We recently reviewed Il Tempo del Sogno (Dream Time), a documentary about the last wave of Italian Horror. This period covered the mid-80s to the early ’90s when producers could still get reasonable funding for making horror films. They would easily make deals with distributors around the globe. The documentary makes it a point to start this era with the blockbuster Demons. The film was directed by Lamberto Bava (Shock) and produced by Dario Argento (Susperia) with the men collaborating on the script with two other writers. The movie is about what can go wrong at a sneak preview of a movie. Now you can see the nightmare more vividly with the 4K UHD of Demons: Special Edition.
Cheryl (Summer Games‘ Natasha Hovey) gets off the subway in West Berlin and feels a bit creeped out. At her stop there’s a mysterious man in a half a metal mask (Michele Soavi, the director of Cemetary Man) passing out golden tickets for a sneak preview movie at the Metropol Cinema. At first, she’s shocked by the guy, but then she asks for a second ticket to take her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo). He hands her one without saying a word. Kathy is up for the movie, but doesn’t want it to be a horror film. She’s not a fan. The Metropol theater is a bit of a mystery. While the building has been around for a while, the locals swear there wasn’t a movie theater inside. The place looks snazzy with a display of movie props including a motorbike and a strange metal mask being held by a mannequin. Instead of a concession stand, they have three vending machines that aren’t working right and one that dispenses popcorn looks jammed. Cheryl can’t get her Coke until George (Casino Royale‘s Urbano Barberini) hits the machine just right. This gives George and his pal Ken (Karl Zinny) an excuse to sit next to the ladies in the theater. The only employee at the place is Ingrid (Nicoletta Elmi from Deep Red, Flesh For Frankenstein and Who Saw Her Die?) There are a few colorful characters attending the sneak including a blindman who gets bad vibrations off the prop mask. Arriving in style is Tony the Pimp (Bobby Rhodes) with his ladies that include Rosemary (Murder Rock‘s Geretta Giancarlo). She tries on the mask and gets a tiny prick on her cheek. To Kathy’s dismay, the movie turns out to be horror flick. A group of kids show up at an abandoned mansion and find a crypt in the basement. They bust open the lid and find a mask (that is the one from the lobby). Thing go wrong when one of the kids in the film tries on the mask. The same thing is going wrong for Rosemary as things get messy when she’s in the ladies room. She’s turns into a demon and her first victim is her co-worker. The audience doesn’t notice the screams from outside the theater at first because of all the screams coming from the movie screen. They get a sense of the danger when a victim bursts through the movie screen. Will this free movie cost them all their human lives?
Demons is great because it just keeps up the wildness. The audience does its best to fight back against the transformed other viewers. They realize they’ve been locked into the building with no hope of an easy exit. Every part of the movie theater turns into a battleground in the struggle. They even wreck the precious projector booth. There are two highlights when someone hops on a motorcycle and rides around the theater attacking the transformed demons with a samurai sword. There’s a massive surprise that drops by the theater at the end that I won’t disclose. Although during the finale, you’ll get a cameo from the little kid (Giovanni Frezza) who played Bob in Lucio Fulci’s House By The Cemetary. This is the proper way for this last great wave of Italian horror to start back in 1985. After you see Demons, you’ll never attend another sneak preview movie screening without fearing someone in the audience is going to turn into a demon.
There are three different versions of Demons on the disc. There’s the original Italian version that runs 88 minutes and 22 seconds. The International English is the same length as the Italian with the English dub. U.S. English version is 88 minutes and 29 seconds. What’s the difference? The Ascot Entertainment Group Logo at the start of the film takes up a few extra seconds. The US Edition has different voice actors and music cues in spots. You should start off with the International English version. There is a Blu-ray of Demons with the new transfer and bonus features being released. There is also a 4K UHD of Demons 2 coming out on August 13, 2024..
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. There are slight black bars on the side of the screen. The 4K UHD transfer was made from the original camera negative. You’ll get to see all the details of the Metropol Theater. The Audio for the Italian Version is DTS-HD-MA 5.1. The English International features the track in 5.1 DTS HD-MA and 2.0 DTS HD-MA. The US Version is 2.0 DTS-HD MA with different voice actors and some sound changes. All three sound clean so you can hear the noises around the theater. The versions of the movies have English subtitles.
New Audio Commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, co-hosts of the Hell’s Belles podcast are fans of the film. They consider it one of the best of the ’80s since it brings together Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava and Michele Soavi who would play major roles in this last wave of Italian Horror. They talk about how this was the time when films were losing financing sources and filmmakers were getting into television. They get into the Satanic Panic, horror films and heavy metal.
Audio commentary with director Lamberto Bava, SPFX artist Sergio Stivaletti, composer Claudio Simonetti and actress Geretta Giancarlo is in Italian, but you can pull up the English subtitles for the translation. They recount what happened during the shoot. Lamberto suggests the man with the mask has made a deal with the devil. This is featured on the International cut.
Produced by Dario Argento (27:13) is a visual essay by author and critic Michael Mackenzie about how Dario produced quite few films around this time. Most of it involved helping out friends. Dario’s dad was the producer. There’s stalk of how Dario Argento was one of few filmmakers at this time to be known in public. He produced George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. He began producing his own films instead of with his dad. He used his DAC films to produce Demons with Lamberto Bava as director.
Dario’s Demon Days (10:30) sits down with writer/producer Dario Argento to talk about his time making Demons and Demons 2 with Lamberto Bava. He said Bava had approached him with an idea and they wrote the script rather quick. He discusses how Lamberto has a different style on the set that his father Mario Bava
Defining an Era in Music (9:34) is an interview with composer Claudio Simonetti. He was the keyboardist for Goblin. This was the first time he went solo and used new ’80s keyboards. He worked without much input from Dario and Lamberto on the initial score. I saw Simonetti when he toured with his Goblin and played the live score to Deep Red. Highly recommend the experience.
Splatter Spaghetti Style (11:27) meets up with Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi. He gets into recommending Italian horror films. He talks of Argento and more. I believe he’s in the museum basement at Profundo Rossi bookstore that’s owned by Argento.
Carnage at the Cinema (36:01) Lamberto Bava and His Splatter Masterpiece gets the director and co-writer to talk about the film. He gets into how he approached Dario Argento to collaborate on the project. He breaks down what each of the four listed writers (including himself) did on the project. He gives an unlikely literature source for the concept of Demons.
Dario and the Demons: Producing Monster Mayhem (15:51) has him reflect on getting the screenplay together. He talks about Lamberto Bava being in a trance as he wrote. He talks about how he worked as a producer on the film. He didn’t try to direct the film. He let Lamberto direct. He brought in Sergio Stivaletti since he came from a family of dentist and really understood how to do teeth effects. He remembers while shooting in West Berlin going over to East Berlin and seeing the serious differences. He also missed the 70s and 80s when it was easier to get funding for films in Italy.
Monstrous Memories (30:18) has Luigi Cozzi talk about the making of Demons. Turns out Dario needed to get Demons on the rails fast since that would help his budget on Phenomena. Lamberto Bava showed up at the right time with an idea for a film. Having most of the action inside the cinema saved on the budget.
Profondo Jones: The Critical Perspective (17:39) has Alan Jones, the author of Profondo Argento talk about the film. He points out that this was supposed to be a trilogy (with the third film being The Church although they made a fourth with The Sect). He explains that the reason Fiore Argento didn’t have a long acting career like sister Asia was her frustration at being yelled at by Lamberto Bava on the set.
Splatter Stunt Rock (9:12) gets stuntman Ottaviano Dell’Acqua to talk about what he did in that cinema. He started with Fellini’s Satyricon, but found himself making a lot of cop films like Violent City and Violet Rome. He was all about the action as a stuntman. He was brought on when he was offered to do a lot of fantastic stuff. The film was a rush for him. He liked working with Lamberto Bava even though he was rather demanding. He was always on set during the shoot.
Stivaletti Q&A at the 2019 UK ‘Festival of Fantastic Films’ (36:13) has the special effects wizard Sergio Stivaletti being interviewed while his son interprets. He talks of his influences. Stivaletti’s mustache and beard are impressive.
Trailer Gallery includes Original Italian (2:09), English international (2:09) and U.S. Trailer (1:32). There’s a red band warning at the start of the U.S. versions.
Reproduction Movie Ticket that also explains how the 4K UHD transfer was achieved.
Synapse Films presents Demons. Directed by Lamberto Bava. Screenplay by Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava, Dardano Sacchetti & Franco Ferrini. Starring Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Paola Cozzo, Nicoletta Elmi, Fiore Argento, Geretta Giancarlo, Michele Soavi & Bobby Rhodes. Running Time: 88 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: August 13, 2024.
