Dèmoni (1985)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Lamberto Bava

Writers:

Dardano Sacchetti (story)
Dario Argento (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 May 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

They will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be your tombs.

Plot:

A group of people are trapped in a large West Berlin movie theater infected by ravenous demons whom proceed to kill and posses the humans one-by-one thereby multiplying their numbers.

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Mask | Lobby | Friend | Motorcycle

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Urbano Barberini	...	George
Natasha Hovey	...	Cheryl
Karl Zinny	...	Ken
Fiore Argento	...	Hannah
Paola Cozzo	...	Kathy
Fabiola Toledo	...	Carmen
Nicoletta Elmi	...	Ingrid, the usherette
Stelio Candelli	...	Frank
Nicole Tessier	...	Ruth
Geretta Geretta	...	Rosemary (as Geretta Giancarlo)
Bobby Rhodes	...	Tony
Guido Baldi	...	Tommy
Bettina Ciampolini	...	Nina
Giuseppe Mauro Cruciano	...	Hot Dog (as Giuseppe Cruciano)
Sally Day	...	Carla

Also Known As:

Demons (International: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | New Zealand:R18 | Spain:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | France:-16 | Italy:VM18 | UK:18 | USA:Unrated | West Germany:(Banned) | Mexico:D | Argentina:18 | Iceland:(Banned) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

DACFILM Rome

Trivia:

The Playstation video game 'Silent Hill' pays homage to this film as a theater called 'Metropol' can be seen in the game, along with posters advertising this film at the box office.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The blades of the helicopter couldn't cut the demon's stomach because propeller was disposited too high, as we could see in the previous shots.

Quotes:

Tony the Pimp: What the hell happened to Rosemary?

Movie Connections:

Featured in A Head for Horror: Lamberto Bava on 'Macabre' (2001) (V)

Soundtrack:

We Close Our Eyes

Demons is a great roller-coaster ride, from beginning to end!

Demons epitomizes everything the early to mid eighties were about. A lot of things didn't make sense - but neither did the era so it fit in just fine. In the end, it plays out to be a great horror movie, with plenty of gratuitous violence and gore, a killer 80's soundtrack, and a couple of good scares! At the time this movie came out, Italian horror meisters Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava wanted nothing more than to have a hit in the American market. Dario had experienced a taste of that with his collaboration on Dawn of the Dead, but never from a full Italian production. To appeal to American audiences, they went with the soundtrack used here (songs from Billy Idol, Rick Springfield, etc.), and even used some American actors (like Bobby Rhodes who plays the pimp, in even comes back in Demons 2 as a different character).

To add to the hype, they released it to limited distribution (not by choice I'm sure) in the states, unrated (just as "Day of the Dead" had just been released in similar fashion). Back in the 80's, it was real hard for an 11 year old to be allowed in to see an unrated movie, even with a parent (or someone posing as one as in my case!) - nonetheless, I got to see both of these - and although I was disturbed for weeks - I loved every second of Demons.

Years later I have acquired it on a double DVD with Demons 2. I love the original, in all its uncut glory! Knowing more about the production, I get a kick out of the fact that the guy at the beginning giving out the theater tickets (the guy with the mask) was then aspiring filmmaker Michele Soavi, who would just a couple of years later become an Argento protégé with movies like Stagefright, and his own classic Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetary Man). I also get a kick out of how many movies, older than the original Demons, claim to be Demons sequels and have even had name changes. Unfortunately for us fans, there were only two real Demons movies made, the third never saw fruition. Too bad - if a real one ever came out - I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd run out to see it.