moonspinner55 At a newly-reopened theater, a preview of an unnamed horror flick has dire consequences for the in-house crowd. The plot of the movie-within-the-movie has a group of kids digging up Nostradamus' grave and finding a steel mask that scratches one of the teens, his wound quickly becoming a bloody, festering sore that turns him into a raging zombie. One of the young ladies watching the picture realizes she was just scratched by a lookalike prop mask in the lobby--and now her cut won't stop bleeding. Italian-made gore-fest, produced and co-written by Dario Argento, designed to shock and repulse non-genre fans while tickling those who are. It has an appropriate hard rock soundtrack and wildly grotesque make-up effects, however there's confusion in Lamberto Bava's direction right from the start. The dialogue isn't very clever, the non-demons in the cast aren't very interesting and the finale is a cheat, but splatter-aficionados will take some delight in the throat-rippings and slashings, the kissing couple strangled together mid-lip lock, and the assorted post-"Exorcist/Dawn of the Dead/Evil Dead" gross-outs. Followed by "Demons 2" the following year. * from ****

Fella_shibby Co-written by Dario Argento, produced by William Lustig (director of Maniac) and directed by Lamberto Bava (son of horror legend Mario). Some might argue that Bava Junior doesn't have the talents of Bava Senior. I saw this for the first time in the late 80's. Ten rupees rental man. It was hilarious, the demons were funny looking, the picture was too dark and the acting was atrocious. Love the scene at the end where the guy is on the motorcycle swinging the sword at all the demons chopping them up and decapitating them. The nihilistic ending sees the remaining survivors escaping the theater, only to discover the city over-run by demons. This movie has everything; violence, blood, action, 80's metal, and all kinds of other things. This is about people who get invited to a theater to see a horror flick, but it turns out to be a movie from hell.

justplainbutch "Demons" is full of practical effects and action, but contains few scares and very little tension. The plot can be summed up as "trapped in a confined place with monsters." There's no back story, there's very little character development, the dialogue is hokey even by Italian horror movie standards, and the blaring soundtrack consists of 80s metal and synth-rock. In other words, if you're interested in a Dario Argento type scarefest you're barking up the wrong tree. But as a Saturday afternoon diversion or as a film to be watched party-style with friends it's perfect. There's enough gore to keep horror fans entertained and enough camp to tickle non-horror fans' funnybones. If you enjoyed "Night of the Creeps," "Killer Klowns From Outer Space," or any of the Friday the 13th sequels, you might find this worth your while.

poe426 The idea was a natural: a group of 80s moviegoers slither into a free screening of a slasher flick and end up being terrorized by Demons from Hell (or a subdivision thereof). DEMONS boasts everything that made the 80s instantly forgettable: Big Hair and Big Music (this was, after all, the era of MTV), slasher films and music video directors who couldn't direct their way out of a mall. It all amounts to one big mess of a movie with absolutely nothing to recommend it. I saw it first at a drive-in, but, because Time has a tendency to muddle one's memories, I opted to give it another try just the other day. My initial reaction was the same as my latest. (A quick example: the victims, upon realizing that they're being attacked by Demons from Hell, proceed to barricade themselves INSIDE the theater, blocking off all escape routes.) (And, for no apparent reason whatsoever, a helicopter lands on the theater roof, which caves in.) Lambert Bava ain't no Mario. (And how did they get away with pilfering the score for PSYCHO...?)