Night of the Demons Review and Revisit.

    It was the late 80's or early 90's, my guess is early 90's.  My mom had just started a Job at a Mom and Pop, Brick and Mortar Video Rental Store.  For those of you who are too young to remember, In the 80's and 90's the VHS boom kicked off and gave moviegoers a whole new way to experience cinema.  With the invention of the VCR and VHS tapes came a slew of independent film makers that took advantage of the new, cost effective film media.  Before then the only way to make a movie was through film, film was very expensive and usually required an insane budget.  Now that this new medium took center stage it gave film makers a chance to tell their story at a fraction of the price and get it seen by the masses.  When my mother started this job I was like a kid in a candy store, she was welcome to 2 free rentals pretty much daily.  I remember walking to the Horror Section (my favorite section) and looking up to see this eye catching poster.  It read "Night Of The Demons (and the hilarious tagline which read, Angela is having a party Jason and Freddy are too scared to come but you'll have a hell of a time), and featured a spine chilling demon with amazing make-up (like seriously the make-up still holds up to this very day).  I remember begging my mom to let me rent it, It took some convincing since I was around 8 or 9 at the time and the poster looked pretty intense. After constant whining from yours truly ma-dukes finally caved it, It was then I realized i would be in for a hell of a ride.

    

If you have not seen the original Night of the Demons (1988) then do yourself a favor and watch it right now!!! The story starts off with a group of Teenagers in their 30's getting ready to go to a Halloween Party at the long abandoned Funeral Parlor known as Hull House. The girl throwing the party Angela (played by the lovely Amelia Kincade) and her friend Suzanne (Played by B-horror Scream Queen Linnea Quigley) stop at a store to acquire some refreshments and party favors. With Suzanne bending over for distraction Angela Grabs the goods needed. This scene sets the tone of the film, Suzanne makes a dick joke about Sour Balls, then Angela prophetically says we are going to scare the shit out of them when referring to their party guests. On the way to Hull House the cast of characters are revealed. They are your typical horror movie Tropes, The Virgin, The Slut, The Jock, The Delinquent and the annoying asshole. The Annoying Asshole/Comic relief is known as Stooge and he is great. With classic cheesy lines such as "Eat a bowl of fuck" and his oink when Suzanne says she feels like pig is great. Once the party goers get there they start drinking and messing around, Rodger and Stooge find a large mirror and Angela suggest they perform a séance to see who they were in a past life. This takes a turn when Helen sees her death in the mirror screams and the mirror falls. Angela gets mad and a mist full of demon enters Suzanne. Suzanne kisses Angela and the Demon enters her while still occupying Suzanne's body. This demon seems to spread like zombies or herpes, each kill is great and the make-up is top notch. One of my favorite and most memorable scenes of my Childhood is known as The Lipstick scene, Suzanne starts smearing lipstick all over her face as Sal walks by, she then proceeds to insert the tube of lipstick into her breast via her nipple. Sal is grossed out and leaves only to witness Angela sticking her hands inside the fire and reveals her flaming hands to him. This is where shit hits the fan and gets really good. The deaths aren't extremely full of gore and blood, but the make-up is gold (it holds up to this day). The writing and acting was typical B-horror quality, but then again I have always had a soft spot for b-horror cheese fests. The characters are classical horror tropes and they are kind of annoying but some of the one liners are good for a good chuckle or two. The gag at the end when an Old man eats an apple pie filled with razors. the film ends with his throat being sliced by the razors he consumed and his wife looking shady as hell. I really don't understand why it ended that way, considering the old man wasn't really in the film except for the end and one part in the beginning when he calls the virginal Judy a whore just for bumping into him (which I also found funny). Night of the Demons will always have a special place in my heart and I end up watching it at least a couple of times a year. The film spawned 2 more sequels and a remake in 2009 Starring Monica Keena, Edward Furlong and Shannon Elizabeth playing the Angela role (the remake was horrible by the way, due to shitty FX). So the next time you feel like taking a stroll down memory lane by way of b-horror and nostalgia I highly suggest watching Night of the Demons (1988).