DEMONS/DEMONS 2
1985-1986 Lamberto Bava ItalyStarring: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Bobby Rhodes, Michele Soavi, Coralina Cataldi Tasoni, David Knight, Nancy Barilli, Asia Argento
little Lamberto, son of maestro Mario Bava, directed these two enormously popular and successful films featuring demons run amok in a movie theatre and a highrise apartment. despite all the praise and popularity, both films are really pretty damn stupid. the first, set in Germany for no real reason besides Argento (who produced the films) likes to set his films in different coutries for no reason, starts out with Michele Soavi-future director of Dellamorte, Dellamore-handing out tickets to a new movie theatre. the theatre is playing a horror film dealing with, you guessed it, DEMONS!
the movie theatre is full of your typical disaster movie characters-horny teens, a tough black dude (and his ho's) a blind guy and a young couple.
one of the hookers tries on a mask that's on display in the lobby, and wouldn't ya know it, the skank scratches her cheek and turns into a green goo slobberin' demon. that's about it. the rest of the movie is just a showcase for Sergio Stivaletti's uneven and overrated fx work. the scene where the hooker transforms into a demon, with her teeth popping out is pretty nasty though.
Demons 2 is an even more ridiculous expansion of all that was wrong with the first. this time the demons spring forth from birthday girl Carolina Cataldi Tasoni's TV and run wild in her hightech apartment bulding.
the music is slighty better this time around, with tracks from The Smiths and Peter Murphy among others, but that's the ONLY improvement. Bava went extra light on the gore in the sequel, perhaps to gain a larger audience, but it makes for a pretty boring movie. a waste of time.
look for a very young Asia Argento in a small role...or don't.
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