Demons
Short description
Demons is a 1985 Italian horror film directed by Lamberto Bava, who wrote the screenplay with Franco Ferrini and Dario Argento; Argento also produced it. The story begins when a young woman named Cheryl and a friend accept free tickets from a stranger in a silver mask and attend a sneak preview at a newly reopened Berlin cinema called the Metropol. In the lobby, a prop mask on display cuts one of the guests, and she soon turns into a demon. The transformation mirrors what is happening on screen, and the creature attacks the audience. The exits are sealed, trapping the patrons inside, and each victim becomes another demon, so the survivors must find a way out.
The film stars Natasha Hovey, Urbano Barberini, Karl Zinny, Fiore Argento, Paola Cozzo and Fabiola Toledo, among a credited cast of 43. It runs 89 minutes and was made for about 2 million dollars, followed the same year by the sequel Demons 2. It came after Macabre, A Blade in the Dark and Blastfighter in Bava's directing career. On IMDb the film holds a critics' rating of 6.1/10 from 13 reviews, while on TMDB it has a rating of 6.6/10 from 659 votes, indicating a modest but comparable level of approval from both critics and audiences.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot in Berlin. The plot begins at the Heidelberger Platz subway station.
- Michele Soavi, a fan of Argento's work and assistant director, played the role of the man in the mask.
- When the girl runs from a man in a mask through the ostensibly empty train station, you can notice two men smoking behind a column.
- The audience learns that they cannot leave the cinema because there is no exit. However, when the 'Metropole' is shown from the street, illuminated rooms are visible through the windows. It is unclear what prevented them from jumping out of a window or rappelling down.
- A poster for the film 'Four Flies on Grey Velvet' (1971) hangs in the theater lobby (this is the title of Dario Argento's third film).
- The building used for the scenes at the 'Metropol' theater still stands in Berlin. It is a club called 'Goya,' which has hosted several horror conventions since its appearance in this film.
- When the helicopter crashes and falls through the ceiling into the cinema, the housing at the base of the blades is missing or damaged, but in the next frame it is already in place and intact.
- Argento's daughter, Fiore, plays Hanna.
- When Cheryl transforms into a demon and comes close to the camera, you can see where her prosthetic teeth begin (her real gums are visible).
- The helicopter blades couldn't cut the demon's abdomen because the rotor was positioned too high, which is visible in the previous shots.
- In the video game Silent Hill, there is a theater called 'Metropol,' as well as posters advertising this film at the ticket office.
- When the helicopter crashes into the cinema, there are no deceased pilots in the cockpit. But in the next frame, their bodies appear.
- In the scene where George and Cheryl climb onto the roof of the cinema, a crescent moon is visible in the sky through the city skyscrapers. In the final shot of the film, a full moon is visible in the upper right of the screen (the events take place on the same night).
- After the little boy shoots Cheryl, the jeep starts driving towards the rising sun. In the next scene, it is pitch dark, with no sign of dawn.
- Lamberto Bava said that of all the films he directed, this is his favorite.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
