Night of the Demons (2010)

Directed By: Adam Gierasch

Starring: Monica Keena, Shannon Elizabeth, Diora Baird, Michael Copon, & Edward Furlong

MPAA Rating: R

My Rating: 4 / 10

It isn't must-see horror cinema, but 1988's Night of the Demons is a fun-as-hell fright flick that is perfect for a Halloween party or late-night movie marathon. And, unlike many movies, I didn't really mind seeing it remade. Why? Because a remake, if done right, could have been just as much fun as its predecessor. I mean, it isn't like the formula was terribly hard to update. Gratuitously naked women + prank-loving demons + creepy haunted house = a good night of horror. Right...right...right? The cast seemed flawless for such a film. Headlined by Monica Keena, Diora Baird, and Shannon Elizabeth (straight-to-DVD horror vixen Tiffany Shepis also appears in a limited role), it seemed almost impossible for the filmmakers to go wrong from there. Alas, they do and quite badly. The remake, unfortunately, substitutes good old-fashioned movie fun for a lot of uninspired gore gags that are all filmed so jerkily and edited so shoddily that even they don't have the effect the filmmakers desired. Throughout the movie, I felt only one emotion, and it was the one feeling that a remake of Night of the Demons should never, never, never elicit: complete boredom.

For fans of the original, the story hasn't changed much. Party-loving Angela (a scenery-chewing Shannon Elizabeth) throws a huge Halloween bash at a supposedly haunted mansion. After the police break up the party, a handful of young people, including Maddie (Monica Keena) and Lily (Diora Baird), remain behind. Looking around the house, they find six skeletons in the basement, one of which bites Angela on her finger. Because of the bite, a demon possesses her body and sets out to possess six other people on Halloween night. If they are able to possess all seven partiers before sunrise, they will be freed from the boundaries of the haunted house and unleashed to bring hell to earth. Simple enough, right? I thought so too, but Night of the Demons over-complicates things by introducing an unnecessary back story that the characters just miraculously know, despite most of them never having entered (or, for all we know, even heard about) the house before. The back story is primarily used to explain a "safe room" in the house, a room that becomes more of a boring plot device than any real contribution to the entertainment factor. Other than that, it gives the demons a reason for being there, but they really didn't need one. "There's a haunted house that has demons" is all I really needed to hear...all of that "they couldn't follow hell's rules" nonsense didn't work for me and, rather, just wasted time.

So, now that I've probably bored you to death explaining why this movie bored me to death, let's turn to what this remake did right. I actually did see what the screenwriters and director Adam Gierasch were going for with this movie. The fact that they were aiming for a cheap, all-out entertaining horror movie is quite evident, and I appreciated that, since that is exactly what it should have been, given its pedigree. And, with the exception of Edward Furlong (who, for the love of God, needs to be banned from straight-to-DVD horror films indefinitely), I liked the cast. Diora Baird and Bobbi Sue Luther stretched their sex kitten roles as far as their latex bras could possibly go, and Monica Keena is okay as the good (but not too good) heroine. It's Shannon Elizabeth who seems to embrace the goofiness of the movie the most, exaggerating her facial expressions and movements almost to the point of slapstick. She isn't winning an Oscar...like ever...but I think she understands the meaning of the phrase "dumb fun" and played that up as much as possible with her character.

I also appreciated some of the new scenes added to the film. The scene where multiple arms are reaching through the walls of the aforementioned "safe room" trying to get our survivors was quite effective, and a dance scene with Shannon Elizabeth and Bobbi Sue Luther was great at building tension (even if the pay-off was ruined by a piss-poor gore effect). And, you know, after a Halloween night of trick-or-treating and heavy drinking (when, I imagine, most people would watch a movie like this anyway), Night of the Demons probably wouldn't be a bad movie to watch with your three-sheets-to-the-wind friends. That being said, if I have to be intoxicated to enjoy a movie (especially when I had a blast with its predecessor while being completely sober), it probably means that the movie just isn't any good. Such is the case with Night of the Demons. I had high hopes for this remake, if only because the original was so good at playing up its dumber-than-dirt entertainment value. But, I was left completely disappointed, especially by the fact that Night of the Demons (2010) just wasn't any fun. I was hoping for a movie that I could play alongside its predecessor next Halloween for a B-movie double feature. But nope, I think I'll just stick with the original.