Demons (1985)

Directed by Lamberto Bava. Starring Natasha Hovey, Urbano Barberini, Paolo Cozzo, Karl Zinny, Bobby Rhodes, Nicoletta Elmi, Fiore Argento.

While screening a horror movie in a Berlin cinema, trapped moviegoers transform into demonic monsters who attack everyone else. The lesson, one supposes, is don’t accept free tickets from mute, masked strangers in the subway system. Gore galore, but hardly any plot to speak of, and even less on the characterization, continuity and rationality fronts. Energetic direction, lurid lighting, rock soundtrack, and the revolting makeup effects help push it past the finish line, but it’s purely an exercise in style and goop, and feels too long even at just eighty-something minutes. If you make it that far, don’t bail too early once the end credits start to roll. Produced and co-written by Dario Argento. Followed by a sequel.

54/100