Demons 2Director: Lamberto BavaGenre: Horror Publisher: DACFilm Rome Released: MPAA Rating: Unrated Cast: Bobby Rhodes, David Edwin Knight |
A Review by Mike Bracken
01/20/2002
However, it’s easy to get caught up in that reverie and lose sight of the fact that while 80’s Italian horror gave us countless films that are revered by hardcore fans to this day, it also gave us a fair share of schlock—stuff so inept and nearly unwatchable that it’s amazing it ever got made, let alone released. For every Tenebre, there’s a Devilfish and for every Demons, there’s invariably a Demons 2.
The original 1985 film, Demons was never gonna win an award for the most sensible film narrative ever conceived, but it’s positively linear and logical in comparison to this mess. No less than four scribes combined forces to create this ‘story’—Argento, Bava, Franco Ferrini, and Dardano Sacchetti—and it looks as though each wrote one part, got stuck, then passed it on to the next writer down the list so that he could ignore everything that had happened previously and write in new, never before seen characters.
But, as your fearless reviewer, I feel a plot synopsis is in order—so here goes. Demons 2 takes place after the events of the first film. Apparently, the authorities got that isolated outbreak of demonism from the movie under control, and everything’s back to normal. This story takes place in a German high-rise apartment building. We’re introduced to several different groups of residents—typical 80’s chick Sally (Coralina Cataldi Cassoni: Opera), who’s about to celebrate a birthday, George (David Edwin Knight—who looks a lot like Ash from the Evil Dead films as this movie progresses), his pregnant wife Hannah (Nancy Brilli), a family with two young children (including a very young Asia Argento), and a large group of people working out in the gym, lead by none other than Bobby Rhodes (who played the supercool pimp in the first film, then died, but is back as a different character here).
Sally freaks out when one of the partygoers tells her ex, Jacob, to come on over. Being a card-carrying drama queen, she storms off to her bedroom and starts watching some weird pseudo-documentary (or is it???) about the first demon outbreak (complete with some wonderfully awful expository dialogue—“it’s a demon claw…I heard that they spread their contagion through scratches made by their claws”). While watching this show, a demon kills a group of actors, then, in a scene ripped off directly from David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, it pushes through the screen, into the room, and attacks Sally. From there, it’s a demonic holocaust, as the power goes out and everyone’s trapped in the building with the flesh-craving monsters.
The premise itself sounds pretty good—one part Night of the Living Dead, one part Cronenberg’s Shivers, but it ultimately falls very flat—partially because the story is so disjointed, and partially because the production values are so inept. The first Demons played fast and loose with the rules of logic and gave nothing in the way of explanation for the events that were transpiring, but this film actually makes even less sense. One gaping plothole after another appears in the narrative, and no one ever even attempts to cover them up of fill them in. Instead, Bava just concentrates on getting us to the next gore scene in the hopes that we might not notice that the movie makes no sense narratively. Two sets of characters—the aforementioned Jacob and the mother of a little boy being babysat by one of the residents of the building—are introduced briefly, out of nowhere, then crash into each other at an intersection—huh?
Bava doesn’t help his cause here, either. Any serious fan of Italian horror cinema realizes that the narratives of these movies often take on a very disjointed, nightmarish feel. A director with Argento or Soavi’s talents can create enough intriguing visuals to keep our attention off the fact that the story doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately, Lamberto Bava hasn’t been graced with same eye for visuals as his compatriots or his famous father. Much of the film looks decidedly plain—it’s lensed in a very straightforward manner, with minimal style. Bava does seem preoccupied with creating a weird noir-ish look by lighting a lot of scenes in blue (and his reliance on a continually flashing strobe light—thank god I don’t have epilepsy…this film could induce a seizure), but this doesn’t work, because it makes the scenes so dark that we can’t really see the gore or the quality of the FX work.
Factor in all that with some really awful acting (well, Bobby Rhodes is fun—but that goes without saying) and dubbing, and well, you get a film that’s a big slice of Italian cheese—but not in a good way. Tack on an ending that feels incredibly rushed (and doesn’t make much sense—why is the demon suddenly blind?) and you get a film that doesn’t even come close to living up to it’s classic progenitor.
Of course, most Italian horror fans would cut the film some slack if the gore work was really good. Unfortunately, the film even lets us down here. The original film was a great, gory flick with some really good FX work, the demons looked convincing and gross, the bloodletting was fast and furious, and people were killed in some incredibly gruesome ways. Rather than rehash this, Bava and company instead decide to try and take the mythology in a new direction—with less than stellar results. Here, we get to see our very first demon dog, a demon toddler, and some kind of weird demon puppet monster. It should be readily apparent to anyone reading this that these ideas are incredibly lame—but if it’s not coming through, allow me to elaborate—these effects are incredibly lame! Couple this with some awful overacting on the part of the demons in the cast (particularly the demon Sally—how can you screw up playing a demon?) and you get a film that doesn’t even satisfy on the most basic level.
On the plus side, Anchor Bay has released both Demons and Demons 2 in special collector's editions on DVD and VHS. While the first film certainly warrants the special treatment (it's one of the best entry points for people new to Italian horror), the sequel doesn't--but that doesn't make Anchor Bay's presentation any less fantastic. Extras include commentary, behind-the-scenes footage, trailers, and more--not to mention that the transfer is great, and the print uncut. While the film may not be a classic, Anchor Bay's presentation is excellent.
Ultimately, Demons 2 is a film that fails on nearly every level. It’s so inept that while watching it, one has a hard time taking the film even remotely seriously—it’s as if Bava has decided to play an elaborate joke on all of us. Sadly, though, he is serious—and because of this, one can’t even view Demons 2 as a piece of ‘so bad it’s good’ cinema. On the whole, the 80’s gave us no shortage of classic Italian horror flicks—but unfortunately, Demons 2 isn’t one of them. If you’re interested in Italian cinema, check out the first entry in this series, or the work of Soavi and Argento. If you’re interested in seeing a decent Lamberto Bava flick, then I recommend the first film in this series, or the entertaining A Blade in the Dark. Skip this one unless you’re an Italian horror completist, Demons fanatic, or relative of Lamberto Bava.
© Copyright CultureCartel.com 01/20/2002
