Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Horror Film Review

Halloween may be over, but never fear...I mean, continue to fear because I'm not going anywhere.

Night of the Demons (2009):  I had no right to enjoy this movie as much as I did.  I've seen scarier movies and I've seen gorier movies (if gorier is even a word).  But this one...it had something that drew me in and held me in its grip for the full 93 minutes.

A group of friends gather for a Halloween party at mysterious Broussard Mansion.  Seems that 80 or so years earlier, six people went missing at a party there and Evangeline Broussard committed suicide.  Why?  Well, the title of the film gives us a pretty good clue.  So the party's rocking at full tilt when the cops bust it up.  All but seven guests leave.  Convenient number.  There's the party's host, Anglea; three girlfriends, Maddie, Lily, and Suzanne; two guys Dex and Jason; as well as Maddie's ex Colin who, we discover in an irrelevant subplot, must sell enough drugs at the party to keep from getting killed by his crime-lord boss.  It took me a while to recognize Edward Furlong as Colin.  He looks like a pale, bloated toad.  Terminator 2 was a long, long time ago...

Soon the seven are trapped, the gates on the mansion's grounds inexplicably locked, and of course they can't get a cell signal.  A rumor of a tunnel takes them into a super creepy basement where they find six skeletons, one of which has a gold tooth.  When Angela reaches for it, the skull bites her hand and draws blood.  It's all downhill from there.  We learn seven demons were booted out of Hell for being too demented (?!?) and they have one night, Halloween night, to possess seven people in order to walk the earth.  They failed the previous time because Evangeline figured out what was happening and hanged herself.  The rest of the movie is fairly typical:  run, run, run...fight...die in a most disgusting way...more running...a little more fighting...more dying...Well, you get the idea.  Turns out that if they can survive until dawn, the demons are screwed.

I want to make special mention of an aspect of this film that was instrumental in getting me sucked in and keeping me riveted:  the music.  It's been a long time since a soundtrack made such an impression on me.  I will admit that I'd never heard these songs before, but damn...they rock and perfectly complement the action.  How can you go wrong with groups like Zombie Girl, Deadbeat, The Ghastly Ones, The Death Riders, Swingin' Neckbreakers, and, um...Goatwhore?  Seriously, I'm actually thinking of buying this soundtrack, and I don't buy soundtracks.  Ever. 

Breakdown 

Acting:  Better than I expected, consistently good.  Monica Keena as Maddie stands out.  Bloated toad Furlong is the only weak point. 
Story:  Well, this is a remake of the 1988 film.  Nothing unique here. 
Direction:  With the set being a huge mansion and action jumping from room to room, chaos and confusion is likely.  Director Adam Gierasch, however, holds it all together quite nicely. 
Gore:  That's pretty much a given.  There is one shot, though, that's fabulous and I've never seen done before.  Someone literally gets their face ripped off.  Very well done.  I almost cheered.  (I sometimes wonder if there's something wrong with me.) 
Ending:  I was pleased.  Any ending that doesn't kill everybody off gets a thumbs up from me.  Verdict:  Should you see it?  Only if you like sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.  And bloodthirsty demons.

My Rating:  4 out of 5

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