Demons 2 (1986) (aka Dèmoni 2: L'incubo ritorna)

Demons 2 (1986) (aka Dèmoni 2: L'incubo ritorna)

7/10

Argento and Bava are back for a second dip into demon land. "Demons 2" is like "Evil Dead 2"; is it a sequel, a remake, or just the same movie with '2' attached. I'm going with a mixture of option 1 and 3.

The film occurs in an apartment building instead of a theater. Our main characters are a teenage girl Sally who has friends over for her birthday party. Next door is a couple, George and Hannah. Hannah is rather pregnant, which may be important later. We have the triumphant return of Tony the Pimp as Hank the Physical Trainer for the building. Asia Argento has some brief screen time again. Again there is a group of punks in a car on the way to the party, but they only manage to crash their car. And finally, a TV crew that sneaks into the 'forbidden zone' that surrounds the theater from "Demons". They are broadcasting live on TV, or maybe it is a documentary, which Sally is watching by herself in her bedroom...

One of the TV crew bleeds onto a 'dead' demon. You can imagine what happens next. The next part is neat, the resurrected demon looks back through the TV while Sally is watching, climbs out and smacks her around. She gets all demonized and bleeds all over, which does a nice "Alien" impression of burning through everything like acid. Of course the power, phones, and toilets are now nonfunctional.

Then Sally decides to attack her party attendees, I guess because one of them forgot to bring the 'Yellow MegaMan' toy. The demons branch out and start chewing on pretty much everything. One of the best subplots deals with Hank and his steroid cohorts being confronted by demons and bashing them with various weightlifting implements. The bodybuilders eventually go to the indoor parking lot to use as a fort, which works for a while. The other great subplot deals with Hannah.

This film is basically the same as the first "Demons", now in an apartment building. The sound is still a bit off, the dialogue is still bad, the film stock looks a tad better. Violence and gore abound quite nicely. Hank/Tony is great with his lines again. Replace 'theater' with 'apartment building' and you have mostly the same film. Not that I am complaining, this is one of those films you just sit back and absorb the carnage.

I did not like this one as much as the first, but I have read several reviews that preferred "Demons 2" over "Demons". I recommend a rental, and if you liked the "Demons" you won't go wrong with a buy. "Demons 2" might actually be a better party movie due to the birthday party plot. Lots of chances for some practical jokes!