Lamberto Bava’s gory movie theater romp Demons is Evil Dead for the Italians, a horror movie that isn’t afraid to drop the seriousness of its peers for a violent mixture of comedy and cringe-inducing bodily transformations. At its core is a film that is really not much bigger than its plot summary: a group of theater-goers get a mysterious invite to a screening at a new movie theater, they get trapped inside, and then they start to become demons. It’s a simple setup, one that doesn’t extend past its influences in plot but by offering a visual feast of lighting and splatter effects work.
Bava and Dario Argento’s script takes advantage of the film genre in general, infusing Demons with a metacritical take on moviemaking and how people view horror in general. There are nods to other horror gems, there are not-so-subtle appearances of posters for other Argento works (Four Flies on Grey Velvet), and Bava includes a film-within-a-film for good measure. The theater is a place where strangers come together to share in something, whether good or bad, and Demons latches onto that idea and perverts it. Part of the fun is seeing the cast of characters both enjoying the movie-within-a-movie – reveling in the fact they are not the unlucky survivors of that horror film – and then turning into the very thing they viewed.
The thing that all of the characters share in the film is a necessity to survive after Rosemary (Geretta Geretta) becomes one of the neon-puking undead, scratching her friends’ faces and literally tongue-tying lovers. Demons picks up quickly, introducing George (Urbano Barberini) as our hunky male protagonist and Chery (Natasha Hovey) as our paranoid but capable female heroine.
Bava spends quite a bit of time working with the architecture of the theater; it becomes an important piece of the film, because it has to feel like all of the characters are trapped. There are moments of tension when Bava hones in on numerous stalking sequences. And yet Demons never feels particularly scary, in part because there is so much intercutting of random car cruising with the punks Ripper (Lino Salemme), Baby Pig (Peter Pitsch), and Nina (Bettina Ciampolini) that it breaks the suspense considerably.
But it’s also not entirely taking itself seriously. Geretta Geretta hams it up in demon form, as do most of the other actors in their death sequences. Bava revels in the guts and grue of each demon scene, whether it’s a blind man having his eyes pushed in or the surprise demon transformation at the end of the film. It helps that Demons has such fantastic effects; they’re bloody and all across the board, from scalpings to pulsing pustules.
Demons isn’t perfect despite its boisterous entertainment value. Bava’s sequences can be quite slow, deliberately so but at the same time painfully plodding. His film-within-a-film technique is the most noticeable, taking a long time to really get rolling. The heavy metal score can feel out of place, or it can bring back fond memories for the ’80s. Don’t even get me started on the blatant Coca-Cola advertising.
But one of the more defining elements of the film is its delightfully sordid lighting, which alternates between visceral reds, greens, yellows, and blues with hyperactive aplomb. Taking a lot of cues from Argento’s works as well as from Lamberto Bava’s father Mario Bava, Demons employs Gialorenzo Battaglia as director of photography to capture a meticulously beautiful lighting backdrop amidst all the gruesomely stylish gore.
However you want to watch Demons, whether as a comedy or a traditional horror film, it’s hard to deny the lasting impact it has had on horror. Many people don’t cite it, and in a way it does sit in the shadow of The Evil Dead or Night of the Demons. But Bava’s film was never really meant to electrify the genre – it was meant to make people laugh, and to make them feel grossed out. In both ways, it succeeds, especially with Synapse’s transfer and color correction. The green pus and vomit never looked so vibrant.
4K UHD
Synapse Films originally released Demons along with Demons 2 in a limited edition double-feature on UHD featuring its new 4K transfer of the original camera negative. This 4K release is the standard edition which again utilizes the new transfer. The results are absolutely stellar, with Demons looking the best it ever has with exceptional detail throughout. Occasionally there is some damage/debris, but this is mitigated and most notable during the opening and closing credits. Grain scale is medium-bodied but rarely chunky, and even the movie-within-the-movie looks quite clear. Skin tones are well-defined and the makeup and gore effects are expectedly visceral. The inclusion of Dolby Vision HDR/HDR 10 here highlights the excellent color grading and enhances the beautiful lighting effects within the movie; I’m not sure I even realized how vibrant the movie truly is until seeing it with Synapse’s new scan. Ultimately, it’s hard to top the craftsmanship on display with this release of Demons. That goes for both the international/Italian cut as well as the English export version; both use the same transfer and accomplish the various subtle differences in scene editing via branching.
For audio, Synapse Films has included both a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround option for the international/Italian cut, both in English and Italian, as well as a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track for the English export version which does contain some different sound effects and dubbing. All are good options, though I must say I am slightly partial to the English 5.1 just because it does effectively bring the film’s hard rock score to the satellite speakers and fills out the sound a bit more. English subtitles are also included. All options can be navigated from the menu during the film version selection.
For extras, Synapse has included all of the new content from their limited edition version of the film released in 2021, as well as additional featurettes that were available on previous older releases. The new elements include an audio commentary featuring Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain and a new visual essay about Dario Argento’s production by Michael Mackenzie; the other elements are archival. These extras are shared with Arrow Video’s joint 4K limited edition release of the two films, except this one is missing a 1998 audio commentary with Lamberto Bava, Sergio Stivaletti, and Roy Bava. Mackenzie’s essay is a great look throughout Argento’s career, running nearly 30 minutes and touching on both films directed by Argento as well as his ventures into producing with his DAC production company. The commentary with Ellinger and Drain discusses a lot of great moments within the film, as well as background context from the major cast and crew and even diving into the metatextual elements throughout and self-awareness of horror films within Demons.
Along with the new-ish extras, this standard edition also includes an About the Transfer insert mimicking the movie invitation within the film, along with reversible cover artwork.
Extra Features
- NEW remastered in 4K from the original camera negative in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- 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
- 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
- Produced by Dario Argento: a new visual essay by author and critic Michael Mackenzie exploring the legendary filmmaker’s career as a producer (1080p; 27:13)
- Dario’s Demon Days: interview with writer/producer Dario Argento (1080p; 10:30)
- Defining an Era in Music: interview with Claudio Simonetti (1080p; 9:34)
- Splatter Spaghetti Style: interview with long-time Argento collaborator Luigi Cozzi (1080p; 11:27)
- Carnage at the Cinema: Lamberto Bava and His Splatter Masterpiece (1080p; 36:01)
- Dario and the Demons: Producing Monster Mayhem (1080p; 15:51)
- Monstrous Memories: Luigi Cozzi on the making of Demons (1080p; 30:18)
- Profondo Jones: The Critical Perspective (1080p; 17:39)
- Splatter Stunt Rock: interview with Ottaviano Dell’Acqua (1080p; 9:13)
- Stivaletti Q&A at the 2019 UK ‘Festival of Fantastic Films’ (1080p; 36:13)
- Original Italian trailer (1080p; 2:09)
- English international theatrical trailer (1080p; 2:09)
- U.S. theatrical trailer (1080p; 1:32)
- Newly ranslated optional English SDH subtitles for the English versions
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian version
Verdict
Demons is an insanely fun ride from Lamberto Bava and Dario Argento, and Synapse Films’ 4K transfer expertly captures the best elements thanks to great video definition and its Dolby Vision HDR. The extras here are collected from various older and newer releases, so if you already own the limited edition double-feature there’s nothing new; but for those looking to own Demons on 4K this individual release is an excellent option.
