Demons: A Gleefully Gory, Over-the-Top Horror Classic (Special Edition Blu-ray)

The Film:

The '80s will forever be known to fans of the horror genre as the era of the Slasher, films where the whole idea was to take a group of people and have them get killed off by someone... or something. These ranged from very basic set-ups like "Friday the 13th" to more elaborate entries like "A Nightmare on Elm Street," and in the most extreme, over-the-top cases, there were films like "The Evil Dead" and "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" that pushed the envelope so far as to be considered comical. However, the slasher craze was certainly not restricted to just the U.S., with Italy providing a fair share of its own thanks to filmmakers like Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento.

One of these more extreme entries that has become something of a cult classic is Bava's 1985 horror gem "Demons" (produced and co-written by Argento), which is very close to reaching its 40th anniversary. To celebrate, Synapse Films is releasing new special editions of the film (including an upgrade to 4K for the first time), so with its release this week, let's go back and delve into this bizarre little flick to see why it has remained a rather popular pick among fans of the genre.

The film opens with college student Cheryl (Natasha Hovey) receiving a pair of tickets for a screening at a newly-renovated local theater. She attends with her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo) and meets two other college kids, George (Urbano Barberini) and Ken (Karl Zinny), who end up sitting with them and getting rather close during the film. The movie they're watching is about a group of kids who break into the crypt of Nostradamus, with one of them putting on a mask they find, getting cut, and turning into a bloodthirsty demon.

Strangely enough, most of this has already happened to another attendee, Rosemary (Geretta Giancarlo), who tried on a similar mask in the lobby. When her cut won't stop bleeding, she goes to the restroom where she too becomes a demon, which quickly causes all hell to break loose. The rest of the theater-goers soon find themselves in a fight for their lives against several of these creatures that want nothing more than to tear them apart.

"Demons" is one of those horror flicks that starts off deceptively slow. It takes its time getting everyone settled into the theater and watching a fair amount of the film within the film before finally getting around to the actual kickoff, and while that may turn off a few viewers, they may just end up having their mind changed when it does finally shift into high gear. From there, you're treated to a crazy, over-the-top gorefest that clearly took quite a lot of inspiration from Sam Raimi's horror masterpiece "The Evil Dead," which also features average people getting possessed by demons and killing others in horrific ways.

There's not really a whole lot to the plot aside from these people getting trapped in this theater and having to fight for their lives, but it's more than enough to serve as a foundation for the wild makeup effects that are strewn throughout, effects that will either have you grossed out or glued to the screen due to their outlandish nature. The funny thing is that, by the time the third act rolls around, you'll likely have stopped trying to make any sense out of the plot anyway, what with all the wild & silly things that occur in this part of the film. As certain things start to happen, don't be surprised if you just find yourself rolling your eyes back and laughing at the absurdity of it.

"Demons" can hardly claim to be a particularly great movie, but what it is is a wildly entertaining one that isn't overly concerned with having an intricate plot or fleshed-out characters. The main focus here was just to put all of these people in a theater and let all hell break loose as they fight the titular creatures, while incorporating eye-popping effects and ridiculous story developments, in order to deliver an unabashedly fun horror outing for fans of the extreme side of the genre. On that count, it succeeds quite well, making it no wonder why the film has endured as a fan favorite for nearly four decades, and why it will likely endure among such fans for many more to come.

Video/Audio:

Synapse Films' new special edition Blu-ray comes with two cuts of the film, the full-length original cut and the shorter U.S. version, both presented in 1.85:1, 1080p High Definition transfers of outstanding quality. The film has been derived from a 4K remaster of the original camera negative, and looks perfectly sharp & clear throughout its entire duration. Likewise, the various uncompressed DTS-HD Master Audio tracks (5.1 English and 2.0 Italian for the full-length cut, and 2.0 English for the U.S. cut) are fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and the rockin' soundtrack in excellent quality. Overall, they've done a marvelous job on this new release, making the film look & sound better than ever.

Special Features:

Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain

Audio Commentary by Lamberto Bava, Sergio Stivaletti, Claudio Simonetti, and Geretta Geretta

Produced by Dario Argento (27 Minutes)

Dario's Demon Days (11 Minutes)

Defining an Era in Music (10 Minutes)

Splatter Stunt Rock (9 Minutes)

Dario and the Demons (16 Minutes)

The Blu-ray comes with a fantastic selection of special features, including two commentary tracks (one with a pair of critics and another with crew/cast), a new visual essay about Argento, and several archival featurettes featuring interviews with Argento and others. Definitely plenty of great material here for the fans.

Conclusion:

"Demons" may not be able to make any claims of being a great movie, but using its basic template of people trapped in a theater with the titular creatures, it's able to utilize its wild makeup effects & ridiculous story elements to great effect to deliver a highly-entertaining, over-the-top horror experience that fans have been enjoying & celebrating for nearly 40 years.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on Special Edition Blu-ray starting today.

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