DEMONS 2

All right, classic splatter fans--sit down, shut up, and brace yourself as Bava and Argento bring us more eighties survival splatter in DEMONS 2.  If you're already looking askance at this piece and muttering at your monitor: "Hey...wait a second.  Wasn't the end of DEMONS basically an 'end of the world' scenario with people bugging out to the countryside because the cities were jam-packed with cannibalistic, fanged, demonic subhumans hell-bent on murder, mayhem and lunching up the populace?", you're not alone.  Seriously, I thought much the same thing.  And don't worry--there's a rational explanation.

As far as I can tell, the whole point here is that one year after the massacre at the Metropol, a giant wall has been erected around the section of the city that was first attacked by demons. Intrepid--possibly idiotic--amateur journalists climb the wall looking for a story.  And as Sally, a girl about to celebrate a birthday with friends, watches the footage in her high-rise apartment building, demons crawl out of the television and turn her into one.  Oh, and for some reason, she's got acid blood.

By now you're probably wondering what the hell Bava and Argento were on when they wrote this. 

Ah, but much like the original DEMONS, we don't need some fancy storyline to make this sucker jump up and tapdance.  No...all we need is a quasi-plausible excuse for some good-old-fashioned bloodfeasting tearassing around and people getting ripped apart by cannibalistic, fanged, demonic subhumans hell-bent on murder, mayhem, and of course, lunching up the populace.

If that's what you came here for, survival horror buffs who like it hot and squishy, then man, are you ever gonna get it in spades.

Plus, there will be a few new wrinkles from this demonic foray--including demon children and evil zombie dogs named "Davey".

DEMONS 2 actually represents a significant step up from DEMONS because, while it takes place in a slightly larger space, there are actually a whole lot more demons running around than there were, thus allowing more to be done.  It's almost an issue of density. 

The ending, meanwhile, will pack a whole lot of carnage and put a serious test on some folks' barricading skills.  Not to mention the tensile strength of one poor bastard's sack.  Man, that crossed my legs just watching it.

The special features include a commentary track, English closed captions, and trailers for DEMONS, DEMONS 2, PHENOMENA, TENEBRE, RE-ANIMATOR, and PHANTASM.

All in all, DEMONS 2 should prove to be a very satisfactory survival horror experience.  Survival horror buffs will definitely love this monster, but even the regular horror buffs should get sufficient thrill out of it to make a rental.

RATING: **** (out of four)