Day 12: Demons [Horror Film Review]

After the success of Dawn of the Dead (aka Zombi) in Italy, Italian filmmakers were churning out zombie films left and right.  For every great Italian zombie film that was made, at least dozen, if not more, crappy zombie films were released.  The Italian audience, and even the American audience, loved zombies in the 80s.  The problem was, the same zombie films were being made, over and over and over again...The horror audience needed something different.  Luckily, Lamberto Bava was around to change all that.  With a love of horror cinema like his father before him (the great Mario Bava), Lamberto Bava teamed up with Dario Argento to produce 1985's Demons.

The plot of Demons is great; movie goers attend a film premiere where the actions on screen come to life!  Demons infect the audience and one by one, people in the theater are turned into demons.  Where zombies were slow, demons could be fast!  I mean, Demons could have easily been a zombie film, but by changing zombies into demons, we're left with something fresh.  Whatever a zombie couldn't do, like climb walls, a demon could.  And if you're a gorehound, the film has some great scenes of the macabre, including a great scene where we see a woman transform into a demon.  Plus, the film has a killer heavy metal soundtrack.

If you're a fan of Italian horror, or love zombies films, then give Demons a whirl.  It was recently released on blu ray, and the transfer is absolutely beautiful.  The movie gets kind of ridiculous at times, but trust me, Demons is a winner.  Hell, every film I recommend is a winner...

Editor’s note: Each day in October, Ramone is picking a classic (or cheesy) horror film to review and share