DEMONS (1985)
Standard 4K Ultra HD
DEMONS II (1986)
Standard 4K UHD
It's starting to look like like Demons I & II films are Synapse Film's version of what the Evil Dead franchise was to Anchor Bay and now Lionsgate, and I say that in a loving way, because I have owned at one time or another every fucking version of the Evil Dead trilogy, and now Demons and Demons II, on every digital home video format since VHS, and I was pleased as punch to buy every one of 'em! Now here we are with a pair of standalone 4K UHD releases, which is the first time they've offered them on 4K UHD as separate releases, previously available in a now OOP Special Limited Edition 4K UHD set with both films.
DEMONS (1985)
Label: Synapse Films
Duration: 91 Minutes
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Audio: English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 Surround, English DTS-HD MA English 2.0 U.S. Theatrical Mono Audio with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Lamberto Bava
Cast: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Geretta Geretta, Bobby Rhodes
In the splatter-tastic Italian horror Demons (1985), directed by Lamberto Bava (A Blade in the Dark), a young woman named Cheryl (Natasha Hovey) is approached by a menacing looking guy (Michele Soavi, City of the Living Dead) wearing a metal mask in the Berlin subway, alarmed by his appearance she attempts flee but it turns out he's only trying to give her free passes to a invite-only movie screening at the Metropol Cinema. That night she is joined by her friend Kathy (Paola Cozzo, Demonia) to the screening where they meet two young flirtatious men; George (Urbano Barberini, The Black Cat) and Ken (Karl Zinny, Delirium).
Also in attendance are a bad-ass pimp (Bobby Rhodes, Demons 2) named Tony and two of his prostitutes, one of which is named Rosemary, played by Garetta Garetta (Rats: Night of Terror). In the lobby of the theater there is a movie prop of a samurai riding a motorcycle wielding a samurai sword and wearing creepy kabuki-style metal mask, not dissimilar to the one the guy handing out the free tickets was wearing. Rosemary pulls the mask off the mannequin and wears it for a second as a lark, but when taking it off it scratches her slightly on her face, drawing blood. I love it when the pimps reprimands here with "That's what you get for touching stuff"!, and the English-dubbing of the pimp is awesome.
As the movie begins we see that movie they're attending is a demonic horror film involving a group of teens and the prophecies of Nostradamus. It's a fun movie-with-a-movie device, as the story line in the movie unfolds on screen it seems to mirror what is happening in the theater at the same time. The hooker that was scratched by the mask starts to feel ill and heads to the bathroom where she discovers the scratch has become grotesquely infected, the pulsating boil erupts in a spray of demonic green jizz as she transforms into a gnarly toothed, green slime drooling demon with a fierce set of claws.
As the movie goers slowly become aware that something terrifying is happening in the theater they're helpless to escape as the doors have been barred. The pimp Tony takes charge of the situation, hollering a barrage of quotable gems as they attempt to thwart the demonic siege that is well underway. The gruesome make-up effects from Sergio Stivaletti (Cemetery Man) are plenty of fun with loads of torn flesh and gouged-eyes with an excess of blood and gore. A scene of a demon being birthed from the back of one of the infected is quite violent and fun - definitely a film that does not disappoint with a steady barrage of squirm inducing practical in-camera special effects. I also loved seeing Nicoletta Elmi, the creepy girl from The Night Child, show up here as Ingrid the movie usher!
Demons is directed by Lamberto Bava (A Blade in the Dark) and produced and co-written by Dario Argento (Four Flies On Grey Velvet) and the great Italian screenwriter Dardano Sachetti (The Beyond). The film has a distinct Argento flavor about it with some great moody lighting and stylistic choices - this is a very vibrant film with some fantastic colors throughout. Away from the Argento influence it should be noted that Bava (son of the legendary Mario Bava, A Bay of Blood) is quite a good director in his own right with the films A Blade In The Dark (1983) and Macabre (1980) under his belt, that said it's the Demons movies he's probably most known for but I recommend digging into his other films to discover a few fun late-era Giallo entries.
The film has a few storytelling hiccups along the way such as the introduction of a group of coked-up punk rockers forty-minutes into the film whom add very little to the story other than some appreciated nudity. At times it does feel like a series of gore skits patched together and the pacing suffers at points, but not enough to suck out the fun, because this is a party movie, a blast from start to finish. The onscreen action comes at you fast and furious with a fun sword-swinging spin on a motorcycle through the theater and a helicopter which crashes through the ceiling of the theater all set to a fun metal-infused soundtrack, this is a damn fun party film with an apocalyptic ending.
Demons (1985) is a classic Italian splatter film and a Hell of a fun watch, while it can be a bit disjointed at times - like so many Italian horror films, but it earns high marks for the sweet gore and fist-pumping metal soundtrack. Demons is right up there with The Return of the Living Dead and Trick Or Treat as a horror flick with a terrific soundtrack, it never fails to deliver the demonic goods, and is easily one of my favorite Italian splatter-platters of the 80's.
DEMONS 2 (1986)
Label: Synapse Films
Duration: 89 Minutes
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Audio: English or Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 Surround, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 True Stereo Theatrical Mix with Optional English SDH Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Lamberto Bava
Cast: David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Asia Argento
At the start of the sequel the demonic plague unleashed in the first film bleeds over into the confines of high rise when a sad birthday girl is infected by her TV screen in a scene lifted straight outta David Cronenberg's Videodrome. Now transformed into a snarling, blood-spewing demon she attacks her party guests and more demonic mayhem ensues.
We have a nice change of venue as we go from the cinema of the first film to a high rise, which sort of brought to mind Cronenberg's Shivers. Another nice change is that the demonic possession is initially transferred via the medium of a TV screen and not a movie screen or the demonic metal mask from the first film. It's definitely a sequel that takes the Gremlins 2 approach of throwing everything and the kitchen sink into the sequel with the wonderful additions of demonic dog, Alien-esque acidic blood and a demonic child that all add new levels of absurd intensity to the demonic onslaught.
There are also quite a few nods to the original, I appreciated that they brought back badass Bobby Rhodes (The Great Alligator) who played the pimp in the first film, this time as an ass-kicking gym instructor who leads a group of shirtless muscle heads and leg warmer wearing foxy ladies who find themselves trapped in the parking garage up against a horde of the demon-possessed, but sadly he meets a nut-shredding fate.
I loved the make-up effects of the demons in this sequel even more than the first film. I don't recall the demons in the first film spewing so much blood from their face, in fact some of the blood is acidic and eats through the floor and into the level below, some of which is lapped up by a cute dog who transforms into a snarling demon-beast. Plus we have an infected child thrown into the mix who torments an expectant mother before dying, at which time a winged baby demon is spawned from it's corpse!
The most memorable demon after the child is that of the sad birthday gal named Sally (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Opera) who is the first to be infected by watching a demon-possession flick on her TV and then further spreads the demonic plague as she tears birthday revelers apart. She gets a sweet transformation scene with the gnarly teeth and claws popping out from her fingertips. A top-notch sequel that amps up the insanity with fun gore gags and a fun soundtrack that changes up the metal soundtrack of the first film with a terrific new-wave flavor featuring the Smiths, the Cult and Peter Murphy among others.
Demons 2 is a fun amped up sequel with nods to Cronenberg's high-rise set parasitic horror Shivers and the mind-bending reality of Videodrome, plus the pint-sized creatures of Gremlins and Alien among others. A bit sillier than the original with a non-stop parade of awesome gore from start to finish, a sequel that in my opinion stands toe-to-toe with the original.
Audio/Video: Both Demons and Demons 2 are presented on separate 4K UHD releases presented in 2160p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen, remastered from the same 4K restorations from the original 35mm camera negatives Synapse released in 2021. For Demons 1 & 2 we get both the full-length original cut in English and Italian, plus the shorter U.S. version of Demons featuring alternate dubbing and sound effects. As stated these are the same gorgeous scans from the OCN released by Synapse in 2021, if you own those there is no need to upgrade unless your a completist, and they they still looks absolutely fantastic. The 4K UHD offering an appreciable uptick in quality over the still quite solid Blu-ray counterparts with tighter looking grain and clarity throughout fine details are enhanced by the 4K resolution and the Dolby Vision (HDR10) color-grading offers deeper and richer primaries, and as I said this is a very colorful film so it pays off, also deepening black levels and improving contrast. The Blu-ray edition looks terrific, but the 4K UHD is phenomenal.
Audio, for Demons we have an uncompressed English and Italian DTS-HD 2.0 and 5.1 audio mixes on the original cut derived from the archival audio masters, plus English DTS-HD MA 2.0 U.S. theatrical mono audio newly remastered back in 2021 by Synapse Films. Demons 2 has uncompressed DTS-HD MA English 5.1 and Italian 5.1 or 2.0 audio mixes derived from the original archival audio masters, plus uncompressed DTS-HD MA English 2.0 true stereo theatrical mix also remastered in 2021 by Synapse Films. Both films feature newly translated optional English SDH subtitles for the English versions, and newly translated English subtitles for the Italian versions. The audio sounds crisp and dynamic throughout with terrific soundtrack selection, including Motley Crue, Billy Idol and Accept on the first film alongside a fantastic Claudio Simonetti (Goblin), and a more new wave/goth tinged soundtrack on the sequel with choice cuts from Dead Can Dance, The Cult and The Smiths, with a score by Simon Boswell (Hardware).
As with the transfer these releases feature the same set of extras as the previous releases with each film, with the caveat that if you only owned the 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray double-feature release from Synapse that set was a few extras shy compared to the 4K UHD version, and these standalone 4K UHD releases have all the extras.
On the Demons disc we have a brand new Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, co-hosts of the Hell’s Belles podcast, who turn in a top-notch discussion of the splatter-classic, plus we get a new 27-minute visual essay, Produced by Dario Argento, by author and critic Michael Mackenzie exploring Argento's career as a producer. For Demons 2 we get an Audio Commentary by film critic Travis Crawford, and another 27-minute video essay, Together and Apart on the space and technology in Demons and Demons 2 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. Additionally we have hours of archival extras ported over from the previous Synapse steelbook editions.
The separate single-disc standard 4K UHD releases of Demons and Demons 2 arrive in black keepcases with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring botht he original theatrical artwork plus new artworks that mirror the North American VHS designs with a twist, by designer Chris MacGibbon. Inside we get some cool ephemera by way of a reproduction of the original movie ticket from Demons with information about the transfer on the reverse side, plus we get a Demons 2 birthday party invitation with notes about the transfer as well.
Demons Special Features:
- Two versions of the film: the full-length original cut in English and Italian, and the shorter U.S. version featuring alternate dubbing and sound effects
- Uncompressed DTS-HD MA English & Italian 5.1/2.0 audio mixes on the original cut derived from the archival audio masters
- Uncompressed DTS-HD MA English 2.0 U.S. theatrical mono audio newly remastered in 2021 by Synapse Films
- Audio commentary by critics Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, co-hosts of the Hell’s Belles podcast
- Audio commentary with director Lamberto Bava, SPFX artist Sergio Stivaletti, composer Claudio Simonetti and actress Geretta Geretta
- Monstrous Memories: Luigi Cozzi on Demons (29 min) (4K UHD Exclusive)
- Splatter Spaghetti Style: interview with long-time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi, Carnage at the Cinema: Lamberto Bava and His Splatter Masterpiece (34 min) (4K UHD Exclusive)
- Profondo Jones: The Critical Perspective (13 min) (4K UHD Exclusive)
- Produced by Dario Argento: a new visual essay by author and critic Michael Mackenzie exploring the legendary filmmaker’s career as a producer (27 min)
- Dario’s Demon Days: interview with writer/producer Dario Argento (11 min)
- Defining an Era in Music: interview with Claudio Simonetti (9 min)
- Dario and the Demons: Producing Monster Mayhem (16 min)
- Splatter Stunt Rock: interview with Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (9 min)
- Original Italian Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- Original English International Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- U.S. Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- Newly translated optional English SDH subtitles for the English version
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian version
Demons II Special Features:
- Uncompressed DTS-HD MA English 5.1 & Italian 5.1/2.0 audio mixes derived from the original archival audio masters
- Uncompressed DTS-HD MA English 2.0 true stereo theatrical mix remastered in 2021 by Synapse Films
- Audio commentary by film critic Travis Crawford.
- Bava to Bava: interview with Luigi Cozzi on the history of Italian horror, Demonic Influences: Federico Zampaglione Speaks (10 min) (4K UHD Exclusive)
- The New Blood of Italian Horror featuring Sergio Stivaletti (16 min) (4K UHD Exclusive)
- Creating Creature Carnage: interview with Sergio Stivaletti (20 min)
- The ‘Demons’ Generation: Roy Bava discusses a legacy in lacerations (35 min)
- Screaming for a Sequel: The Delirious Legacy of DEMONS 2 with Lamberto Bava (16 min)
- A Soundtrack for Splatter: interview with composer Simon Boswell (27 min)
- Together and Apart: Visual essay on the space and technology in DEMONS and DEMONS 2 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (27 min)
- Original Italian Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- Original English Theatrical Trailer (3 min)
- Newly translated optional English SDH subtitles for the English version
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian version
Buy It!
Demons 4K UHD
Demon II 4K UHD