Demons 2 (AKA Demoni 2,Damonen and Demoni 2: L'incubo ritorna)
Directed by Lamberto Bava
Written and produced by Dario Argento
Italy, 1986
“The nightmare returns”
More of a remake than a follow up from Lamberto Bava who also directed the original. Its a formula Sam Raimi used with ‘Evil Dead’ except Raimi succeeded with his sequel in delivering an entertaining film. Demons 2 on the other hand is a shameful follow up to Demons and why Bava ever got the idea to make this unnecessary sequel is beyond me. Demons 2 is unworthy of re-release by Anchor Bay even if it is uncut, remastered, wide-screen and with a trailer at the closing. The original was an innovative spin on the zombie movie except the demons were a lot quicker and menacing in dispatching victims. ‘Demons’ made use of a great idea by putting unsuspecting victims in a movie theater where the terrifying events on the screen become a reality for the theater patrons. The movie goers are forced to fight for their lives against the demons unless they are killed and become a demon themselves. The originals idea wasn’t a breakthrough for horror movies but the simple formula worked, it was anything but logical but it worked.
In Demons 2 a state of the art apartment complex is the setting. A movie on TV sparks off a supernatural force which unleashes a demon and the cycle begins. Eventually the whole building is crawling with demons and the survivors are few. Demons 2 uses every idea disposable which was used in the original. Tough guy Bobby Rhodes returns in a much similar role as he had in the first. With Demons 2 Bava seemed to be making an attempt on delivering a social commentary. In this case it revolves around society and how we’ve become dependent on technology and when it shuts down we are helpless. Security issues seemed to be prevalent as well, the fact the human race goes to great lengths to protect ourselves but what happens when all of this backfires against us? Finally, TV seems to be another issue since a movie on TV is the spawn of the demon attack and the conclusion occurs in a television studio.
Demons was much better and it didn’t have a message, it was a fun horror movie with some great gore. Demons 2 looks great production wise with a clearly 80's soundtrack featuring The Smiths, The Cure and Billy Joel. It also has some very nice special effects but it falls flat in delivery, you’d expect a big budget Italian production to deliver some excellent material. Logic never mattered much when it came to horror movies but in Demons 2 the power and phones go out in the whole apartment building meanwhile a mother calls to check on her son who she has left alone in the building and the phone works! Another instance has a decorative neon sign in the building still glowing and its shown regularly! Absence of logic is one thing but at least use some common sense please, hehehehe. The ideas just aren’t there with Demons 2, plain and simple, its cliché ridden and an unenjoyable bad movie as opposed to an enjoyable bad movie.
