Cult Cinema: Demons & Demons 2

CULT CINEMA: DEMONS & DEMONS 2
Crawling from the screen to eat your spleen!  

The Italians are the masters of violence; there really is no denying it. Lucio Fulci, the sick maniac who brought us such splatter fests  Zombie Flesh Eaters, The House by the Cemetery and Cat in the Brain is THE godfather of gore, and his films have remained as successful in the horror cult underworld since his passing in 1996. Some of the most popular of violent movies coated head to toe in crimson come from Italy, two prime examples being Demons and Demons 2, directed by Lamberto Bava.  

Thanks to Arrow Films, hundreds of cult horror titles are brought to DVD and Blu-Ray remastered, allowing them to be sought out by new generations of fans. Just recently, I was able to watch the films after finding an Arrow Films stall at Birmingham comic con last month, and sweet Jesus was it glorious. Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava, Dario Argento…they were all there, as were their bloody horrific milestones of horror cinema. I had already bought the first Demons on Amazon, but Demons 2 was present at the stall, pristine on Blu-Ray. Sadly, I had spunked the rest of my money on other things whilst at the convention, and the Arrow Stall was the stall we happened to find last. Typical.  

For those who haven’t seen Bava’s gruesome twosome, you are missing out. Well, if you aren’t a horror fan then perhaps you are not, but if you like a bit of cult cinema and enjoy senseless but stylish brutality, then you might just get a kick out of these films. Demons (1985) is about as simple as films can get. A group of people become trapped in a cinema screening just as zombie like demons begin to rise to feed. Disgusting but charming (in that odd kind of way) the first film is a joyful ride, with inventive looking demons and some pretty nifty special effects when you consider the time. Demons 2 (1986) was unapologetically the same to the first, only this time the setting moved to an apartment building, and followed several different characters instead of just one group. This film saw a teenage party girl become infected by a demon which crawls from her TV screen (The Ring and Videodrome certainly came to mind), resulting in her killing all her friends. Muscular gym folk are torn to shreds, and a man becomes trapped in an elevator with a prostitute as demons run amok. To make matters worse, his pregnant wife is left alone in the apartment with a demon child. Completely nuts, yes, but probably the better one of the two.

These films were the peak of Lamberto’s career, and rightfully so, because they are sickly fun movies. After these films, there was another film released which caused confusion in the continuity. Black Demons (1991) (or Demons 3) was not a sequel to the Lamberto films. Lamberto did, however, direct a film called Demons 3: The Ogre (1988), but this is not considered a sequel either. The official sequel to Demons 2 is The Church (1989), directed by Michele Soavi. Talk about confusing.

Go check them out, but maybe not on a full stomach.