Demons and Demons 2 (Limited Edition) – Synapse Films (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1985 (Demons), Italy, 1986 (Demons 2)
Director: Lamberto Bava (Both Films)
Cast: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Fiore Argento, Paola Cozzo, Fabiola Toledo, Nicoletta Elmi, Geretta Geretta, Bobby Rhodes, Michele Soavi (Demons), David Edwin Knight, Nancy Brilli, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Bobby Rhodes, Asia Argento, Virginia Bryant (Demons 2)

Release Date: October 19th, 2021
Approximate Running Times: 88 Minutes 22 Seconds (Demons - Italian/International Version), 88 Minutes 29 Seconds (Demons - US English Version), 90 Minutes 59 Seconds (Demons 2 - Italian Version), 91 Minutes 2 Seconds (Demons 2 - English Version)
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10 (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 Italian, DTS-HD Stereo Italian, DTS-HD 5.1 English, DTS-HD Stereo English (Demons, Demons 2), DTS-HD Mono English (Demons US English Version)
Subtitles: English, English SDH (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $79.95

"In Demons, a masked man offers tickets to a horror movie sneak preview at the mysterious Metropol cinema. When a patron is scratched by a prop displayed in the theatre lobby, she transforms into a flesh-ripping demon! One by one, the audience members mutate into horrible creatures hell-bent on destroying the world! Can anyone escape this gory orgy of terror? In 1986's ambitious sequel Demons 2, the apocalyptic terror continues! A televised horror film spells doom for the residents of a luxury high-rise apartment, as demons are unleashed through the TV screen at a young girl's birthday party. As more and more residents are infected and transformed into blood-thirsty demons, a young couple fights to survive as they try to escape Hell on Earth." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "brand-new spectacular 4K restorations!"

Demons comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 88.1 GB

Demons 2 comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 85.7 GB

The source used for these transfers is reportedly the same source used for Arrow Video’s 4K UHD Demons and Demons 2 releases. That source looks excellent; colors are appropriately vibrant, flesh tones look healthy, and image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid throughout. Needless to say, as good as Synapse Films' earlier Blu-ray releases looked, these new transfers are noticeable upticks in every way.

Audio: 5/5

This release offers many ways to watch Demons and Demons 2. The main audio options are a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Italian, a DTS-HD stereo mix in Italian, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English, and a DTS-HD stereo mix in English. That said, the Demons US English version comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in English. All the tracks are director ported from Synapse Films' 2014 Blu-ray release except the DTS-HD mono track for Demons' US English version. Fidelity wise, all the audio mixes sound great, the dialog always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced. This release comes with two subtitle options: English for all the Italian language tracks and English SDH for all the English language tracks.

Extras:

Extras on the Demons 4K UHD include Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono), International English theatrical trailer (2 minutes 9 seconds, LPCM mono), US theatrical trailer (1 minute 32 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with producer Dario Argento titled Dario’s Demon Days (10 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with composer Claudio Simonetti titled Defining an Era in Music (9 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with filmmaker Luigi Cozzi titled Splatter Spaghetti Style (11 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with director Lamberto Bava titled Carnage at the Cinema (36 minutes 1 second, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), a second archival interview with Dario Argento titled Dario and the Demons (15 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), a second archival interview with Luigi Cozzi titled Monstrous Memories (30 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with author and film critic Alan Jones titled Profondo Jones (17 minutes 39 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with stuntman Ottaviano Dell’Acqua titled Splatter Stunt Rock (9 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival Q&A with special makeup creations Sergio Stivaletti (36 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a visual essay by author and film critic Michael Mackenzie titled Produced by Dario Argento (27 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Lamberto Bava, SPFX artist Sergio Stivaletti, Claudio Simonetti and actress Geretta Geretta (in Italian with removable English subtitles) and an audio commentary with film critics Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain, co-hosts of the Hell’s Belles podcast.

Extras on the Demons 2 4K UHD include Italian theatrical trailer (2 minutes 56 seconds, LPCM mono Italian with removable English subtitles), International English theatrical trailer (2 minutes 55 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with Sergio Stivaletti titled Crawling Creature Carnage (20 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Luigi Cozzi titled Bava to Bava (16 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with filmmaker Federico Zampaglione titled Demonic Influences (10 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with assistant director Roy Bava titled The Demon’s Generation (34 minutes 50 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a second archival interview with Sergio Stivaletti titled The New Blood of Italian Horror (16 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with Lamberto Bava titled Screaming for a Sequel (15 minutes 59 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with non-removable English subtitles), an archival interview with composer Simon Boswell titled A Soundtrack for Splatter (27 minutes 8 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a visual essay by author and film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas titled Together and Apart (26 minutes 36 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with film critic Travis Crawford.

Other extras include reversible cover art, a reproduction of the original movie ticket from Demons, a special Demons 2 birthday party invitation, a fold-out poster of Demons artwork, and a limited-edition O-card slipcover.

Summary:

Content-wise, Demons and Demons 2 follow similar avenues. They both set the bulk of what occurs in one primary location and both feature a soundtrack filled with heavy metal music. And even the way in which the demons are brought forth to wreak havoc is similar; in Demons, the victims are watching a film, while in Demons 2, it is a television program. Another glaring example that they mirror each other is that both films feature a car full of hoodlums that become unwitting victims due to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. So if you are getting a feeling of déjà vu, don’t worry. This is one of those rare moments where familiarity actually works.

Though Demons and its sequel, Demons 2, were directed by Lamberto Bava, the result is a lot more polished than any of his other films. And no one needs to look any further than his collaborators on this film, most notably Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay and produced the film. In fact, there are several instances in the first Demons film that have the Argento blueprint all over them, like a camera shot that echoes an iconic shot from Tenebre. The other Argento connections include composer Claudio Simonetti (Phenomena, Opera) and assistant director Michele Soavi (Stagefright), who both worked on Demons.

From a visual standpoint, both films look great throughout. Also, pacing is never an issue since both films feature an ample amount of gore at brisk intervals. And when it comes to the special effects, they are very effective and appropriately grotesque. A standout FX moment is a scene where a woman is hunched over on all fours and a demon hatches out of her back.

The cast features several actors who appear in both films, albeit as different characters. Performance-wise, all of the characters are one-dimensional and no attempt is made to build back-stories. Fortunately, what these performances lack in depth, they more than make up for in entertainment value. Bobby Rhodes, who plays a pimp in Demons and a trainer at a gym in Demons 2, gives the best performances in both films. Ultimately, Demons and Demons 2 are solid examples of what Italian horror cinema was capable of during its heyday.

Demons and Demons 2 get an impressive 4K UHD from Synapse Films that gives both films solid audio/video presentations and a ridiculous amount of extras, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer