Bounding Into Halloween Night 17: It’s Hell On Earth In ‘Night Of The Demons’ & ‘Demons’
Prick your finger, it is done. The moon has now eclipsed the sun. There’s no angel to spread its wings, but the time has come for evil things. This edition of Bounding Into Halloween goes into full possession mode with these delightfully demonic gorefests from everyone’s favorite decade for horror, the 1980s. They both show just how gruesome things can get when a dark spirit takes the driver seat and goes on a joyride with your soul. Take your places, the summoning is about to begin!
Night of the Demons (1988)
It’s hard to imagine a world where horror fans have never heard of this movie, but times have changed. Most younger freaks will never know the pure joy of perusing the horror section of their local video store and being stopped dead in their tracks by an awesome VHS cover for a movie they’ve never heard of before. Some of them were even better than the movie itself, but not all of them, and that’s how people used to get suckered into renting bad movies.
Others delivered what the cover promised, and that’s how cult classics were born. One of them is this personal favorite from horror director, Kevin S. Tenney (Witchboard), 1988’s Night of the Demons.
The party begins with eight stupid people named Judy (Cathy Podewell), Max (Philip Tanzini), Frannie (Jill Terashita), Rodger (Alvin Alexis), Helen (Allison Barron), and last but not least, the pig-faced Stooge (Hal Havins). These annoying souls are all on their way to a Halloween bash thrown by two weirdos Suzanne (80s horror queen Linnea Quigley), and the hot Goth chick stereotype, Angela (Amelia “Mimi” Kinkade), who everyone is a little scared of.
However, that fear isn’t without merit because tonight she’s taking them to The Hull House. This is a condemned mansion that used to be a funeral parlor but was shut down after multiple murders and a suicide took place there. It is said to be haunted by ghosts, but Angela thinks a darker presence dwells in that derelict domicile that reeks of something devilish.
So, she decides to hold a séance to commune with this spirit on All Hallow’s Eve and get the party jumping. It’s easy to understand why such unholy actions would inspire fear from people, but where some see a scary person, others see a keeper.
Not only was she correct about the dark spirit, but it brings a party of its own. A blood-soaked fiesta full of possession, mutilation, and demonic fornication ensues. The devil has come to collect this Halloween, and not a drop of gore is spared. The few dwindling survivors struggle to find a way out with their lives, limbs, and souls. Will any of them survive to see the morning sun, or will the only light they see be the fires of eternal damnation on this Night of the Demons?!?!
For a movie about possession, a lot of the “Slasher” element bleeds through. Something that hurt a lot of the horror movies of that time, but also made some of them just bearable enough to watch. This one is mindless fun with gore. The dated effects have a charm and realism that CGI can never duplicate, and the campy opening credit sequence still rocks!
Angela has invited you to her party over on TUBI, bring a friend. Here’s the trailer:
Demons (1985)
Ayeeee! Ya finally made it! Think that last flick was good? Fuh-gedda-boudit! That pig-faced bozo, and that freaky vampire broad ain’t got nothin’ on this superior strip of film, pal. This is a fine import from the old country, and it was made by Mario Bava’s kid, ya know? What’s his name? Lamberto! Bam, that’s it! Anyway, little Lamberto got into making movies, just like his old man. Aye, how ‘bout that?
After doing a couple of horror flicks, he decided to kick it up a notch in 1985 with the movie Demons, and he even got the great Dario Argento to produce it. What I want ya to do now is sit back, have some Italian wine, keep ya mouth shut, and watch the movie. Capeesh?
Cheryl (Natasha Hovey) is a music student in Berlin who’s given a free pass to a movie screening on her way to class by a stranger in the subway (cameo by director Michele Soavi) who looks like he just walked out of a Skinny Puppy video. She talks her friend, Kathy (Paola Cazzo), into ditching class to go to the movie. They get there and meet George (Urbano Barberini) and Ken (Karl Zinny).
Other people in attendance are a bitter old couple named Frank (Stelio Candelli) and his wife Ruth (Nicole Tessier), a young non-bitter couple of Tommy (Guido Baldi) and Hannah (Fiore Argento), a blind man named Werner (Alex Serra), and his seeing-eye daughter, Liz (Enrica Maria Scrivero). Then there’s the smoothly-dressed pimp Tony (Bobby Rhodes), and his two ho–uh…HOPEFUL ladies in waiting, Rosemary (Geretta Geretta) and Carmen (Fabiola Toledo).
In the lobby of the theater, Rosemary sees a cool-looking prop demon mask on display and puts it on without asking permission from anyone. The metal mask of evil leaves a small cut on her cheek, but it’s nothing that will end her career. That’s until the movie starts.
In this film within our film, a group of fellow dumb twentysomethings come up to the ruins of an old castle rumored to be the final resting place of the great prophet Nostradamus. One of them finds a demon mask identical to the one in the lobby, and it cuts his face when he tries to wear it.
Upon seeing this, Rosemary’s cheek begins to throb and she bolts to the bathroom just in time to turn into a demon (mirroring the character’s transformation in the movie). Carmen goes to check on Rosemary and gets mauled for her troubles. Afterward, Carmen crashes through the screen just as the possessed character in the movie whacks one of his friends, and that’s when the real killing begins.
It’s pretty much like the last movie. A possessed person attacks someone, they get possessed and attack someone – rinse and repeat. Only this one has cooler effects, better kills, WAY better music, and it’s in a movie theater, not a funeral parlor!
This movie is an Italian release, despite the fact it takes place in Germany, and it was filmed in Germany, but you didn’t see nothin’ here. Grab a ticket to Demons over on TUBI, and tell ‘em no one sent you. Capeesh? OH, here’s the friggin’ trailer!
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