Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Demons Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 16, 2012

Italian director Lamberto Bava's "Demoni" a.k.a. "Demons" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video. The supplemental features on the disc include audio commentary with director Lamberto Bava and special effects guru Sergio Stivaletti; second audio commentary with director Lamberto Bava, actress Geretta Geretta, composer Claudio Simonetti, and special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti; video interview with Italian director Dario Argento; video interview with composer Claudio Simonetti; and a featurette with Italian director, writer and producer Luigi Cozzi. The release also comes with four-option reversible sleeve with original poster and video artwork with additional fifth artwork panel featuring all-new Jeff Zornow artwork; double-sided fold-out poster; collector's booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by Calum Wadell; and more. Region-B "locked".

One hell of a theater

Early into the film, a young and very beautiful girl (Natasha Hovey) is approached by a man with a metal mask covering a portion of his face. He hands her a flyer about an upcoming show at the newly opened Metropol Theater. The girl looks so innocent and so naïve that we immediately realize that she will become a target. These types of girls always do – at least in horror films. Shortly after, a second girl (Paola Cozzo) appears. She is just as beautiful and just as naïve. They talk and agree to visit the Metropol Theater because tonight they have nothing else to do.

As the girls enter the theater, the camera zooms around and we see the other folks who have come to see the show. There are two very handsome guys obviously looking to meet single girls, a stylishly dressed man chewing a bubble gum with two rather provocatively dressed women, a married couple, and some movie geeks.

In the theater’s lobby there is a bike with a samurai holding a silver mask. One of the two women with the stylishly dressed man puts it on and cuts herself. It is a very small cut, nothing to worry about. Then everyone enters and the show begins – a horror film about demons on the loose.

Soon after, the woman with the cut goes to the restroom and becomes a demon. Her girlfriend comes looking for her, but gets bitten and also becomes a demon. They go back in and begin biting anything that moves. For a while, the audience can’t figure out what is going on as the screams from the film and those of the people dying in the back get mixed up.

The plot of Lamberto Bava’s Demons is indeed quite silly. Unsurprisingly, there is nothing really terribly exciting about it – unless you like gore. If you do, this is a film you don’t want to miss as some of the killings are indeed quite graphic, though the plastic dummies that are used throughout the film are pretty bad. From time to time the red and green paint (for some reason a lot of the demons have some green stuff coming out of their mouths) they are covered with, however, makes them look appropriately repulsive.

The acting is a mixed bag, with a number of the more interesting characters looking notably stiff in front of the camera. There is a lot of screaming and growling. There are prenty of pretty bad lines that are uttered as well. In fact, some of them are so bad that decent portions of the film actually look quite funny.

The editing, however, is surprisingly good. Once the carnage begins, there is a steady rhythm. There is also a good balance between the close-ups and the wider shots that show the mayhem inside the theater. The editing was done by Piero Bozza (assistant editor on George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead and Dario Argento’s Suspiria and Tenebre).

Demons also has a cracking soundtrack featuring tracks by such rock legends as Accept ("Fast As A Shark"), Motley Crue ("Save Our Souls"), Billy Idol ("White Wedding"), Saxon, and Scoprions. The original music for Demons was composed by veteran Brazilian composer Claudio Simonetti (Dario Argento’s Opera, Tenebre, Deep Red).

Note: In 1986, Demons was nominated for International Fantasy Film Award for Best Film at Fantasporto.

Demons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lamberto Bava's Demons arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video.

The film looks quite impressive on Blu-ray. Even though a very large portion of it takes place inside the dark movie theater, detail and clarity are indeed very good. Depth is also consistently pleasing, with most close-ups where there is a sufficient amount of light looking terrific (see screencapture #11). Color reproduction is solid - there is a wide range of warm and very natural colors. Problematic denoising corrections have not been performed. There are no traces of post-production sharpening adjustments either. There are no serious compression issues. All in all, the high-definition transfer, which appears to have been struck from a very recent master produced from a new scan, is one of the best I have seen for an Italian horror film in Arrow's catalog. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Demons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. For the record, Arrow Video have provided optional English SDH subtitles with the English track and English subtitles with the Italian track.

The lossless English track delivers a degree of dynamic intensity that serves the film very well. Claudio Simonetti's soundtrack, in particular, gets a very strong boost. There are also clips from various heavy metal tracks by such legendary bands as Accept, Saxon, and Motleuy Crue, as well as rock legend Billy Idol, that clearly benefit from the improved fidelity. Occasionally some very small sync issues are noticeable, but this should not be surprising as post dubbing was done for the final English audio track. The dialog is crisp, stable, clean, and very easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Demons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - director Lamberto Bava and special effects guru Sergio Stivaletti discuss how Demons came to exist, Dario Argento's support for the project (the prolific Italian director produced the film), the specific locations where select sequences were shot, the special effects used in the film, etc. Also contributing to the commentary is journalist Loris Curci. In English, not subtitled.

• Commentary - second audio commentary with director Lamberto Bava, actress Geretta Geretta (who plays Rosemary in the film), composer Claudio Simonetti, special effects artist Sergio Stivaletti, and a couple of journalists. This commentary is comprised mostly of recollections about select sequences, locations, special effects, Dario Argento's involvement with the film, the soundtrack, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2011. In Italian, with optional English subtitles.

• Dario's Demon Origins - in this video interview, Italian director Dario Argento, who co-wrote and produced Demons, recalls his interactions with director Lamberto Bava before and during the shooting of the film. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (11 min).

• Defining an Era in Music - in this video interview, composer Claudio Simonetti discusses the music of Demons, its style (influenced by late '80s electronica), the film's visual style, etc. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Luigi Cozzi's Top Horror Films - in this featurette, Italian director, writer and producer Luigi Cozzi (Contamination) discusses some of the most prominent Italian horror and giallo films. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (12 min).

• Booklet/Poster/Artwork -
  
  - Four option reversible sleeve with original poster and video artwork with additional fifth artwork panel featuring all-new Jeff Zornow artwork
  - Double-sided fold-out poster
  - Collector's Booklet featuring brand new writing on Demons by Calum Wadell
  - Collector's Comic: 'Demons 3' Part 1 of 21 Not 'The Ogre'. Not 'The Church'. Not even 'Black Demons'! Arrow Video presents an original sequel to the cult classics.

Demons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you enjoy horror/splatter films, then you do not want to miss Arrow Video's release of Lamberto Bava's cult film Demons. It delivers just about everything these types of films are supposed to deliver. More importantly, it has been recently restored from the original camera negative by Cineteca di Bologna and looks very good on Blu-ray. If your reside in a Region-A territory, please keep in mind that this is a Region-B "locked" release. RECOMMENDED.