Film

Demons

Name: Demons
Genre: Horror
Released: 1985
Cast: Urbano Barberini, Natasha Hovey, Karl Zinny, Fiore Argento, Paola Cozzo

Horror
Fantasy
Very dark

Lamberto Bava's 1985 splatter masterpiece: a motley crew trapped in a Berlin cinema where demons literally crawl out of the screen. Eighties horror at its most uninhibited—gorily inventive, dizzyingly stylish, powered by a goblin-synth score that never lets up. For those who want practical effects, darkly comic mayhem, and zero apologies.

TMDb rating

3.3

If you liked this

The Thing1982

Paranoia-soaked siege horror with practical effects that still astound. Like Demons, it traps people in close quarters with something evolving and unstoppable, ratcheting tension through sheer craft and a willingness to go far.

But Bleak and methodical rather than fun; the pacing demands patience and the ending offers no comfort.

Evil Dead II1987

Two years later, Sam Raimi went exactly as far as Bava did but leaned harder into the joke. Same visceral glee, same practical ingenuity, same sense that the filmmaker is having the time of his life torturing his actors.

But The tonal whiplash between horror and slapstick won't work for everyone. Some find it silly rather than cathartic.

Suspiria1977

Argento's operatic masterpiece: garish, geometrically composed, driven by that same Goblin synthesizer pulse. A woman enters a dance academy that is actually a witch's coven. Pure style as substance.

But The plot is thin and logic takes a back seat. If you need a story that makes sense, this will infuriate you.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Demons

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Phantom of the Paradise1974

Both trap people in a theater where spectacle becomes horror. Both believe the cinema itself is a dangerous, magical space where art can possess and transform.

Brian De Palma's operatic rock-horror: a composer makes a Faustian pact in a glittering rock theater, where art and violence become indistinguishable. Gorgeous, musical, Hitchcockian without being a pastiche.

But This is a rock opera at heart—if the music doesn't move you, the emotional spine dissolves. Also genuinely rare and hard to see.

The Howling1981

Werewolf horror with real invention—multiple approaches to the transformation, a retreat where the monsters gather. Fast-moving, darkly funny, and genuinely unsettling without ever stopping to explain itself.

But The ending veers toward comedy in ways that undercut the tension. Some effects have aged less gracefully than others.

Dead Ringers1988

Cronenberg's intimate body-horror chamber piece: Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists whose codependency curdles into mutual destruction. Unsettling and surgical, utterly committed to its premise.

But This is slow, psychological, and deeply uncomfortable. Nothing explodes. If you want action, keep looking.

Re-Animator1985

Also 1985, also practical effects run amok, also knows exactly how funny its premise is. Herbert West reanimates corpses with comically gruesome results. Trashy, clever, and energized.

But The tone is consistently comedic. Those looking for real scares rather than laughs will bounce off it.

Poltergeist1982

Spielberg-produced, Hooper-directed haunted house that doesn't ask you to pick a side between spectacle and dread. Inventive set-pieces, genuine scares, and a family you actually care about.

But The pacing softens in the middle. Also, if you want bleeding-edge body horror, this is mainstream family entertainment by comparison.

The Beyond1981

Fulci's dreamlike Italian horror: a hotel becomes a portal to Hell and reality dissolves. More interested in mood and surreal imagery than plot coherence. Hypnotic and strange.

But Patience required. The story barely exists and some scenes feel disconnected. Narrative clarity is not the point.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg's hallucinatory media-horror: reality blurs between TV, tape, and bodily transformation. Visual inventiveness matched to genuine philosophical unease about what we consume.

But Genuinely difficult and deliberately obscure. The point is discomfort, not catharsis or clarity.

Tenebre1982

Like Demons, made by the same producer (Dario Argento's immediate circle) and shot in the same era. Both believe style—color, music, composition—is the point of horror cinema.

Argento's virtuosic giallo murder mystery: a writer's book about a killer becomes a blueprint for actual murders. Every kill is a geometric puzzle of glass and light. Gorgeous and remorseless.

But Violence toward women, including sexual violence. The aesthetic beauty can read as exploitative depending on your threshold. Also glacially paced.

Possession1981

Both are 1980s Berlin-adjacent horror about bodies as spaces of invasion and uncontrol. Both believe the real monster is interior, and cinema can make that visible.

Andrzej Żuławski's psychosexual unraveling: a crumbling marriage in Cold War Berlin becomes a literal demonic possession. Raw, operatic, visually disorienting. Nothing else feels like it.

But Aggressively ugly and intentionally incoherent. The violence—some sexual—is performed at full volume. Not a film for passive viewing.