If you didn’t like Demons, Lamberto Bava’s horror film about clawed creatures attacking people in a movie theater, then you’re not going to like Demons 2, plain and simple. Demons 2 has the same format as the original, and Bava changes the formula very little throughout this sequel outing. The lead-up is slow and plodding, the dance grooves are still here in the form of The Smiths, The Cult, and Art of Noise, and the characters are just as scattered and unfocused. For those that loved Bava’s cheesy foray into zombie-like territory, though, Demons 2 amps up the corniness tenfold with even more weird happenings, this time in an apartment complex.
Like Demons, Bava starts the film the night of the demon attack, choosing to splinter his focus to a group of people living in the building. Sally (Coralina Cataldi Tassoni) is having a birthday party at her apartment, a night to herself with her friends; a little boy is left alone in his apartment watching a meta film about demons; George (David Knight) and Hannah (Nancy Brilli) want to have a nice quiet dinner alone while discussing their future child; and Hank (Bobby Rhodes) has a bunch of people in the gym pumping iron and sweating gross amounts. All of this is about to change, though, once Sally watches the demon movie on the TV to its conclusion, because the demon steps out of the TV and claws her!
Bava is still working with meta themes in Demons 2, especially with television and movies. There’s a sense that he’s using TV as a metaphor for danger and violence, that the horrors that we watch can sometimes step out of the fictional world and into the real one. However, once the demons do make their way into the real world, that theme is lost since Bava never really returns to the idea of televisions until the final scene. Instead, Demons 2 is more about doing new things to the people trapped in the apartment complex, stuff that Bava wasn’t able to do in the first film.
But Demons 2 is significantly lacking a defining storyline. The focus is all over the place, especially in the first half hour or so. Bava jumps from the birthday party to George and Hannah to a man soliciting a prostitute, never really cementing what Demons 2 wants its focal point to be. George and Hannah do get most of the screentime, but when Bava switches unnecessarily to punks driving to the apartment complex only to have them crash just outside, it feels like a waste of time. Sure, it’s to circumvent those expectations from the last film – in that one, the punks were a big part of the story – but at the same time, Demons 2 is bloated with excess subplots it doesn’t need.
Other than that, though, the film itself is a lot of fun. This time around, the demons have some new abilities, including releasing their blood to burn through floors and infect people who happen to touch it. Not only that, dogs can now become crazy demons as well. And in one eventful scene, a little boy births a tiny Gremlin-like demon that runs around trying to scratch Hannah. Bava carries this on for far too long, but it’s still a moment that must be seen.
Unfortunately, it seems Bava was less interested in showing the grotesqueries of the demons this time around, because oddly more time is spent on the humans attempting to blockade themselves in the parking garage than it is on the special effects of the demons. The special effects are still good, especially the melting ones with Sally; but Bava doesn’t do as many close-up shots, nor does he take the time to build suspenseful moments. Demons 2 is about the shock, but it is also clearly about following up a successful, money-making film to make even more money.
Demons 2 is an enjoyable film, but at the same time it does not live up to the legacy of Bava’s original. Everything done here is derivative of Demons, done in a different fashion but not as fun, frenetic, or frightening. But for a cheese-filled romp through an apartment complex (one of the pulls of this film), Demons 2 is a good way to waste 90 minutes, even if does lack a satisfying conclusion to Bava’s duology.
4K UHD
The 4K transfer on this standard edition UHD from Synapse Films is effectively the same as what was included on their previous double-feature limited edition release. The liner notes included on a pull-out simulation of Sally’s party invite note that the transfer was from the original 35mm camera negative and, more particularly, that Demons 2 was shot on Eastman Color High Speed Kodak 5294 which accounts for the higher grain scale present. In truth, while the grain here may be mildly chunkier, it’s not that noticeable throughout the movie, and it resolves quite nicely in most sequences. The detail and textures here are still very good, highlighting skin tones, the various sweaty bodies throughout, and the ’80s apartment building textiles. While the notes list some instability, that is also minimal and reserved for just a couple of short shots. It’s also important to note that this release uses branching for the English and Italian versions, chosen at the menu.
This release also features Dolby Vision HDR/HDR 10 which does some good work here with the film’s bluish and dark backdrops, but the use of color here is much more reserved than Bava’s previous Demons. Dark tones are well-defined, though, and sport adequately deep black levels. The transfer here is pretty much on par with Synapse’s release of the first movie, making it a great addition to those that don’t own the UHD version of this film in the limited edition set.
Like the first film, there are four different audio options for the viewing experience. A DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 stereo English track are the first options and both do a good job with definitive dialogue management and the film’s new wave/post-punk soundtrack, with the surround track porting the songs to the satellite speakers along with the demon sound effects. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 Italian options sound much the same, with perhaps even slightly clearer dialogue paired with English subtitles.
Extras are exactly the same as the previously released limited edition, but the new offerings include an audio commentary with Travis Crawford and a visual essay encompassing both Demons and Demons 2 by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. Crawford’s commentary goes into a lot of context for the film, including its director’s filmography, cast and crew, and the various Demons sequels in name only. Heller-Nicholas provides an interesting essay on public vs. private spaces in both movies, including criticism on the ways Bava moves between various groups of characters throughout and even remarking on the duality between the two films seemingly existing in alternate worlds.
The rest of the extras are archival and have been included on past releases. This package also gets reversible cover artwork and the aforementioned stylized party invite featuring transfer notes.
Extra 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
- New audio commentary by film critic Travis Crawford
- Together and Apart: a new visual essay on the use of space and technology in DEMONS and DEMONS 2 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (HD, 26:37)
- Archival Special Features
- Creating Creature Carnage: interview with Sergio Stivaletti (HD, 20:29)
- Bava to Bava: interview with Luigi Cozzi on the history of Italian horror (Unrestored HD, 16:43)
- Demonic Influences: Federico Zampaglione Speaks (HD, 10:22)
- The ‘Demons’ Generation: Roy Bava discusses a legacy in lacerations (HD, 34:50)
- The New Blood of Italian Horror featuring Sergio Stivaletti (HD, 16:15)
- Screaming for a Sequel: The Delirious Legacy of DEMONS 2 with Lamberto Bava (HD, 16:00)
- A Soundtrack for Splatter: interview with composer Simon Boswell (HD, 27:08)
- Promotional Materials
- Original Italian Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:56)
- Original English Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:55)
- Newly translated optional English SDH subtitles for the English version
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian version
Verdict
Demons 2 is a serviceable follow-up to Bava’s excellent original creation, and Synapse Films has again done an excellent job restoring this in 4K with a solid list of extras. If you already own the limited edition double-feature, this is pretty much exactly the same, but for those looking to add just this film to the collection, you can’t go wrong with this stand-alone release.
