Repugnant Review: Demons (1985) – Lamberto Bava

What do you get when you combine the deranged minds of Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento? A stunningly insane splatter flick with demented demons and a kick ass metal soundtrack! For me, this movie the the pinnacle of 80\’s splatter, with it\’s outrageous gore effects, memorable characters, solid but simple story, and a list of metal tunes you can bang your head to while you watch a theater of people getting ripped apart my demons. But let\’s dive deep into the Bava directed, Argento produced splatter shocker that still has folks squirming with gore-soaked glee. This is DEMONS.

After having the shit scared out of her, and mistaking a masked weirdo handing out tickets for some deranged stalker, Cheryl accepts the ticket offer and meets up with her friend, Kathy. It takes a little convincing, but Cheryl gets her friend to go to this new theater that just opened up. Once in the theater, we are introduced to a huge array of characters. Some of the notable ones include two preppy dudes, George and Ken, who immediately begin hitting on Cheryl and Kathy. There\’s a blind guy and his daughter, who I always thought was his wife for some reason, a couple of the geekiest but innocent teens out on a date, and my favorite, the pimp and his two hookers. In the lobby of the theater is this samurai warrior riding a dirt bike, holding a sword, and a silver mask. One of the hookers puts the mask on, but gets scratched by it. Once everyone enters the theater, they are treated to a horror film about a group of teens breaking into the tomb of Nostradamus. The teens in the movie only find a book, and a mask that looks exactly like the one in the lobby. At the same time, the hooker who got scratched by the mask starts to get sick, and goes to the bathroom. This is when shit starts to go down.

The scratch on her face begins to puss and ooze, and she begins to transform into a heinous demon. The other hooker goes to the bathroom to see if she is okay, but she is attacked and thrown through the movie screen. Hooker number two begins to transform, and holy fuck it\’s gross. When I say gross, I mean that in the best way possible. The transformation scenes are so disgustingly brilliant, that even I was squirming in enjoyment. The hookers teeth begin to be pushed out by the new fangs replacing them, and if you\’re like me, anything with teeth really freaks me out. Teeth and fucking nails, can\’t stand it. One by one, the audience is either butchered and maimed by the infected, or they become Demons themselves. Even the theater is cursed, with all of the entrances being walled up by bricks, and no one is able to exit. It isn\’t until a bunch of coked up punks break into the theater to escape the police, which they soon meet their demise by the Demons, and then said Demons escaping into the city, causing more havoc.

This movie is just berserk, and I\’d give you more but I really don\’t want to spoil anything besides the basic premise. It\’s just that enjoyable. DEMONS is an unrelenting splatter movie that keeps your eyes glued to the screen from beginning to end. Whether you think the story of movie-goers being stuck in a cursed theater, and getting killed by hoards of demons is corny, it\’s full of incredible special effects and camera-work to keep you fixed into a daze of pure blood lust. Grab a group of friends, get a bunch of snacks, and pop in a copy of DEMONS. You won\’t regret it, and if you\’re like me, DEMONS will be part of every marathon you have in the future. I have the uncut version that Anchor Bay put out over a decade ago, but this has been re-released a bunch of times since then, and I don\’t think you would have an issue finding it. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Lights Out Review by Tyler Aucoin

Every time a PG-13 Horror film is released, I stop for a second and wonder if it\’s going to be something legitimately captivating, or yet another vicious cash grab. I can safely, and proudly, declare that Lights Out is most definitely the former of the two. We open in a dimly lit warehouse, with the sight of mannequins grouped and scattered about. There has always been something unsettling to me about the sight of mannequins, but truthfully,that\’s not exactly where the real horror lies. Lurking in the darkness is something much more sinister.

Our film centers around a family living in Los Angeles. We have the mother, Sophie (Maria Bello), who suffers from an obvious mental disorder, her son Martin (Gabriel Bateman), and her daughter Rebecca (Teresa Palmer). From what we can infer, it appears Rebecca had to distance herself from her own mother at some point. She lives alone in a dingy downtown apartment, but for a character such as Rebecca, this does not affect her in the slightest. Besides, she is not always alone. With the company of her boy toy Bret (Alexander DePersia), she seems to find a way to get through (most of) the nights until the lights go out and she sends him packing. The acting for most of these characters is solid, with the exception of Bret. I wouldn\’t exactly hold it against him, for my concern lies more with the way his character is designed to be at Rebecca\’s beckoning call, even when she pushes him away at certain points in the film.

Martin begins to have horrific experiences where his mother is communicating and interacting with someone she refers to as Diana. From what he can tell, Diana does not seem to be, or even act, remotely human. Martin is left to assume who, or what, she could be, and is only given hints by what he sees and feels through the darkness. Rebecca mentions to Martin that she used to have nightmares about Diana when she was his age. Are these only nightmares, or is Diana much more real than we\’re led to believe?

If there\’s one thing to say for Lights Out, it\’s that the scares are not cheap, and that\’s not something you hear every day about a Horror film. I suppose you could classify a couple of them as “jump scares”, but I would say aside from those, they are very much earned and work effectively. Contrasts between light and darkness are drawn from multiple Horror films over the years, but Lights Out manages to truly play with the lighting in most scenes. This keeps us on the edge of our seats, waiting for Diana to emerge from any available darkness, and at any given moment.

It\’s honestly hard to say too much without attempting to spoil anything, so I will wrap this up as clearly and concise as possible. The story is one of the best things this film has going for it. There are too many films where the monster exists, just because. Diana\’s story is ultimately freaky, and may stick with you long after you\’ve departed the theater. I, for one, was looking around the establishment every time the ceiling panels would crack, or when a nearby theatergoer rocked in their chair. You\’re not going to find excessive amounts of gore and language here, and I am totally okay with that. Lights Out doesn\’t need those factors to chill you to your core, just a couple of shots of Diana rocking back and forth in the darkness, scratching at the floor, was enough for me to keep the lights on.

– Tyler Aucoin