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4/29/2015

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death!

♥♥♥♥

This Spanish poster for Lamberto Bava's Demons features a strange cut-out of a demon hovering over other demons ascending a staircase

QUICK REVIEW:

Two Italian girls, who attempt to speak American-English in Germany (...), get free tickets to a cinema, in which the demons on the screen suddenly overtake the audience.

The blood bath will never end in Demons
Co-writer/director Lamberto Bava (Macabre/Macabro (1980)) walks in Italian horror maestro Dario Argento's (Phenomena (1985)) and his own father, the 'Baron of Blood' Mario Bava's (The Mask of Satan/La Machera del Demonio (1960)) shoes with success here. In Demons, he has created a nightmarish atmosphere that is far from the 'realism' striven for in so many of today's horror films.
The acting and the hopeless dubbing of the film are terrible, but in a certain way this only contributes to the priceless gritty, smutty feel that surrounds this 80s teen gore galore, replete with cocaine junkies, songs by Pretty Maids, Billy Idol and original music by Claudio Simonetti (Deep Red/Profondo Rosso (1975)).
Demons is co-written by Argento (who also produced the film), director Bava, Franco Ferrini (Opera (1987)) and Dardano Sacchetti (Killer Crocodile 2 (1990), based on his story.




Watch the very dark trailer for the film here

Cost: 1.8 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty
[The film was released in '86 in the US, but I can find no figures detailing its commercial performance, only the fact that 200k paid admission to see it in Spain. But it must have been a success, because Bava and the writing team followed it up with Demons 2/Dèmoni 2 ... l'Incubo Ritorna (1986).]

What do you think of Demons?
What are the best Bava films across the prolific film family's generations?

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