Demons 2

While I’m not a fan of Lamberto Bava’s directing style in general (indeed, anyone who read my Shock review knows I view his first film hidden under his father’s name as just horrid), I will give credit where credit’s due. Demons 1 & 2 are both pretty damn good movies, both filled with enough of the things you generally love about horror movies to keep you entertained throughout.

I won’t get into the plot of the first film except to say that it basically played like a zombie movie but with demons. It works the same here too, with one of the main differences being that, instead of a movie theater for the main locale, we are now in a high rise apartment building. This affords the film a number of fun new things to add to the mix, like a birthday party scene that has gotten a lot of attention from fans and critics for being totally awesome as the birthday girl begins to change while trying to blow out her candles.

Here’s the thing about that scene, and the movie in general: while I said earlier that these demons act like zombies, in that if you get attacked by one (not necessarily bitten, a scratch will do) you’ll turn into one, they are a lot rougher than any zombies you’ll find. They run around, use weapons, climb ropes, and at one point one actually works up enough momentum to dive over a freaking car to get at someone. Add to this the one scratch=doom equation and you know the people in this movie are in serious trouble. Even when they all start to rally in the garage and begin fortifying their position, the simple fact of the ease with which they can be infected means that the tide of battle can change at a moment’s notice. It creates a good amount of added tension that one normally doesn’t get from these types of movies.

While there’s not too much of a plot, as could probably have been expected, and while it’s not quite as good as the original, it’s still pretty damn good. Anyone who gets a fond smile on their face when they hear the names Sam Raimi or Stuart Gordon would do well to pick this up.

Rating: ***