Demonia [DVD]

Film looks great. The item is exactly as Described.

Very good.

Warning: SPOILERS!!! This horror film, directed/co-written by Lucio Fulci during his "twilight" period, may not make a lot of sense, but there's no denying that it has an atmosphere of dread that just won't quit. Filled with scenes of nasty gory violence, something we have come to depend on from Fulci, this film may leave you shaking your head in disbelief, but I guarantee you will not be bored. This film can be considered a late addition to the "Nunsploitation" genre, a genre I am not a big fan of, but Fulci puts his own "brand" on it, making it a unique viewing experience, especially for 1990. SICILY 1486: A group of angry men drag five nuns into a room of the Santa Rosita Monastery and crucify them on large wooden crosses, hammering metal spikes into the palms of their hands and then killing them by pounding metal spikes into their hearts. The men then leave the room laughing, while the camera shows us a mountain of human bones in the floor below this room. The room is then sealed up and the nuns' deaths will be a village secret for centuries to come. TORONTO 1990: Anthropologist Liza Harris (Meg Register; MINISTRY OF VENGEANCE - 1989) is participating in a séance, when she sees the image of one of the crucified nuns and passes out. When she wakes up, her boss, Professor Paul Evans (Brett Halsey; Fulci's THE DEVIL'S HONEY - 1986), is standing beside her and berates her for attending "senseless" séances, reminding her that they are going to Sicily tomorrow to study Greek ruins as part of an expedition to discover how Greek history influenced Sicily. It will be a trip neither of them will forget and only one of them will survive. Once in Sicily, Liza becomes obsessed with the ruins of the Santa Rosita Monastery, even though Professor Evans tells her that the monastery has nothing whatsoever to do with the expedition. The mayor of the small village pays the Professor a visit and warns him not to ask the villagers any questions, they are very private people and don't like to talk to strangers and trying to question them could be extremely dangerous, even deadly. The Professor and Liza then go to visiting oceanographic anthropologist Porter (Al Cliver; Fulci's THE BEYOND - 1981) on his boat and he tells Liza to stay away from the monastery, because the locals will kill to keep their secrets. Porter tells them that the locals will refuse to help them at all, because they believe that the "past belongs dead." He is right, of course, as the locals refuse to even acknowledge Liza when she walks into the village and one local, butcher Turi DeSimone (Lino Salemme; GRAVEYARD DISTURBANCE - 1988), threatens Liza's life if he sees her at the monastery again. One night, Liza walks to the monastery in a trance-like state and destroys a fresco of a nun with her pickaxe, opening a hole in the wall that leads her to the room where the nuns were crucified over 500 years ago, their skeletons still hanging on the large wooden crosses. The sight of the murdered nuns snaps Liza out of her trance and she screams and runs away. This discovery leads to a series of gory murders perpetrated by the ghosts of the nuns. The first to die is Porter, who returns to his boat after going on a booze run. He finds the lights on, which seems strange since he knows he turned them off. He enters the boat's living quarters, only to have a headless ghostly nun (!) kill him with a spear gun bolt to his chest. Expedition crewmembers Kevin (Pascal Druant; BLUE TORNADO - 1990) and Sean (Grady Thomas Clarkson; ARENA - 1989) use the monastery as a place to secretly drink, away from the nasty Professor (who just got done yelling at his crew for singing!), when they hear the sound of women laughing in the distance. They both go to investigate and fall into a pit full of sharp spikes and end up dead with several wooden spikes impaled through their bodies. When their bodies are discovered, Interpol agent Inspector Carter (Lucio Fulci, in an extended uncredited cameo) and his partner Lt. Andi (Michael J. Aronin; THE LONE RUNNER - 1986) question Professor Evans and Inspector Carter tells him he will hold him responsible if there are any more deaths. He tells the Professor that his wife is from this village, so he better not talk to any of the locals if he knows what's good for him. Inspector Carter and Lt. Andi then look for the missing Porter on his boat and find his severed head attached to the boat's anchor. Lt. Andi accuses the Professor of being the murderer of Porter based on a ten-year-old story (and Lt. Andi's love for detective novels!) where the Professor refuted one of Porter's discoveries, which resulted in the Professor losing his profession and his standing among his peers when he was proved wrong. The Professor denies the allegation, telling Lt. Andi that it is all water under the bridge; he and Porter made up and were now friends, but the Professor wonders if he and his crew should pull out of Sicily and head back to Toronto. Liza then meets a medium/cat lady named Lilla (Carla Cassola; THE SECT - 1991), who tells Liza that the five crucified nuns were actually beautiful satanic witches who (cue the flashbacks!) invited young men to join them in orgies and would kill them (by stabbing them in the neck) as they reached orgasm, drinking their blood and then going insane with delirium. If any of the nuns became pregnant, they would deliver their babies and then immediately throw them into a fire as a sacrifice to Satan (end of the flashbacks!). Lilla tells Liza not to tell anyone what she has just heard if she wants to stay alive; what she needs to do is ask God for help. When Liza leaves Lilla's home, Lilla's collection of cats go on a flesh frenzy and attack Lilla (after she hears the nuns laughing), graphically tearing out her eyes and eating them. A ghostly nun enters Turi's butcher shop and impales Turi in the neck with a meat hook. She's not done with him, though, as she nails his tongue to a butcher's block (!) and finishes him off by locking him in the freezing meat locker (in typical Fulci overkill). Inspector Carter finds a piece of ancient cloth next to Turi's frozen body and now knows that the Professor is not involved. Robbie (Francesco Cusimano), a young boy who is the son of crewmembers Susie (Christina Englehardt; SKINNER - 1993) and John (Ettore Comi) is kidnapped by a faceless (but not headless) ghostly nun, but he escapes, only to find his father in a booby trap, both his legs tied between two bent trees. His father tells him not to move, but Robbie doesn't listen and steps on the tripwire. He watches his father being torn in half, from nuts to neck (really graphic and gory) as his blood sprays all over a shocked Bobby's body. Just as the Professor is ready to call it quits, one of his crewmembers tells him he has made an important discovery and the Professor changes his mind, but makes it clear to Liza that she has to stop obsessing about the monastery, that's not why they are here. Liza doesn't listen and goes back to the monastery, which riles up the locals, who band together and crucify Liza on a wooden cross, just like their ancestors did to the five nuns. But they take an extra step and burn Liza alive, as the Professor enters the room and mourns her death. But Liza then appears dead on the stone floor, her body no longer burned. For the Professor, it's all too little, too late, as the film ends with the image of a dead Liza lying on the floor. While this film looks very cheap, especially the low-quality gore effects (by Franco Giannini; THE RAT MAN - 1987), Lucio Fulci does manage to imbue this film with a dream-like quality. One such scene shows the Professor yelling to Liza from a far distance not to enter the monastery, while Liza is standing in the middle of the ruins of an ancient stone amphitheater. You have to admire Fulci's sense of style, even though it is obvious he didn't have a lot of money to work with, yet he instills a sense of extreme mystery and awe with his camera setups, none more imaginative than this sequence, shot from both protagonist's point-of-view. It is a beautiful well-shot scene, worthy of a big-budget epic, not a low-budget horror film, yet here it is. That's not to say this film doesn't have its share of problems. The screenplay, by Fulci and Piero Regnoli (PATRICK STILL LIVES - 1980; and Fulci's VOICES FROM BEYOND - 1991), is pretty weak. It seems to be just a series of shock/gore sequences with very little connective tissue between scenes. The pacing is also languid and Brett Halsey's Professor Paul Evans is off-putting, denigrating Liza when he should be supporting her and putting his expedition before Liza's well-being. He's not a very nice man, to Liza or his crew, who let off a little steam at night by singing songs around a campfire, only to have the Professor yell at them for not allowing him to sleep. Even though some of the cinematography is very lavish, the film still has the look and feel of a TV movie, such as Fulci's SWEET HOUSE OF HORRORS (1989), THE HOUSE OF CLOCKS (1989) or TOUCH OF DEATH (1990; also starring Halsey). Still, the film's dream-like quality, mixed with bloody gore (no matter how cheap it looks), manage to propel this film past the ordinary and into a territory I recommend whole-heartedly. It's not prime Fulci, but it still contains more plusses than negatives. A lot of critics give this film bad reviews, but I invite them to view this film again and reassess their opinions. I am willing to bet a lot of them will, for the simple reason that time heals most wounds. It's funny how films we hated when we were younger become classics or semi-classics as we become older. This is one of those films, at least for me. Parts of this film may remind viewers of Fulci's CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980; the opening séance scene) or any of his early-'80s gore flicks and that's never a bad thing, but this film contains enough atmosphere to survive in its own universe, especially the real ruins that are actually in Sicily, Italy, giving this film an authentic look and feel, something which couldn't be done on a stage with sets (even though Fulci was also a master with sets, as he proved with HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY - 1981). This film never received a theatrical or VHS release in the United States until 2001, when Shriek Show/Media Blasters released it both on VHS and DVD (which is how I viewed it, even though they are long OOP). Also featuring Paolo Cozzo (DEMONS - 1985), Isabella Corradini, Paola Calati, Bruna Rossi (ARIZONA ROAD - 1991) and Ruth Anderson as the ghostly nuns. Not Rated. UPDATE: Now available on DVD & Blu-Ray from Severin Films, the purveyors of everything Italian and bless 'em for it!

The last 30 minutes stuff finally happens. None of it makes sense. There is virtually zero nuns in this movie but like the last kills in this movie are so gruesome and cool. Severin delivers it again in great condition in audio and visual quality at least. Get this movie from your library maybe.

this is my second favorite fulci film {behind house by the cemetery} it has a great story and the best gore ever the ending does kinda leave you hanging

Classic horror, so glad there is finally a true Hd version! Decent bonus features

This movie was a leap of faith.. if you like Fulci' movies then your standards on films are not like the majority. I was expecting an enchanting tale like Zombi 2 or Flesheater. But This film just didn't do it for me like his others. I am not that picky after all how could I be I love a lot of movies that are by him. This film is incredibly violent toward women it makes you feel bad when you watch it because the violence is just there with little explanation to why. It is interesting enough but the story is lacking depth and if you are like me the story is the most important part of a Fulci movie because you aren't getting quality acting.

Love Fulci? Love nunsploitation? Then this is the movie for you! It does drag a bit in places, but the best scenes, of which there are many, absolutely make up for this.

This isn't one of Fulci's better horror films, bad line delivery wrecks an interesting premise. To see his better works watch New York ripper, City of the living dead, Zombi flesh eaters, Woman in a lizards skin, Don't torture a duckling.

There’s so much available; i bounce between the Arrow shop & here. Watching for the best deals. Everything was there the discs played fine. It’s only the warehouse workers i worry about sometimes.

E' un buon cult per gli appassionati. Ovvaimente Dario Argento, Mario Bava e Pupi Avati sono su un altro pianeta.

Little spoken of Fulci film delivers in spades. All the Fulci techniques are alive and well in this one. Make a game of it!

Bon film d horreur italien [1990] , pas de VF , bonne restauration HD 👍 Je recommande👌