Demons 2 (1986)


Lamberto Bava had some big shoes to fill and, honestly, never had quite the talent his father did.  He did manage one cult horror masterpiece with Demons, which featured a theater, and then an entire city, being possessed by the minions of hell.  It had inventive kill scenes, lots of blood and a great heavy metal soundtrack.  It was the type of movie that really can only be done once.  Unfortunately, Bava and co-writer and producer Dario Argento decided to give it a second try. 

This time a number of people are going about their business in a high-rise apartment building.  Sally Day (Carolina Cataldi-Tassoni) is celebrating her birthday by treating her guests like garbage and moping in her room.  George (David Edwin Knight) and his pregnant wife Hannah (Nancy Brilli) are settling in for the night before George takes his physics exam.  Mary (Virginia Bryant) is servicing a client (Michele Mirabella), and Tommy (Marco Vivio) has been left at home while his parents enjoy a night out.  Hank (Bobby Rhodes) is running his fitness program in the gym.  On television is a documentary about four young people who entered the Forbidden Zone, the portion of the city that was closed due to the previous demon outbreak. 

The characters on television predictably reawaken one of the demons, but instead of pursuing the intruders it comes through the television and attacks Sally, who soon changes and attacks her guests.  They go on to run amok throughout the apartment complex, using their acidic blood to shut down the electronics and their supernatural abilities to trap their victims.  George and Hannah soon plan a treacherous escape from the building, while Hank and the rest of the tenants make a perilous last stand in the basement parking garage. 

Bava and Argento made a wise choice in the first film to concentrate most of the action inside the movie theater, alluding to the full demon invasion to make the movie look bigger than it was.  his time around it is largely contained to the apartment block, but the problem is that no main characters really pop up until the end with George and Hannah.  The only other main character, Sally, is unlikeable when human and spends the rest of the movie leading the demons.  I often like movies where random stuff just happens, and there is plenty here that is entertaining, but Demons 2 is often too random for its own good and fails to give us characters to focus on.  This results in there rarely being any tension, save when Hannah is under attack and a demon manifests itself in its true form. 

It seems like the point of Demons 2 was less to tell a continuing story from the first movie and more to show off special effects work.  The effects department was lead by Danilo Bollettini, and most of them work, from the first zombie coming alive to the dog creature.  The actual demon puppet itself is like a less mobile Gremlin, but it is a functional little monster.  Sally's initial transformation, with her teeth being pushed out by the demon fangs, works well.  Too bad that by the time anyone is in full demon makeup the green face paint is not so convincing.  

The scenes in the parking garage with Hank and his students rallying the rest of the tenants against the demon horde is unquestionably the best, and most exciting, part of the movie.  Much of the rest is forgettable and once again proves that sometimes it's best to just leave the original movie alone.  

Demons 2 (1986)
Time: 92 minutes
Starring: David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Bobby Rhodes
Director: Lamberto Bava 



 

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