Night of the Demons (2009)

Paying respect to a film by trying to remake it DOES NOT always pan out. This is the case with the 2009 version of Night of the Demons. Being a smaller than normal budget film and having to mediocre stars in Furlong and Elizabeth as leads did nothing for this movie. In my honest opinion NOT a very good film choice for Shannon Elizabeth. The first film in 1988 scores an almost 7 out of 10 with originality and this barely hits 5. The plot is generic as college age kids party at an abandoned house that has a haunting secret. Typical scenario as police raid and bust party and half dozen young adults get locked inside. They roam the house, find strange markings, skeletons in a secret room and demonic hell results. The dialogue is bland, full of "f***s" and "s***s", the acting is tragically phoned in and there is no scare tact at all. It is a simple supposed to be gore fest that fails at most levels. I would NOT recommend but if in need for a filler for the afternoon you can watch this flat remake of a 1988 cult classic. 4/10

I'm not going to say much about this movie itself. I never actually bought it. Hell, it started with Cally Harper Ewing in DALLAS, I was nuts about Cathy Podewell, so, when RavenGlamDVDCollector got his electronic gun, I Googled her, went Wikipedia, and found she was, besides EARTH ANGEL and an episode of BEVERLY HILLS 90210, in titles I didn't know about. NIGHT OF THE DEMONS. Research on that one showed (a) it's total junk! (b) it's a very active franchise. I finally got a great deal, and ordered NIGHT OF THE DEMONS for next to nothing, a giveaway price, hell, I thought I could smile at the offal heads as they terrorized the little screamer. Sh...ucks! When it came, it was the 2009 remake. No, readers, it hadn't been my mistake, the seller posted the wrong picture, and when informed nicely by me, they apologized, and immediately rectified, the same thing happened with BLACK Christmas as well. But I kept my purchase, it was Shannon American PIE Elizabeth after all, I noticed. Gee, I knew I'd possibly rant against it in many ways. That's the break when you collect with the actresses in mind, it's way often not your kind of fun, but you're insisting on that girl, and that one, and that one...Somewhere here, in a review or a board post, I read somebody commenting on Shannon's performance, putting her down, as basically a half-hearted participant in this movie, looking like she doesn't want to be a part of it. That's a serious allegation. Come on! "Poster" might be referring to the character in the early part of the movie, so is confusing what is necessitated by the script. Let me just say that Shannon is quite the "Mistress of the Dark" dollybird in here, loved the fringe, and that 'come hither' dance midway in the movie. I think, in my own opinion, she did damn well!As far as horrors go, sh** there is one super- scary jump-out-of-your-seat moment, I'm sure those who have watched knows where it is! but all in all, there are so many low points... And the male lead, that Edward Furlong whatever bloke, gee, there's somebody just coasting along for the pay-check. Doesn't play the part with a hint of conviction. Just ploughs through the lines. Pain.Gross-out overdone scenes just make for a silly experience. The much-mentioned 'lipstick scene' is certainly a new low point in 'sexy adult' movie history. That 'ripped-off face' was poxy, very, very poxy. As for all the maggoty gore, sick joys to the sickos out there. And, as for Miss Wonderbra, that just doesn't cut it as glamorous, dear, too (two?) trashy, Suzanne. Though I liked luscious Lily with the cat whiskers, meow!!Not that bad, but far from good. Excess is never a good thing.

It's unbelievable how this completely cloned concoction can be considered anything but trash. Not Trash in the good sense but disposed in a dumbster. Everything here is without one bit of originality or organic substance of any sort. OK there is ONE scene that is noteworthy but not that it amounts to much.The makeup of the Demons, the neo-whore outfits, the buckets of blood, the music, and of course the plot, have all been done before. Not only done before, but done to death. Nothing is terrifying or suspenseful, horrific or humorous, and it seems to be more interested in showing soft-core porn outfits and soft-core sexual behavior, rather than trying to create any kind of absorbing atmosphere."Demons...not too smart"...she says.........Movie...not too smart! Actually, asinine and brain dead.

Hey, perhaps if all remakes were as unpretentious and amusing as "Night of the Demons", people wouldn't complain so much about the deterioration of the horror genre in general… This one is several hundred miles away from being a good or even semi-memorable horror movie, but it's entertaining while it lasts and offers plentiful of adequate make-up effects, a suitably light-headed atmosphere and a whole lot of yummy voluptuous actresses in revealing Halloween costumes! In all fairness, I also have to admit that it was pretty impossible to mess up a remake of the modest 1988 cult-favorite. The original "Night of the Demons", as well as both of its sequels released during the 1990's, was a very simplistic and unpretentious little flick also and it's rather easy to accomplish a present day update for the post-2000 horror audiences by making just a few minor changes left and right. The titular night still refers to the Halloween celebration, but instead of an abandoned funeral home like in the original, the party mansion is now a sinister family estate where once – in the roaring 20's – a horrible tragedy occurred when a desperate woman tried to win the love of a man trough a séance, but she ended up awakening seven demons that were even exiled from hell for being too bloodthirsty. To reign again, the demons require seven human bodies to possess, and let this just happen to be the exact number of idiots that remain loafing around the house after the police rudely interrupted the party. Hostess Angela is the first victim to mutate, and through seductive games and lesbianism she gradually causes the rest to go demon too. The mansion's history records may have altered slightly, but director/co-writer Adam Gierasch nevertheless blatantly copies the main trumps and highlight sequences of the 1988 original. Most notably the infamous sequence with the lipstick receives an update and furthermore the movie revolves on luscious twenty-something people that flirt, drink and cannot keep their hormones under control. The kills and make-up effects are well-handled, but nowhere near as imaginative as in the old installments and there's zilch tension, logic or sympathy for the characters. I presume that supporting actresses Diora Baird ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre: New Beginning") and Bobbi Sue Luther ("Laid to Rest") were exclusively cast for their large bra-sizes and their willingness to share their beautiful boobs with the rest of the world, whereas Monica Keena ("Freddy Vs. Jason") has the tough responsibility to depict an amiable and more or less intellectual heroine. "Night of the Demons" also features two relatively washed up stars of the 90's in the shape of Shannon Elizabeth and Edward Furlong. The former hasn't appeared in anything significant since she went topless in "American Pie" and the latter will probably always remain the kid from "Terminator II" and "American History X". But seriously, Edward Furlong looks terrible these days… Pretty much like he's consuming nothing but drugs and alcohol since the year 2000. Oops, I just quickly checked his biography here on the site, and it actually appears to be true. Sorry, Edward.