10 Monster Movies You Should See Before You Die
5. Demons
Described by Kim Newman as “a triumph of illogicality run riot”, Demons is your typical story of people turning into monsters with glowing eyes during a late night screening. Fortunately for the survivors, there’s a motorcycle and a ninja sword in the lobby, allowing them to drive through the aisles decapitating their opponents.
Demons may not be big on credibility, but the director is Lamberto “Son of Mario” Bava so it has a ton of style. If you only remember one thing from the movie, it’ll probably be the image of the demons emerging from the theatre, yellow-eyed and silhouetted against harsh backlighting. The same image was reused on the poster, along with the movie’s best line: “They will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be your tombs.”
Claudio Simonetti’s pounding score is the perfect accompaniment to a movie that never takes a breath, but let’s not forget Sergio Stivaletti’s gore effects. As well as gouged eyes, ripped throats and cool transformation scenes, there’s a sequence where a demon tears its way out of the body of its victim. Every movie should have a scene like that.