A child of 80s horror, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 1988 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093624/ - was on my hit list for a LONG time. I revisited the movie often and was never disappointed.
Staring the 80s-awesome Linnea Quigley, this almost perfect 80s horror blast is rather standard plot-wise. Teens where they should not be. However, it's handled rather well. There's a small group that meet at a haunted house. All hell breaks loose when they decide to hold a séance. Why not hold a séance? The house is an old mortuary. It's perfect. One by one, the teenyboppers get dead and demoned, going from cuties to psycho killers. The human guests can't escape the demons because the whole house has a ring of underground spring that holds them in. Fantastic “bottle style” plot.
The visual effects are rather good for it's time. Hell, it's not bad for now, honestly, thanks to the wondrous Steve Johnson. (Linnea's former husband, by the way) The demons look like the demons from DEMONS and I love the look. The film is filled with guts and gore...and boobs...and gore boobs...so there's fun for all who love 'em both.
The story is simple, yet entertaining. There's a dark humor to the whole of the movie that is good for a giggle or more, yet it doesn't go slapstick or dumb. The writing is the thing that saves it and keeps the whole thing moving at a good clip and at a good pace.
The acting is not award winning – some of Jill Terashita's lines are almost painfully dragged out of her – however it works with the overall set up and production. It's a goof and some of the dialog is delivered as such. And, it is the 80's, after all.
Overall, I loved the film and still think it holds up as a genre film of it's time with a lot of kick.
Now....the remake.
2010's NOTD is not a gem, nugget or otherwise.
The plot is the same more or less. Substitute a stream with a wall – that's fine. Break a massive “booze and hot girls dancing to crap music” party up with a cop visit, then get the primaries back in the house through random acts – ok, fine. Add demons and gore– fantastic. But this movie has no soul. No kick.
We're dragged from point to point ( against our will ) by hot girls dressed as slutty cats and...a zombie, maybe? They bounce around the screen and exchange bad lines, then we finally move along...to a strip club...to meet...the kid from T2?! What?! Yeah! That's him..just fatter and less attractive in general. ANYWAY...yeah...he's in a strip club and he owes a BAD MAN money. He's bad and we know it. He's getting oral sex as he yells at T2 kid. He makes threats too....cause he's a BAD MAN.
Demons yet?
NO!
Off to the party house! Let's go!
Ok...now that we're on the set where the demons will attack...we can relax and listen to the slut cats and zombie girl babble some more. Find out that T2 kid is the ex-boyfriend of zombie girl. Find out that the party organizer is a bit of a tramp and that Slut Cat 01 better watch it or she'll nab her man. Do some dancing. Watch T2 kid sell drugs. See some more Slut Cat cleavage.
Yeah.....uh...
Wait...demons now?
NO! Here come the COPS! Yeah...they're gonna break that party up!
“Get out of here, Teens! You don't belong here.” Yeah.
Ok...bored yet? I know I was. Fast forward through all that unless you're a Slut Cat fan. Then...stop at those parts as you fast forward.
You're welcome.
DEMONS! Yes!
Ok, the demons are kinda cool looking. Admittedly the only reason I tried this remake out. As a fan of the 88 version, I wasn't going to give this the time of day until I saw the red eyed demon girl. That got me into the idea. I thought that if they just remade this like the old one was with updated effects and the like, it'd be great. But, they added a bunch of filler and it completely kills the pace. While the demons looked grand, they are not able to keep this film afloat.
We watch as cool looking demons stalk the teenyboppers and chase them around, but I just didn't care. There was one added element that I found appealing, but they managed to botch that with a silly...sad little ending that did nothing more than piss me off.
So....the winner of this match is NIGHT OF THE DEMONS 1988!!!
Don't think so?
Man or Woman up and leave me a comment telling me!
Let's do this! Let's have a discussion! :)
Night of the Demons 2010
Agreed.....
ReplyDeleteThere was a part of me that really wanted it to be awesome. I loved the original. But...it's also not shocking that they dropped the ball like this. Oh wellz...oh wellz... :)
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