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Demons 2

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Demons 2: The Nightmare Returns
File:Demons 2.jpg
U.S. theatrical release poster
Directed byLamberto Bava
Written byDario Argento
Lamberto Bava
Franco Ferrini
Dardano Sacchetti
Produced byDario Argento
Ferdinando Caputo
StarringDavid Edwin Knight
Nancy Brilli
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni
Asia Argento
CinematographyGianlorenzo Battaglia
Edited byPiero Bozza
Franco Fraticelli
Music bySimon Boswell
Production
company
DACFILM Rome
Release date
9 October 1986
Running time
91 min.
CountryItaly
LanguageEnglish

Demons 2 (Italian: Dèmoni 2) is a 1986 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava and co-written and produced by Dario Argento. It is a sequel to Bava's 1985 film Demons and stars David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as well as Argento's youngest daughter, Asia Argento, in her debut film performance at age 10. The film was also known as Demons 2: The Nightmare Returns.

Plot summary

The film opens as if the events of the first film took place in reality, but this is actually a film within a film, that the various residents of a high-rise apartment building are watching. Its story follows several teens trespass into a city that was deserted as a result of the outbreak. Finding the lifeless corpse of a demon, one of the teens revives it accidentally by dripping blood from a scratch into its mouth. In reality, frustrated party girl Sally Day (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) locks herself in her bedroom when her boyfriend doesn't attend her birthday party. As her friends try to persuade her to return to the party, she watches part of the film on television. Suddenly, the demon notices her, climbs through the television and attacks her. Sally is transformed into a demon, then attacks her friends, turning all but two of them into vile, bloodthirsty monsters.

The creatures' bile begins to seep through the building, burning through the ceiling and into other apartments and shorting out the electrical system. In one apartment, a dog licks up the bile and transforms into a vicious beast that attacks and kills its owner. A young boy left alone by his parents manages to avoid Sally and her rampaging demon friends, but is ultimately poisoned by the bile and becomes a monster. The boy attacks Hannah (Nancy Brilli), a pregnant woman waiting for her husband to come home. She manages to kill the demon boy, but a flying demon bursts out of his body to further terrorize her.

Her husband, George (David Edwin Knight), has been trapped in the elevator with another woman (Virginia Bryant). They plan to escape through a service hatch, but a demon bursts through the elevator door and infects the woman. She in turn attacks George but he is able to kill her before making his way to his and Hannah's apartment in time to kill the flying demon with an umbrella.

Meanwhile, a group of bodybuilders led by gym instructor Hank (Bobby Rhodes) have barricaded themselves in the underground car park, along with a group of tenants. Unable to break down the garage doors, they decide to stand their ground and try to defend themselves with makeshift weapons, such as Molotov cocktails and a few shotguns. The demons eventually make it down to the garage and force their way in. Although they heavily outnumber the demons, the uninfected are relatively easily defeated and are either turned into demons themselves or killed.

The infected start making their way back up the building. George causes a leak in the gas pipes and causes an explosion that kills all the infected except Sally. Hannah and George search for a way out and go into Sally's apartment, finding the original two partygoers that had hidden. The group make their way to the roof but are stopped by Sally. She infects the two partygoers but George manages to dispatch them. George and Hannah lower themselves to the roof of an adjacent building, fighting Sally as they go. Inside the neighboring building Hannah gives birth to the couple's child. George defeats the resilient Sally in mortal combat, and he and Hannah make their way outside with their newborn child.

Soundtrack

For this sequel Bava opted to use British new wave bands such as The Smiths, The Cult, Dead Can Dance and the Art of Noise on the soundtrack as opposed to the heavy metal of the original film. Songs featured in the film are:

Release

Critical reception

Like its predecessor, Demons 2 received a mixed reception from critics. It currently has an approval rating of 56% on movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews.[1] AllMovie's review was negative, writing, "putting aside the simplistic plot, lousy dialogue and atrocious acting, Demons 2 is watchable for one reason: the bloody mechanical and makeup effects by Sergio Stivaletti."[2]

Home video

Arrow Video released the first two films on Blu-ray and DVD on 30 April 2012 with a two-part comic included, entitled Demons 3. Part 1 came with Demons and the last part with Demons 2.

References

  1. ^ "Demons 2 - The Nightmare Returns - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  2. ^ Legare, Patrick. "Demons 2 (1986) - Review - AllMovie". AllMovie. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
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