December 01 2025, 20:07
Demons
Director: Lamberto Bava
Release year: 1985
Music student Cheryl accepts tickets to a film event at an old cinema from a man in a demon mask. She takes her friend Hannah, and they hook up with two boys to watch the start of a horror movie. In it, two similarly dressed couples disturb the grave of Nostradamus and uncover a demon mask. Events in the film are mirrored in the cinema, leading to demons being released and running amok.
I found lots to love here. The people at the cinema are a fun mix of clichéd teens and more realistic adults that don’t act as you might expect. The demons are gloopy and scary, closer to running zombies than demons, converting humans with a slash of their talons. The venue is a fun mix of art deco and eighties trash decor, matched by a synth score and slew of fun eighties rock needles drops.
The dialogue is cheesy, and the acting is so-so, but you also get Billy Idol’s White Wedding kicking in while a man on a motorbike rides around the cinema stalls slaying chasing zombies with a samurai sword. The film within a film idea felt unexpectedly fresh, helped by the maximalist tone. It’s short, tightly edited, and ultimately a splash of gory joy that doesn’t ask much of the viewer except to meet it where it is.