Demonstone (1990)

Col. Joe Haines (Ermey) and Andy Buck (Jan-Michael Vincent, who we call JMV) are Marines going around Manila trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious series of murders. The authorities are blaming one of their fellow Marines, Tony McKee (Skipper), but Haines and Buck aren't so sure. Soon, reporter Sharon Gale (Everhard) is involved in unraveling the puzzling case. Meanwhile there is civil unrest with plenty of protesters objecting to the American presence in their country. A local senator and baddie with the less-than-frightening name of Belfardo (Gamboa) is trying to manipulate things for his own ends - and what of the ancient curse of the Demonstone? Could that be the cause of all the misery? Find out if you dare...You might be thinking right now, "Demonstone? Isn't that a horror movie?" - and that is reasonable enough to think, but Demonstone is actually an action movie. Granted, there are some horror elements and the whole thing plays out like a cross between Saigon Commandos (1988) and Soultaker (1990) with a bit of Braddock: Missing In Action III (1988) thrown in for good measure. There's the prerequisite barfight and constant machine gun shooting. But JMV and R. Lee Ermey make a great team. While JMV's dialogue seems a bit slurry this time around, his own hair picks up the slack. It looks cool, and gets progressively cooler in every scene. Truth be told, both his and Everhard's hair look exactly the same. You wouldn't be able to tell them apart if you saw them from the upper forehead up.As for Ermey, he plays a...wait for it...tough-talking Marine Colonel! Hey, better to be typecast than not cast at all. We're actually big Ermey fans, and he does a great job. He's as intimidating as usual here, until a shot of him walking with JMV reveals him wearing some highly ridiculous shorts. Then we felt less intimidated. Interestingly, the great Brian Trenchard-Smith is credited as a producer on Demonstone, and he featured Ermey prominently in the previous year's The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989). Perhaps he was so impressed with him, he opted to use him again in this project. The editor on 'Firebase was director Prowse, who also directed Driving Force (1989). While Prowse did a good job, we can't help but wonder what the result would have been if Trenchard-Smith (who is one of our favorites) was in the director's chair.We appreciated that the movie was shot in - and also took place in - the Philippines. They didn't try to pretend it was somewhere else. And actors like Gamboa and Avellana that we often see help liven things up. Surprisingly, Vic Diaz was not around for this one. In some of the protesting scenes, there are signs that say "Yankee Go Home", among others with questionable English. You gotta love it. Maybe whoever wrote the signs also wrote the script, because there is plenty of funny dialogue on display, which actually is one of the strongest points of Demonstone. Where else will you hear someone angrily call someone else a "corndog" as an insult? While Demonstone would have been stronger if there was a specific, central villain and JMV and Ermey were cops busting heads to get to him, it's still worthwhile, especially if you've enjoyed the other horror/sci-fi/action hybrids of Fries Entertainment such as Peacemaker (1990) and Steel and Lace (1991).

This was a pretty decent movie I thought, considering it was really a low-budget action flick. The setting is convincing - the lush, tropical Phillipines. The acting is very good. R. Lee Emery (you've seen him so many times as the Southern-drawling bad guy - like the newer "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ) is refreshing as Col. Haines in this. He's a good guy for a change! Nancy Everhard is very good as Sharon, a TV reporter who gets possessed by an ancient Chinese monk. She has a nice svelte figure, and her quiet, intelligent persona make her much more interesting than the usual girl/love interest in these kind of action movies. Jan Michael Vincent puts in a decent performance as well. He's neither coked up or drunk in this, which is saying a lot for one of his later movies. Jan must have just gotten out of rehab when he filmed this, because he looks great. This is the gruffer, older JMV, but he's very blonde and in great physical shape (JMV fans, take note of all too brief but really great love scene with Everhard!). It's nice to see him still starring in something like this in the late 80's, getting lots of screen time, before the string of bad sci-fi/erotic films he made in the 90's, in which he appears for only a few minutes. Overall, it's worth a look, especially if you are a JMV fan (like me!).

A beautiful television correspondent finds herself possessed by a vengeful demon, a former Chinese mystic who was slain by a Filipino warlord 500 years before.Before the mystic died he swore he would slowly destroy all of his descendants.Before the mystic died he swore he would slowly destroy all of his descendants.The mystic makes good on his promise and the victims are killed ritually and branded with the mark of the dreaded demonstone to prove the revenge.The reincarnation of the warlord,now a corrupt Filipino politician,tries to find the killer,but has no luck until an American Marine,Tony McKee is found near one of the most recent victims.The politician immediately frames him for the death."Demonstone" plays better as a straight action flick with lots of gun fights,the horror sequences actually seem out-of-place.The acting is decent,the action almost never lets up,unfortunately the horror moments are poorly done.6 out of 10.

I admit it was with some trepidition that I watched this movie. I was more than pleasantly surprised! It's a classic tale of possession and revenge with actors that stayed true to character and were quite believable. The subtle changes between normalcy and possession that Everhard shows is wonderful. Jan-Michael Vincent's acting abilities have not yet been taken over by the drinking and drugs. R. Lee Emery as Jan-Michael Vincent's CO and friend is a wonderful character.I really can't fault this movie, but it IS for adults (or older teens) because of the violence (lots of shooting between the good guys and bad guys) and a little adult language.