Nick Duguay
Better than the first one by a hair but I'm still not a huge fan of the gratuitous 'action' sequences which are even MORE rampant in the sequel, so i'm giving it the same rating. This actually has more elements to the story and it's less confusing and jarring. I really enjoy the atmosphere at the beginning of the film. If you've seen the first and liked it be sure to watch this one as well, because although i wasn't the hugest fan of Demoni I definitely had a fun time with this.
bowmanblue
Yes, sequels get a rough ride. They never seem to live up to the original and in horror movies that's truer than most. However, the imaginatively-titled 'Demons 2' seems to be just as good is its predecessor – largely because it's the same film. The first film was about a group of unfortunate people trapped in a haunted building that was slowly being overrun by bloodthirsty demons (who are basically zombies by another name). Here, we have a group of unfortunates trapped in a haunted building that is slowly being overrun by bloodthirsty demons. In fact, many people seem to wonder whether this is actually a remake rather than a sequel.It's kind of both, in the same way that Evil Dead 2 was basically a remake that had been re-done and extended to make it a new film of its own. The events of the first Demons film are pretty much glossed over to the point where it's just a brief one-line mention which can be taken different ways. What you're left with is another gore-fest of excellent special effects (for the eighties, anyway), pretty scary demons (they out-creep any shuffling zombie in my opinion) and a completely nonsensical plot which will leave you scratching your head as to whether what you're witnessing is either true genius or a complete mess.Demons 2, like the first one, is a masterpiece of its genre. You may find it one of those 'so bad, it's good' films, but it's also got its own charm. The gore is better than most of its contemporaries and it's daft feel and loud eighties rock music give it a look and feel of its own (unless you count the first film, obviously). Plus Bobby Rhodes returns and the film is all the better for it. It's a shame he couldn't headline the film as he steals every scene he's in as the manic gym instructor! If you've seen the first film, what you'll get is a re-tread, but, if you enjoyed the first outing, you shouldn't mind. If you haven't seen the original, don't worry – you'll soon pick up what little 'plot' is required to understand this. Do you like daft eighties horror? Do you like zombies? If so… give this one a watch, just get your mind in for something that doesn't always make sense and try not to pick too many holes in the story. I swear that demon child only wanted a cuddle.
happyendingrocks
This relentlessly absurd follow-up to Lamberto Bava's solid cult classic certainly doesn't boast as many top-shelf gross-out moments as the original, but if you're in the mood for a mindless blood-fest with loads of unintentional comedy, there's plenty of fun to be had here.The action unfolds inside a swanky high-rise apartment complex, in which seemingly every tenant in the building is raptly watching a docu-film about the aftermath of the monstrous infestation we saw in the first Demons. The broadcast portrays four overzealous youths trudging deep within the "forbidden zone" to document the macabre remnants, and when they stumble across the body of a demon, they inadvertently awaken it when a member of the group drips their blood onto the creature's fossilized lips.After dispatching its unwitting discoverers, the monster somehow pushes its way through the television screen and into the apartment of one of the people watching the show: unlucky tenant Sally, who quickly finds herself transformed into a lady demon. Once she's finished slaughtering a roomful of friends on hand to celebrate her birthday, she begins oozing acidic blood, which melts through the floor into the apartments below hers, infecting all who come in contact with it and triggering a full-on demon uprising.The film then basically jumps back into the dynamic of the first movie, with creatures prowling their way through the building attacking everyone they find, and the panicked prey (who are trapped inside the complex because of a power outage, which makes all of the exit doors impossible to open for some reason) fighting back any way they can. This sense of deja vu is bolstered by the presence of Bobby Rhodes, who also appeared in the original Demons, and even though he's playing a completely different character this time out, his function and actions as the order-barking de facto leader in Demons 2 are nearly identical to what we saw him do the first time the creatures struck.If you still intend to take this movie seriously after reading my brief plot synopsis, good luck trying because the whole film is pretty much wall-to-wall silliness. Some of the highlights include a group of heavily-oiled shirtless bodybuilders in uncomfortably skimpy shorts who combat the demons by throwing barbells at them, and a pint-sized child demon whose stomach inexplicably hatches a rubber puppet that looks like it was borrowed from one of the Ghoulies sequels.I'm not sure if it's the screenplay or the dubbing that is responsible for the often perplexing dialogue, but there are some real obtuse gems here, my favorite being the touching moment when lead protagonist George assures his pregnant wife Hannah, "don't worry, I won't leave you two alone," and then bounds down several flights of stairs while she remains behind, by herself, in a darkened hallway. George reinforces his action hero acumen toward the end of the film, when he forces his long-suffering lady to ride on his back while he takes hold of a rope attached to a grappling hook and rappels down the side of the apartment building (a healthy form of exercise for a woman about to have a baby, obviously).The action-packed showdown between the demons and the crew led by Rhodes in the building's subterranean parking garage is particularly mirthful, and I can't remember ever seeing a group of bloodthirsty creatures this limber and acrobatic in my life. These demons are a great match for the gym rats and aerobics babes they're up against, executing full-on flips off of car roofs and somersaulting over walls of fire to converge upon their victims.Most of the creature make-up is as ghastly and effective as it was in the first Demons, but the more elaborate FX set-pieces are largely cheesy and hilarious, such as the aforementioned plastic tummy demon and the lime-green-painted mannequin which is tossed off the roof to simulate a demon falling to its death.The baffling finale finds George and Hannah escaping to a television studio, where Hannah impressively gives birth without a drop of blood being spilled, and after a pretty anticlimactic final confrontation the film sort of just ends, leaving several plot threads hanging unresolved. We never really find out who survived the parking garage showdown, and a few other ancillary characters drop off the face of the earth as well. Most glaringly, extended portions of the movie follow a group of punk rockers racing through the city to attend Sally's birthday party, which results in them getting into a car accident near the apartment building. After they crash, the members of the injured cohort stumble out of their car, where they are greeted by another minor character who has been waiting out front for them to arrive. After this quintet is united, we never see any of them again, and the mystery of why 10 minutes of the run-time was centered around this subplot goes unsolved.Clearly, this isn't mandatory viewing by any stretch of the imagination, but Demons 2 makes up for its general ineptness and lack of coherence by offering a healthy dose of gross, goofy fun. In this case, that's good enough for me.
Michael_Elliott
Demons 2 (1986)** (out of 4) More demons are unleashed and this time it's the tenants of an apartment building who find themselves being clawed apart in Lamberto Bava's follow-up to his 1985 gore classic.DEMONS 2 has a lot of the crew of the previous film but sadly it just doesn't work as well. I've always thought that DEMONS was one of the best Italian gore movies ever made as the special effects were terrific and there was just so much goo and gore that you couldn't help but love it. This film here offers up perhaps more gore but it really doesn't help things because in the end this just feels like a lazy attempt to make money.Obviously the filmmakers knew the first film worked well so they just tried to capture it's success. The two plots are pretty much the same with this one here really not trying to do anything new or original. The biggest problem is that all the characters here are pretty poorly written and you don't care what happens to any of them. The performances are what you'd expect but it was nice seeing a young Asia Argento.As far as the gore goes, it's the film's only saving grace. There are some great gore shots and the transformation scenes are also pretty good. Trying to top the original we're given a child demon as well as a pretty effective sequence where a dog turns into one. Sadly, these scenes aren't enough to completely save DEMONS 2 but gore hounds will still want to check it out.
