🇮🇹 Italian Horror 🧟‍♂️ Undead etc. 🎬 Lamberto Bava (1986) 🩸 👻 [🇮🇹☠️]

"Blood nurtures the dormant seed of evil. How can the demons be stopped? Is another apocalyptic prediction about to come true? The winds of death will sweep across the world, and whole continents will be cast adrift in oceans of blood.”

Demoni 2 is the Evil Dead Rise of Italian mass demonic possession horror: an ancient evil; a brand new ten-story high-rise; 90 minutes of family-destroying violence.

It is very good—one of those lucky sequels that surpasses the original in many ways while adding a few small flaws. I’d hesitate to say that it’s better because it follows exactly the same formula. But it was a good formula, the new environment makes for some new and effective scares, and, aside from being similar, there are not any issues that are distracting at all.

Shifting the setting from a movie theater to an apartment building accomplishes a lot. The way the demon infestation starts is (while not wholly original) a stroke of genius and a very effective scare. This effect will become relevant again in the late film in one of the more satisfying and frightening parts of the closing sequence. It may remind one of The Ring, but long before that film was made, it happens here and in some other films.

The danger with both Lamberto Bava Demoni films is that when it is not frightening or funny it looks a bit like everyone is playing tag but with claws. That, plus the repetition of the car punks and the self-defense token black dude, are really my only complaints at all. Otherwise, the same arch meta-horror wit is everywhere, and the same bloody excesses drive Demoni 2 to an excellent set of closing sequences.

The scares here take a bit better, when they take. There are at least two strong jump scares, there are very tense hiding sequences, and children and babies are part of the peril, which makes everything more disturbing. The original infestation sequence is a very effective scare, much more so than in the original. The moment you see it you know it’s a classic.

Cinematography and production design and music remain around the same standard. The use of saturated unnatural blues and similar tones is an immediately noticeable Argento influence, which makes sense because he was involved in the series, and while not as visually dominant as in Suspiria and Inferno, it still is a very effective choice to use color in this way. The music is not Simonetti’s but it’s still strong, and the contemporary songs that were included worked as well or better for me than Motley Crüe and the like. Visually, the film is still an achievement, and images like the glowing eyes down the stairwell are unforgettable.

Modest plot spoilers in blockquote. Skip if this is your first watch.

The demons have been upgraded to have corrosive blood, and this is a major driver of horror. Given there are already contagious demons that transmit more demons somehow by scratch and bite, also doing so through corrosive and inflammable blood is a very reasonable escalation. How exactly this possession works is a bit baffling because it would seem to be creating new demons, but that’s never stated, and it sounds more like it’s preparing the bodies to be possessed and allowing demons in. This question never becomes more than academic, because it’s not fun, so we move on from it.

Otherwise, all the fun in the original and more is here. There is a pregnancy scare, more chestburster demons (clearly an Alien influence, but very much earned and logical here), and, best, a dog named Devil who eventually becomes a devil. This is adorable until the second head emerges from its maw, at which point it’s too hilarious to be frightening, but also it’s a bit frightening.

One of the best moments for me was the adorable gremlin-like baby demon battle. It is ferocious and adorable and it is hard to want it to die. I do think Demoni 2 must be the first film where a demon is captured using a Murphy bed. Along with the elevator and stairway sequences, the fortuitous abseiling husband sequence, and those closing moments that even here I’ll not mention, the conclusion of the film is very satisfying.

Demoni 2 is relentlessly fun and just as effective as the original. It is so similar in overall structure that if it weren’t an immediate sequel, it could be considered a loose remake. But that it hits similar plot beats isn’t noticeable for long and really doesn’t matter. A contagion of demons turning families evil in a high-rise? Count me in.

I watched this immediately after Demoni 1 and I’m glad I did, so consider making a double feature of it. If you liked the first, there’s no question you’ll love this.

Fully recommended.

Some Lists:

🎬 Lamberto Bava | 🇮🇹 Italian Horror
🇮🇹☠️ Italian Horror/Giallo Master List (Ranked)
🩸 Unintelligible Chaos and Bloodshed
🧟‍♂️ Undead, Rage Viruses, Etc.
👻 Supernatural Horror
1980–1989
💎 Slightly Hidden Horror Gems and 🌱 Candidates
📽️ Viewing Next 🗂️ Index of Lists

Looking for something different? Consider these:

Demoni 1 | Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Red Rooms | [REC] | The Sadness | Train to Busan | Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key | Sette note in nero (The Psychic) | La terza madre (The Mother of Tears) | ...E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà (The Beyond) | Black Cat: Gatto nero | All the Colors of the Dark | Tin and Tina