Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Demons Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 16, 2018

Jess Franco's "The Demons" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label Nucleus Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an English-language version of the film; vintage trailers; exclusive new video interview with author and film historian Stephen Thrower; archival interview with Jess Franco; and more. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Is it possible that Ken Russell’s The Devils might have inspired Jess Franco to shoot The Demons? Yes, it is, but if it was indeed the case, it hardly matters. Why? Because excluding a few very small early projects in Franco’s body of work the subject matter has an entirely different function. Essentially, whatever the chosen subject matter might be Franco uses it only as the starting point for the creation of a unique ambience that would provide his film with its direction and identity. The exact opposite process occurs in mainstream films as the subject matter basically determines everything else (the visual style, ambience, the scoring, etc).

A woman who has been accused of being a witch is burning alive at the stake. Moments before she dies, she curses the witchfinder and his trusted assistants. Some years later, it seems like the curse is already doing the intended damage as the witchfinder Lord Justice Jeffries (Cihangir Gaffari) and his twisted accomplices Lady De Winter (Karin Field) and priest Thomas Renfield (Alberto Dalbes) are beginning to lose control of their emotions and in the process badly compromising themselves. Their fate is sealed when Lady De Winter decides to meet Sister Margaret (Britt Nichols) who may have been possessed by the Devil. Finding great pleasure in destroying the evil in such young and beautiful creatures like Margaret, Lady De Winter then quickly arranges that she is examined by Lord Justice Jeffries and she is promptly declared a witch. Around the same time Margaret’s sister, Sister Kathleen (Anne Libert), experiences Satanic visions, and then rumors emerge that the two women might be the daughters of the same witch that years ago cursed her executioners. A series of wild events then expose the executioners as hypocrites and lead to their demise.

As suggested above the main story that emerges from The Demons is hardly exciting or original, which is that the whole witchhunting business was a façade for some very twisted characters to basically get their fix. Now, there are a few segments where it may appear that Franco is genuinely interested in exploring their psyche, but his one and only intent with The Demons is to recreate as best as he can the ambience of the period in which they existed. Understandably, the focus of attention is on the unique tests that were performed to determine if a woman might have been transformed into a witch, the elaborate tortures that were then used to get the target to confess that she is a witch, and the erotic games that reveal the sickness of the supposedly morally superior executioners. So the bulk of this film has a lot of graphic content and very little, if any, serious character development.

Depending on who you ask all of the above either makes or brakes The Demons because the shift toward the various rituals and erotic games immediately affects its rhythm. So on one hand Franco places the viewer right in the middle of his personal interpretation of the madness, but on the other hand he practically eliminates all viable opportunities for the viewer to embrace any of the main characters. The trade-off isn’t unavoidable, but it is probably the only way to make a film about witchhunting look somewhat legit.

*Nucleus Films’ recent Blu-ray release contains two versions of the film: The longer and more explicit French Version, which is approximately 119 minutes long (01:58:04), and the shorter English-language Version, which is approximately 89 minutes long (01:28:06). The French Version is very clearly superior.

The Demons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.25:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jess Franco's The Demons arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Nucleus Films.

The release is sourced from the same remaster that the Redemption label worked with when it prepared the U.S. Blu-ray release of The Demons. (However, this release also has the shorter English-language Version included as a bonus).

There are some fluctuations in terms of density and delineation that an elaborate restoration would have eliminated, but the film has an overall organic appearance that I prefer next to the filtered new masters that were used for bigger Jess Franco films like The Girl From Rio and Eugenie. Ideally color saturation and balance should be better as well, though the current values and balance are still quite pleasing. Grain is not as well exposed as it should be, which is why the film can appear a tad soft at times, but there are no awkward anomalies of the type that wild digital tinkering typically introduces. Image stability is good. Finally, there are no large damage marks or torn frames, but some white flecks, tiny scratches, and blemishes remain. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Demons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release French LPCM 2.0 (Dual Mono) and French DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the film with the Dual Mono track and liked it quite a lot because it handles the retro score a bit better and adds more flavor to the visual experience. Clarity and stability are very good. There are a few areas where some minor work can be done to clean up the high-frequencies even better, but there are no distracting age-related imperfections.

The Demons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• English Version - presented here is the shorter English-language Version of the film. In English, not subtitled. (89 min./Dolby Digital 2.0/1080p).

• Exorcising Demons - in this program, author and film historian Stephen Thrower discusses the production history of Jess Franco's The Demons as well his style and atmosphere. The program was produced exclusively for Nucleus Films in 2017. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Jess' Demons - in this archival video interview, the late director recalls how The Demons was conceived and explains in typical Franco-esque fashion why the film did not turned out to be as good as it should have been. In English, with imposed English subtitles. (17 min).

• Trailers - presented here are four vintage trailers for The Demons
  
  1. American Trailer
  2. German Theatrical Trailer
  3. German Re-release Trailer
  4. French Silent Trailer

• Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for The Demons from around the world. With music. (7 min).

• Trims - presented here is a collection of trims that were supposed to be used for the creation of a trailer for The Demons. There is no surviving audio for these trims. Remastered. Silent. (7 min).

• Clean Credits - With music. (2 min).

• German Credits - With music. (2 min).

The Demons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am very much looking forward to Nucleus Films' future Blu-ray output because during the DVD era the folks that run this label created some truly wonderful releases for various cult and genre films. (For reference, they released on DVD Just Jaeckin's Gwendoline and Mañuel Gómez Pereira's Between Your Legs, and through their genre arm Naughty gems like Jean-Claude Roy's Scandalous Photos and Donovan Winter's Some Like It Sexy). The label's first Blu-ray release is Jess Franco's The Demons, a graphic yet very atmospheric film, and judging by the technical presentation and good selection of bonus features, I feel very confident that in 2018 we will see some very special treats. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.