Demons 2
In making this quick sequel to his seminal Italian horror classic, Lamberto Bava makes a few missteps here, but still does enough to satisfy fans of the original. Among the flaws is the film seems to take FOREVER to get going, taking place this time in an apartment complex rather than a movie theater, as we get little glimpses of the various denizens which include: a pregnant woman and her Corey Haim-lookalike husband, a prostitute visiting the building for an outcall assignment, a little boy left all alone by his parents watching TV, and a raucous gym instructor (played by the returning Bobby Rhodes, who played Tony The Pimp in the original). The mayhem finally begins during a stuck-up teenage girl’s sixteenth birthday party when, while barricading herself inside her room, she watches a film documenting the events of the first film when suddenly a demon in the movie comes out of her TV(?) and attacks her, which turns her and allows her to attack all her partying friends and turn them as well (except for the nerd who gets kicked out early and spends the rest of the film standing out on the sidewalk, making him the luckiest guy in the film). One thing I’d have to say is that even without the demon contagion, this would seem to be one of the most unsafe apartment buildings imaginable, with people going into their rooms or apartments and finding themselves locked in and unable to get out, and when the power goes out of course, everyone is just completely and utterly trapped inside, with little indication from the outside world that help is on the way (even though the building security guard is shown calling for assistance). There is also a little more in the way of plot holes in this entry, as now the demons are shown to have acid for blood (like in Alien), and how several characters seem to turn into demons without any indication that they’ve been infected (unlike the first film, which saved its only real shock transformation for the very end). Regardless, the pacing and makeup FX are once again superb and disturbing, with the same nihilistic “no one is safe” attitude of the original, particularly when the bodybuilders and several others barricade themselves in the underground garage but are quickly overwhelmed when the demons break through, though it’s interesting when an obviously doomed little girl (a young Asia Argento) has her death take place offscreen just as they’re about to get her. Other monstrosities include a demon dog and a demon baby (with a big happy grin) that chases the pregnant girl around her apartment. Once again we get a gang of punks tooling around the city in what appears to be replay of the original’s subplot, but alas this time they never make it to the building! Director Bava deserves credit though, for going for a much “happier” ending than before, despite the obvious (telegraphed) temptation to end on a very downbeat note. Add in another rocking 80s soundtrack (which includes the Smiths and The Cult) and you have a quality horror sequel that, while not quite as good as the original, is still far from boring…
7/10