Movie Review: ‘NIGHT OF THE DEMONS’ (2009)

Hooray, another wonderful remake brought to you by an industry that does not care sometimes. We still love the horor industry though, or why would we do what we do. I really don’t mind if they remake movies from the 60’s and 50’s, but I have a problem when you creep into the 70’s and 80’s.  Those films were the golden era in our genre, and one of the gems from that era is Night of The Demons. This is a remake to the cult classic with the same name and guess what, it’s not good.

Did you think otherwise? Just because Shannon Elizabeth stopped playing poker to be in this or because Edward Furlong is once again trying to revive his career (did you see Cruel Word? What the hell was that?), it does not make this film a must see. I won’t go there, to be honest it could have been worse and it did keep my attention throughout the film. The movie opens with Furlong as a drug dealer being threatned by his boss Nigel about money that Furlong, named Colin in the movie, owes him. Furlong tells him of this party where he could score big time and promises him that he will have his money. All the while there is a group of girls getting ready to head to this party that is held in the infamous Broussard Mansion and hosted by a girl named Angela (Elizabeth). Legend has it that the previous owners held a séance at the mansion.  There were 7 people that attended, and the next day they found the owners body dead in front of the mansion and the rest of the attendees missing. Great place to have Halloween party, right? I guess so, because that’s what’s going down, and it seems as if the hostess of the party is in dire need of money because she explains to her cat the she really needs this one to be good.  I think it may end up better than she expected, or maybe worse is a better term? So the party kicks off and everything is going fine except for the girls are complaining about all there ex boyfriends being there. 

Eventually the cops kick in the party and the real story starts to develop. As the 7 left over partiers are looking for one of there own that has gone missing, somehow the gate outside gets locked and everyone is unable to get out. The situation gets worse as they start to look for another way out and find an area closed off in the basement that has 7 skeletons arranged in an odd fashion. The party’s leader Angela thinks it would be a good idea to investigate these bodies because she is sure these are the bodies that were missing from sometime ago. So she decides to check out the skull of one and ends up getting bitten. Now she is infected and starts to distance herself from the rest of the bunch because she is unaware of what’s happening to her. Soon she turns full demon and starts to turn each other member one by one into one as well. There is a huge sexual overtone in this film which is one of the few things that reminds me of the first one, but it seems as if they were slightly more creative in the 80‘s than now because each demon sequence is quick and doesn’t give you a chance for any true story development. Most of the latter part of the movie deals with 3 of the characters stuck in a room that was supposedly safe from the demons due to spells written on the walls by a slave some time back. The demons trick them into leaving the room, making them believe its daytime and when they come out, well let’s just say 3 becomes 2. I don’t want to spoil the film in case you want to see it but it’s really just another remake that’s using now b-list actors to draw you in. It  does not have the appeal of the original and I would say that if you have never watched the original then to check it out before you see this one. Like I said earlier, it could have been worse but like so many films these days, they settle for over the top gore than substance. The movie moves pretty fast, but  it’s still  just another sad remake trying to capitalize on the youth of today.  Let it be.