4K UHD review of “Demons”: Synapse Films

Lamberto Bava Demons is a cool guy. It’s often hard to tell whether the film is satirizing the cold excesses of 1980s horror cinema or indulging in them (probably both), and this ambiguity lends latent tension to even the quieter sequences. The premise is simple, even for an ultra-violent horror film: people are invited to a mysterious cinema for a screening of a horror film and are transformed into demons who rip apart the remaining survivors, who of course soon transform into more demons.

Dance of the Devils is certainly an inspiration that reflects a kind of cyclical payback, as Sam Raimi Suspiriaand Dario Argento, executive producer and co-writer of that film, borrowed back his original loan and upped the ante even further on the fabulous blood and bubble effects. This self-referential sense of the narrative eating its own story is intentional and essential to Demonss claustrophobic and even narcissistic sense of fear, which Bava further enhances with a gift for color coordination that his legendary father Mario Bava would have been proud of.

Demons is a monument to the horror genre’s potential for Grand Guignol-like beauty, though that beauty is often deliberately marred by the bloodshed of the drawn-out kill scenes. Bava has his father’s talent for conveying danger spatially, almost subliminally: the vast semi-emptiness of the cinema set evokes the goosebumps you get when watching a film alone in a movie theater late at night. The screening room is bathed in blood-red hues that suggest carnage long before anything actually happens. The reds of the seats and aisles are complemented by the beam of blue light shooting from the projector in the background, playing the possession film designed to grip its viewers.

Contrasting these reds and blues are yellows reminiscent of fluorescent urine. This is fitting, as the yellow hue is most evident in a bathroom, when a woman escapes into a stall to transform into the film’s first demon. Later, yellow even radiates from the hallways themselves, with no apparent logical light source, though the effect serves to give the reds an almost three-dimensional feel, heightening the sense of impending invasion as the survivors of the first demon attack huddle together to discuss defense tactics.

These painterly colors, which are a credit to Argento (a significant presence on set) and the older Bava, are enhanced by the contrast of a metallic sheen that likely reflects the influence of the younger Bava, though also in the tradition of the defiantly trashy parts of American horror cinema, particularly slasher films. The demon mask that sets the story in motion is steel gray, and a sword, knight statue, and switchblade, not to mention an ominous figure resembling the Terminator, are also rendered in metallic hues that blend with the aggressive soundtrack (including songs by Billy Idol, AC/DC, and Mötley Crüe), creating an atmosphere of contemptuous, impersonal, objectified decay.

Bava, particularly through the meta-use of the horror film in the film, conjures up an apocalypse born out of consumerist passivity. Viewers see the surprisingly violent film in Demonsthat is not played for self-parody, and is brought down to the level of self-destructive engagement. This inflammatory incident may be a joke about what parental watchdogs believe children obsessed with horror movies and heavy metal music can become.

This deliberate refusal to arouse a kind of pseudo-sentimental attachment to the characters encourages Demons with a level of brutal honesty that sticks in the mind. The film’s subtext could be summed up as: “This is what you came for.” Bava and Argento get away with this arrogance because their imagery is so great, because this film deserves its sense of superiority over many other films dealing with comparatively mundane carnage.

Demons is a coffee table book about a horror film that revels in a purity of transcendent disgust that marks it as something truly fit only for the truest and most devoted lovers. It is an art object disguised as a blood sacrifice.

Image/Sound

According to the CD liner notes, this 4K presentation of Demons was scanned and restored at L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy, using the original 35mm camera negative. All three versions of the film – Italian, English dubbed, and international English dubbed – are included, with notes on their respective restorations and reshoots. The 4K image looks great, with vivid primary colors and intricate details (check out the outline of that demonic mask that sets the story in motion). The depth of the painterly colors has been enhanced compared to previous home video editions, without sugarcoating the film’s gnarled, shabby aesthetic. Demons is still a little rough and grainy, even shrill, and that is all the better. That is Demons for you, at least.

The 5.1 and 2.0 sound mixes are similarly clean and robust, and are well supported by the noise and hum treatment that even a mediocre home entertainment system can deliver. This stunning 1980s metal soundtrack is one to be heard loud.

Extras

A new audio commentary by Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, co-hosts of the Hell’s Belles Podcast, is a sharp and crisp discussion about Demons and its many influences, from Dario Argento to the heavy metal scene to the contemporary genre films that Lamberto Bava incorporated into the film. For behind-the-scenes insights, there is an archive commentary with Bava, SPFX artist Sergio Stivaletti, composer Claudio Simonetti and actress Geretta Geretta, which goes into detail about the practical details of the filmmaking process.

There is only one other new extra, but it is a good one: “Produced by Dario Argento,” a visual essay by author and critic Michael Mackenzie, which covers Argento’s career as a producer, especially on Demons and George A. Romeros Dawn of the Dead. When Argento set up his own production label in the 1980s, escaping the influence of his father, producer Salvatore Argento, he had the dubious fortune of being able to do exactly what one likes without having to satisfy anyone else’s taste. Argento’s subsequent films were self-indulgent, both narratively and behind the scenes. Mackenzie, however, fails to mention a particularly provocative detail that appears elsewhere in the package, from an archival interview with his collaborator Luigi Cozzi: that Demons was quickly conceived as an attempt to raise more money to complete Argento’s over-budget Phenomena.

Rounding out the package are various promotional materials and many more archival interviews with the main characters, including Bava, Argento, Cozzi and Simonetti. While these additions are fun, they essentially repeat the same few stories. Produced by Dario Argento and the commentary with Ellinger and Drain are ideal for a one-stop shopping service.

In total

Synapse Films’ 4K UHD release celebrates the dark poetry of Lamberto Bava’s Demonsplus a colorful assortment of new and old supplements.