DEMONS 2 (1986) – The Dungeon Review!

‘Demons’ is about a group of people who get trapped in a movie theatre with demons. ‘Demons 2’ is about a group of people who get trapped in a high-rise apartment building with demons. Much like the original film, it has great demon makeup and effects, blood and gore and lots of action. In keeping with the original, it also has inane dialog and no real story or explanation for what is happening. And that is just fine.

There are a couple cast members that return from the original like the pimp who is now playing a fitness instructor, and one of the four bad-ass coke kids shows up as a security guard. There is also a very young Asia Argento in her first feature film role. We are given a brief introduction to several characters. A couple with a young daughter, a couple expecting their first child, a girl celebrating her sixteenth birthday, a prostitute and her john, a little boy and a fitness trainer, among others. A cast of characters who will undergo some unusually grotesque changes to their bodies. The catalyst to get this one moving is some manner of documentary/made for T.V. film that recalls the demon apocalypse that happened only a short time ago. They have now sealed off the infected area and two curious couples go and check it out. The group are psyched when they find a perfectly preserved demon in some rubble. They gather around to have their pictures taken with the creature. One of the females who had accidentally cut her hand earlier drips blood right into the demons mouth reanimating it. Various characters in the film are watching this on their televisions but one very special birthday girl is going to get an extra special surprise this year!

Birthday girl Sally has a major suck fit screaming at her guests to get out and storms into her bedroom. Her friends continue to party it up while she has become mesmerized by the aforementioned demon show. She watches as a demon walks towards the camera, getting closer and closer until he pushes his way through the screen and into her bedroom. Her friends call to her to come out so she can blow out the candles on her birthday cake. And we have our first demon. She then converts her guests and we have our first demon swarm. Sally seemed like she might have been possessed already but she is one relentless demon and takes quite a licking and bounces back. She also looks pretty damn sweet! There are some very cool looking demons here, but I didn’t think there was a transformation quite as impressive as the one in the original film. This one also didn’t seem quite as gory. They definitely upped the ante on the wackiness though, adding a child demon, a little winged demon and best of all, a demon dog! The kid, dog and Sally are worth the price of admission alone.

‘Demons 2’ does take a little too long to get going. It started to feel a bit redundant being introduced to character after character. You really don’t learn anything that’s going to make you root for them. I did not rent ‘Demons 2’ for its awesome story! The characters are all just demon fodder, which I think is just dandy. I definitely liked the ending to the original better but I did kinda dig the way they fake you out at the end in this one. Soundtrack vs. soundtrack I would definitely have to give that to ‘Demons 2’. The soundtrack to this one was much improved!

I really enjoyed ‘Demons 2’. Although it does take a bit longer to get rolling, when it does, it is delightfully demonic high-energy fun! As a film unto itself I thought ‘Demons 2’ was great, but as a sequel it didn’t quite live up to the original. A pretty entertaining duo of films none the less. ‘Demons 2’ would be a lovely addition to any 80’s horror collection. Highly Recommended!

Dungeon Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Lamberto Bava

Starring: David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Bobby Rhodes, Asia Argento, Virginia Bryant, Anita Bartolucci, Antonio Cantafora, Luisa Passega