Night of the Demons (2009)

   

Directed by: Adam Gierasch

Written by: Jace Anderson & Adam Gierasch

Starring:

Monica Keena .... Maddie
Edward Furlong .... Colin
John F. Beach .... Jason
Shannon Elizabeth .... Angela Feld
Bobbi Sue Luther .... Suzanne
Diora Baird .... Lily
Michael Arata .... Louis
Michael Copon .... Dex

Special Appearances:

Tiffany Shepis .... Diana
Linnea Quigley .... Ballerina Woman

Release Dates: Film 4 Fright Fest: August 30, 2009 (UK); ScreamfestLA International Horror Film Festival: October 8, 2010; International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival: October 17, 2010

 

 

 

Rating:

 

A bunch of girls named Maddie (Monica Keena), Suzanne (Bobbi Sue Luther) and Lily (Diora Baird) are getting ready to go to a Halloween party at a mansion called the Hull House hosted by Angela Feld (Shannon Elizabeth) who has invoted her neighborhood area on the internet to have a wild party there.
One of the partygoers named Colin (Edward Furlong) is in serious trouble as he needs to pay up some money for his addiction and is trying to find any cash that he can in order to do so.
Suddenly the police bust the party and only a few of them stick around to spend the night there who managed to hide on them in which they try to entertain themselves including telling a tale on what happened at the mansion.
They also discover a burial ground with skeletal corpses in which one of them bites Angela's finger which makes her feel ill at first and then becomes possessed by the bite mark and then goes on a killing spree possessing the rest at the mansion as the survivors have to wait till dawn in order to survive since they are trapped there.

 

Well I didn't know what to expect from remakes and I must say that this one was completely different than from the original with some similar touches but there's very few of them which I will go through while discussing the ups and downs of this story.
The beginning shows a black & white silent film which is a prologue to the story as it looked fairly impressive and then it involves a possessed person turned into a demon attacking which is a different touch proving that this film won't be totally black & white. It also leaves an impression wondering if you're watching the right movie too. Then the opening credits start with a town full of trick or treaters. The opening was a disappointment since the original shows an animated opening which I found highly entertaining since it was very 80's b-horror like and this one focuses too much on typical today genre horror films.
Then there's two bimbos dressing up as a cat for Halloween since we need these types like the original did too but yet this scene seemed fairly boring.
Then there's pranksters as well as a punk stealing candy during trick or treating too as well as a woman in a ballerina outfit about to get candy for the kids and bending down exposing her panties like we see in the original film but in that one there was a different situation. This seemed to be a fun looking tribute to the original nonetheless which I enjoyed.
Yet the Hull House doesn't look old and creepy like in the original plus there's tons of people having a wild party there which doesn't come across at all as creeky and scary since there's too much loud music playing. But yet there is a scene that borrows from the original when one of the partygoers named Maddie is putting lipstick on looking in a mirror and something happens since this almost makes you jump out of your seat.
There's also a moment with an addict named Colin owing a pimp some money with one of his whores doing oral on him while speaking sternly to him which I was thinking to myself "How lame can you get???" Yet this is a totally different twist to any of the characters compared to the original.
I love Angela hosting the party and really getting into the enertainment of stuff but at the same time she doesn't do any wild dances after she's possessed which is another letdown but later on that.
I think to myself when will the possessions happen as it's nothing but corny dialogues and a crowded party. However the police chase everyone out and very few including Angela are left there which makes me think to myself that now the fun will happen. There's of course told stories about what happened there over a hundred years ago which seemed impressive as well as the flashbacks since the original never discussed that one too much. There's also them discovering a burial area with skeletal corpses with one of them biting Angela's finger which makes you jump out of your seat since beforehand things were too still and quiet.
Then there's a spin the bottle game everyone plays in order to kill time for the storyline which seemed fairly bland and there were lesbian moments here and there with all of this too.
Of course we have to see a punk fornicating with his girlfreind doggystyle which looked so uninspred and not impressive to other who enjoy watching sex along with their horror but yet this punk was impressive when his eyes lit up and was a possessed demon.
Wait! There's the classic moment with a bimbo stuffing her lipstick in her breast nipple like the one in the original since we need to have that moment since it was the most memorable scene of all. However there's an ending result after she retrieves it which will gross you out big time since the makers wanted to be more original with this scene tribute and failed miserably. However it's shocking.
Of course there's the chasing scene's with the survivors which seemed interesting at times and stale in other spots too. Suddenly the survivors see daylight thinking they're safe but yet we all know that would be way too easy since the film would really suck if it ended like that.
Suddenly, one of the people you thought would survive known as Colin mangled his leg after he fell which does leave an impression on how painful that would really be almost making this moment hard to watch.
Bottom line is this film should've been left alone since the original was great as it is still having that dark still 80's type of creepy feel and this one was way too out there with too much happening and way too slapstick too. The make up effects of the possessed people turned into demons was laughable too which didn't make matter better either. Plus the makers tried to add CGI effects by people spinning their head back and fourth while transforming into a demon which I thought to myself "Ho Hum!" It's not all that bad since it can be fun to watch but this would be categroised as the same remake like A Nightmare On Elm Street as one of those kinds that go nowhere and a waste of time to be made.

The acting in the film is not too bad in which we have lead actress Monica Keena (Maddie) had the nice looks which can grab and viewers attention plus showed a good charisma to her role whenever she acts outgoing or yet sensitive. She also does well getting anxious which she really looked energetic while doing so plus showed a good tough as nails behavior alltogether too. There's great sneering expressions on her firing her gun and getting tough which also looked highly energised.
Edward Furlong (Colin) Yes the lad who was in big time motion pictures like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Pet Semetary 2 has the male lead role in this small flick. He of course plays a drug addict and does well with his troubled emotions in this film along with showing good troubled expressions too. He really looked believeable as a basket case. Reacts very well to his mangled leg on the ground screaming in intense pain. This isn't his best performance but still did his job well.
John F. Beach (Jason) sure brought on a nice insecurity to his role as well as acting choked up during certain situations in the film. Yet in a certain scene he performed a little cheesy while looking shocked and choking out his words. He also shows great energy with his anxious behavior too when crazy things start to happen in which he comes across quite natural with this character. He was a nice key to the story and came across nicely with everything that he did and can be well remembered to anyone who saw this film.
Shannon Elizabeth (Angela Feld) showed a great bubbly type of attitude to her part as the main horror character in the film bringing on a nice charm to her part. Has a great presence hosting the party and really getting into the mood for what she is doing which looked quite natural. She shows great excitement as well as showing another side to her when she doesn't feel well or yet when she's possessed she seems to speak coldly fairly well too. A nice shocking reaction on her kneeling near a corpse and then being bit by a corpse. However, she doesn't perform it as well as Mimi Kinkade in the original flicks.
Bobbi Sue Luther (Suzanne) really brought some good spunk into her role as one of those partying bimbo types but yet a smarter one who shows alot of happiness into her part and high pitched energy too. She certainly came across as a good character actress and can certainly draw attention onto the camera too.
Michael Copon (Dex) showed a nice toughness to his part in the film and getting blunt about stuff. He really came across as intimidating by everything that he does. He had the perfect looks too in which he had a rough appeal to everything that he did.
As for the cameo roles here:
Today's b-film scream queen Tiffany Shepis (Diana) looked stunning in her role and really knew how to portray one of those stuck up tough types at the party and stood out really well for what she did. She was certainly a working class actress.
Linnea Quigley (Ballerina Woman) wore the same outfit like she did in the original film but this time was a resident to trick or treaters and still got that spunk even if her part was less than a minute long and sure knew on how to pay a tribute to her role.

Bobbi Sue Luther pulls off her top and exposes her big boobs

A woman's face gets torn off
Blood pours out of a woman's vagina
Insides of people are torn out and eaten
A person's leg is mangled

There's alot of high screechy and scraping sound effects as well as some low sounding synthesizer music too which sounds nicely upgraded for today's horror standards but yet the music is nowhere near as effective like it was for the original film even if it was considered cheesy. Yet there's the odd low violin music which sounded pretty good. All of this was put together by Joseph Bishara.

As for the soundtracks there's some great band's in many spots of the film with alot of gloomy type singing in certain tracks as well as heavy guitar riffs too.