October 14th, 2010 - Night of the Demons (remake)

I'm no huge fan huge fan of the original Night of the Demons. It's fun, and sexy and gory, but somehow it never quite gelled with me. The remake is more or less the same. It has a bit more production value, and some cool ideas of it's own, but...I don't know. Something is preventing me from loving it as much as I feel I should.

85 years ago, Evangeline Broussard invites 6 people into her mansion. The next morning, Evangeline has hanged herself and the 6 people are missing. In the present day, an entrepeneuring young woman Angela (Shannon Elizabeth) has rented the house and is holding the mother of all Halloween parties. Of course bad things happen, and 7 guests end up in the house alone trying to survive and not get possessed by a group of demons so evil they got kicked out of hell.

See, that last part is almost enough to make me give the movie a pass. Demons so evil they got kicked out of hell? That's way eviler than the regular demons. Sadly, that's about as original as the movie gets. Not to say that parts of the movie aren't awesome. There is at least one awesome kill involving a face getting bitten off, and a fair share of sex and nudity. It's a pretty awesome movie to have playing in the background of a Halloween party. It even holds up if you pay attention to it. The acting is alright. It's probably the best work Edward Furlong has done in 10 years. Monica Keena plays a slightly tougher and less annoying survivor girl than in Freddy vs. Jason, and gets a pretty badass moment near the end.

I guess, if I was going to try and take a stab at what bugged me so much, it would be that it didn't go far enough. It had a great concept, more money, decent actors and a competant director. There are some really cool shots. But it played it too safe. The movie pushes the idea of hedonism in our faces and talks about how great it is, but shys away from anything truly shocking. Especially for a direct to video release. This is the realm of the unrated, no theaters to appease. Le sigh. It feels like a missed opportunity.

All in all, Night of the Demons 2010 is a fun little Halloween movie. It's a great rental, and might be a good addition to your collection next year when it's dirt cheap. It's fun, sexy and gory. Just like the original.