Film Review: Demons (Cinema Screening)

It was a treat indeed this past week when myself and my friends Andrew and Chloe got to see Lamberto Bava's cult 80s horror hit on the big screen at Cinema City in Norwich, in celebration of it's forthcoming DVD and Blu-Ray release from the good people at Arrow Video, who are also releasing the sequel.

Beforehand I somehow managed to win a Facebook competition to win a Demons shirt, so that was a bonus going in too! Thanks again guys and gals at Cinema City, and I promise I'll buy a membership soon - been meaning to for 3 years now!

The greatest tagline ever?

The screening was a showing of the Blu-Ray I believe, and there was quite the amusing hiccup with subtitles at the start. Think everyone forgot it was in Italian! Then forgot about English Descriptive subtitles, which meant another change! Most amusing.

The plot is quite simple. A random collection of cinema goers attend a screening of a mystery film, which turns out to be about some teenagers who unearth demons whilst investigating the tomb of Nostradamus. As the film proceeds, strange goings-on start to occur in the audience, emanating from a prostitute trying on a prop mask from the film before it started.

Before we know it, events in the cinema are mirroring events on the screen, with a full fledged demon invasion occuring. Not much effort is put into explaining why all of this happening, but it's absolutely mental fun as each cinema patron is scratched or mutilated by the demons, turning them in the process.

Not much about it makes any sense (random helicopter anyone?) and it still seems to be dubbed even though it is actually Italian (if anyone knows why this seems that way, please leave a comment below) but none of that matters. Demons is one of the funnest 80s horror movies out there, and will satisfy every fan of the genre.

Special note should be made for the soundtrack. There's not many films out there that feature tracks from Motley Crue, Accept, Billy Idol and the mighty Saxon, but Demons is one of them. And people may say this makes the film dated, but it just adds to the charm for me.

Demons is released on April 30th on DVD and Blu-Ray and well worth a purchase.

****
An 80's Gonzo Horror treat. It makes little sense most of the time, and is funny when it shouldn't be at others, but it's also the best example of horror for that time. Check it out.