‘Demons’ is gross … plain and simple

The gross-out effects of Demons, Lamberto Bava’s festival of gore and guts, are so well executed that they make the movie a numbing experience. It is arguably the grossest movie of all time. I’m sure that’s a winning endorsement for Bava and horrormeister Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay. But for the average moviegoer, Demons is far too graphic to elicit any type of charm or thrills.

Set within the confines of a West Berlin movie theater, the Italian-produced movie has perhaps the simplest of plots: A group of people have come together to watch a screening of a new horror movie. While enjoying their popcorn and the various frights on the screen, a demonic presence descends upon the movie theater and all hell breaks loose. One after another the so-called demons begin wreaking havoc. After characters are attacked (usually through biting with rancid teeth), they become demons.

As the numbers begin to dwindle, it becomes apparent that Demons is simply a none-too-successful ripoff of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. The title may say Demons, but the villains are pretty much fast-moving zombies.

The acting is uniformly bad, and the dubbing on the American DVD is fairly atrocious (the actors mostly speak Italian in the original). Worst of all is the blaring 1980s soundtrack, with its cringe-inducing reliance on crappy heavy metal.

Bava is obviously a talented filmmaker, because although Demons proves to be an unwatchable film, it’s actually made fairly well. If the subject matter focused more on story than cheap thrills, it may rank as a serviceable entry in the horror cannon.

But, unfortunately, it’s just too gross.

• Demons (also known as Demoni)

• 1985

• Directed by Lamberto Bava

• Written by Bava, Dario Argento and Franco Ferrini

• Starring Urbano Barberini, Nathasha Hovey and Geretta Geretta

• Running time: 88 minutes

• Rating:
  

• Click here to purchase Demons on DVD.