Review of Night of the Demons (2009) by Shawn P — 13 Oct 2010

I will start off by saying I was not completely disappointed. There was a mixture of total excitement and fear of this remake. Night of the Demons is one of my favorite horror films from the 80s. It was the film that started me on my cheesy B-horror love, and for that reason is a sacred piece of my horror history. With that said, the remake did not totally fail at all, there were parts I was actually pretty impressed by, but let's do a list! If you haven't seen the original...go see it.

There weren't many things that they extrapolated from the original to 're-create', but my absolute favorite part of the original is the very ending with the apple pie. If they had only took one section of that, I wish it would've been that one. The only things I seemingly noticed they took (and some what loosely) was the lipstick and dancing scene. The rest had hints of relation, but for the most part stood its own ground, which is good (I think remakes should be nods, with similar aesthetic, a bit of recreation and a reimagining).

For part of the film, I was rather annoyed by Shannon Elizabeth's performance. First of all, Angela is a classic horror demon, and SE is not really the type to pull it off. Once she was demonized (which I thought there should have been a lot more of), things were alright, but after she becomes possessed, I felt her to be even more annoying then before she was.

Great cameo by Linnea Quiqley (from the original) in her costume from the film.

The acting wasn't the worst, I mentioned Shannon Elizabeth, and for a while I did not mind Monica Kenna (who isn't the best), until the latter part of the film, where, for some reason, she really turned on the "i can't stand watching her". Overall, the characters weren't totally likable, but there is always a half and half with that in horror films.

So, what DID I like about the movie, well, first of all, horror films in haunted mansions have a special place in my heart to begin with, plus the nostalgia element within certain part of the film had me intrigued. Despite some of the stuff I said earlier, the actual effects and make-up were awesome. The part of the film where people weren't partying had a really great 80's feel to it, which you don't always get now-a-days (even when they are aiming for that). The film isn't going to win any awards, and it's not in my personal favorites by any means, but it was fun for the most part, and when thinking about the reason I love the original, it is based highly on fun and atmosphere, and they did a lot better with those elements than I had expected.

With that said, the ending was horrible. What happens was fine, but the monologue at the end of it, was terrible, they easily could've cut the last line out of the film and made the entire film 5% better.

If you are a fan of 80's style films, see it for sure, it does mix in a bit of that annoying 00's teen horror films which are so unwatchable (i.e. Prom Night remake, F13 remake, etc.), but it's the closest i've seen to to 80's in a while. If you are a fan of the original, then you will probably find it to be a fun flick as well (despite its downfalls).