

Score: 3/5

Available on Special Edition Blu-ray starting today.

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