PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I remember when I was in seventh grade there was a kid a few years younger than me who lived down the street who watched Demons on VHS one night. I scared him so badly that he wouldn’t eat, sleep, or even go to the bathroom by himself for days, and his parents had to take him to see a doctor as a result.
After I heard about this, I HAD to see this movie. While it didn’t freak me out as nearly as bad as it did the kid down the street, it did scare the crap out of me and I remember having several sleepless nights afterward thinking about it and making sure that I kept the bed cover over my entire body (even though it was hot outside) for protection from the demons ( I think I sweated off about 50 pounds during these nights as a result).
I have watched it countless times since then and can honestly say it is right up there with Sleepaway Camp and Deadly Friend as one of my favorite movies of all time. Why do I love it so much and hold it in such high regard?
Keep reading to find out…
Synopsis
After accepting a free ticket from a strange man wearing a mask a young woman and her friend (as well as a various group of other people) attend the screening for a movie that turns into a living nightmare when blood-thirsty demons show up and start brutally killing everyone in sight.
Directed by the legendary Lamberta Bava (Shock, A Blade in the Dark) and written by genre favorite Dario Argento (Deep Red, Tenebrae), Dardano Sacchetti (The Beyond, Rat Man), and Bava himself, Demons is a horror classic that is guaranteed to satisfy. One of the main strengths of the film is the fact that it is truly scary at times (that scene with Rosemary in the restroom slowly transforming into a demon is true nightmare fuel and gets me every single time), and it is one of the few films that I saw when I was younger that still scares me as an adult. It also has a dark, bleak, hopeless tone that has no doubt bothered countless viewers over the years.
Theater Of Pain
I was so terrified of going to a movie theater after I saw it for the first time that when my parents took me to a local cinema to see Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors a few weeks later I was worried that the entire place was going to be overrun with demons trying to rip my face off so I made sure to note where the emergency exits were in case it happened and I had to make a run for it. Without a doubt this movie left a mark on me and traumatized me to an extent, but that is just fine because I love it and with more movies had such an impact on me.
The cast is also exceptional. Natasha Hovey (Ophiria, Domani) is awesome as the main character Cheryl, and she is just so likable that you can’t help but root for her and want her to survive. The same could be said for Urbano Barberini (Gor, Diabolik) who plays George, who goes from being a nice guy to a total Ash Williams-like badass when he needs to. The real star of the movie though, is without a doubt Bobby Rhodes (That’s Life, Soft Air) who plays Tony the pimp. Tony is just an all-around awesome character, and Rhodes does such an awesome job that he returned to play a different character in the sequel. Tony is just a great character, and he owns every scene that he is in. I just wish that he got a little more screen time because he is that cool. I also have to mention Geretta Geretta (Bloody Christmas, Skid Row) as she is just as amazing in the role of Rosemary as well.
I love this movie, and no matter how many times I watch it, it never gets old. I watch it at least once a year, and I dig it as much now as I did when I first saw it as a kid. It’s legitimately scary, has some great effects, an awesome soundtrack, and is just a fun movie in general that holds up very nicely after all these years. I think that the premise is loads of fun as we have people trapped in a movie theatre trying to survive as demons are running around, ripping people to shreds. To make matters worse, anyone who is scratched by one of the demons becomes a demon, so it isn’t long before there is a huge army of demons trying to take out the remaining human survivors who are desperately trying to find a way to fight back and escape from the theater before it is too late.
Demons spawned a sequel (which is just as awesome and most likely inspired Evil Dead Rise as it has a similar premise) and I really wish someone would do an actual third movie that was connected to the first two. While some parts are cheesy and may not make a lot of sense (what is up with the helicopter crashing through the roof?) it is still a lot of fun and just an awesome movie in general.
Final Thoughts
Be sure to stick around after the credits start to roll at the end, as there is an additional scene that takes place that I wasn’t aware of for nearly twenty years that really changes the ending of the movie in a huge way. If you are in the mood for a creepy horror flick full of action, scares, and some amazing effects then this movie is definitely for you (Plus, it has a rocking soundtrack that features Rick Springfield, Motley Crue, and some other awesome musicians).
