7. Demons (Lamberto Bava, 1985)
Coming late in the 1980s zombie cycle Demons was directed by Lamberto Bava, son of the late Mario Bava. Following the disappointing performance of his debut film Macabre (1980), Lamberto was told by distributors to make his next film (1983 giallo A Blade in the Dark) more violent in order to make it easier to sell to bloodthirsty audiences. Bava duly complied and added liberal amounts of the red stuff to this Dario Argento produced film. As violent as A Blade in the Dark is it looks positively pedestrian compared with the outlandish gore of Demons. The film opens with a mysterious masked man (Italian horror director Michele Soavi) handing out flyers for a film screening at the isolated Metropol cinema. Among those at the screening are a blind man and his guide daughter, a pimp accompanied by two of his prostitutes and an old married couple. Most of these people become possessed, turning into demons while the film is still playing. A group of punks break into the cinema and are transformed as well. A lot of blood, guts and pus ensues. Of note is the films rock and heavy metal soundtrack which features Mötley Crüe and Saxon. The soundtrack only adds to the energy and overall insanity of the film.