Demonium

Andreas Schnaas is infamous amongst the horror community as the purveyor of some of the goriest low budget splatterfests to come out of Germany is some time. So it was with some interest that his first proper 'movie' is the one to make its debut in the UK officially on DVD. That movie being 'Demonium', but would this be another vehicle for gore drenched set pieces or would this be in fact a full on real movie deal? Let's see...

What you'll discover very quickly as you begin to watch 'Demonium' is that is most definitely a change of pace from the usual splatter antics and is Schnaas' first attempt at producing a slightly more subtle (if you can call it subtle) violent gothic drama!

The film opens with what appears to be a successful businessman and his blind wife as they rise from bed to go about their everyday business. As he sets off to tie up another deal his wife is left at home to chill a bottle of champagne to celebrate his latest venture. But what his blind love cannot see is a masked knife-welding maniac that quietly follows her every move mere feet away. Following his early meeting the contented bloke calls home to inform his love of his latest success but on hearing an ominous silence on the other end of the line he rushes home nervously fearing that something is wrong. What he doesn't realise that wired up to his bedroom door is a crossbow aimed precisely at his gagged and bound wife and as he opens the door an arrow plunges into the luckless ladies neck. As he rushes to find his hidden assailant he steps right into the path of the maniac who swiftly slices off his head.

We then cut to one year earlier where we meet wealthy eccentric Arnold Berger as he is bludgeoned and hacked to pieces by a mysterious assailant, only for his mutilated corpse to be found by his maid (the aforementioned blind crossbow victim!)

It is here that 'Demonium' as a film starts proper. Old Berger was a wealthy man and his remaining family members make their way from all across Europe to his stately castle for the reading of his will. What happens next should be easy enough for most old school horror fans to guess - take one old creepy castle, a variety of differing family characters, an ever so slightly deranged house staff and a mysterious family secret that will soon be unleashed with horrifying results!

Yes indeed, you've guessed it - they're all doomed! And yes, we've seen it all before since way back in the vintage days of all those 'Ten Little Indians' variations but at least with this tried and tested set piece you're guaranteed some good old horror fun!

With 'Demonium' the horror is in the form of lots of splashy bloody violence with a welcome touch of nudity thrown in for good measure. And it is with the onscreen depravity that most folk will gain great pleasure from, the splatter is what most folk familiar to Schnaas' work will initially be here for but the end result may also be not quite what they would be expecting. First off, the film is indeed very gory with some excellent key moments (chainsaws, hooks, limbs torn off, blood spraying with much welcome glee) but rather than the usual Schnaas camera shots loitering round each scene delighting overlong on each gory moment here the death scenes are edited to be more 'quick cut' giving you just flashes of each gory moment. Now I reckon there will be speculation that perhaps UK distributors pre-cut the movie before submitting it to the censors but considering what is at times shown here (gore and female nudity never where never popular at the BBFC but it's shown here no problem) it looks more to be the editing process of Schnaas moving away from just delighting in gory excess and trying to deliver something different (classier? nah!) for his first big movie event. A usual tell tale sign of pre-cuts is by listening carefully to the films soundtrack and here it plays just fine, with only moment of noticeable audio rhythm going out of step when a poor woman is being chainsawed up her midriff - and the discs accompanying effects documentary hints at scenes like this being far gorier than what is presented?!

But as I say, the only reason that I make comment on this is purely because of the directors low budget track record in gore and 'Demonium' is indeed a damn bloody film that should please fans of this genre. Another possible strong influence on the change of pace could likely be the fact that co-producing and much of the script is by Andreas partner Sonja Schnaas (the female touch perhaps?) along with co-writer Ted Geoghegan. But then again, sods law dictates that no doubt Schnaas will unveil a super gory directors cut in time!

Another thing that many will pick up on early on in the proceedings is that somewhat dubious acting talents (or lack of) from the ensemble cast. Schnaas is obviously trying very hard to make a commercially successful European horror movie but in trying far too hard will inevitably detract from its pleasure. Utilising actors from across Europe and insisting on delivering an English language product must only have caused concern for the cast members who very likely only ever act in their native tongue, so lead actors like Andrea Bruschi and Claudia Abbate who are obviously talented end up coming across like a strange mixture of Rocky Horror by way of Ed Wood or Herschell Gordon Lewis.

But at the end of the day it's the blood and guts we're really here for anyway and 'Demonium' delivers this in spades (alongside the intentional and unintentional chuckles!) A change in pace for Schnaas but an interesting one also!

Now if you're in mixed minds about whether to pick this new generation gothic shocker up then perhaps it will be the presentation here from Screen Entertainment that will help you make that final decision. This release is most definitely their finest yet, in fact as far as independent UK DVD releases go this one is pretty much outstanding!

There are a stack load of extras that offer much for fans of Schnaas' work. First off we get a selection of interviews conducted at the Mostra de Valencia festival - the longest (with lead actors Bruschi and Abbate) will have you cringing as the interviewers are obviously unprepared as the chat is awkward and clumsy with the guests trying their best to keep the conversation going. Thankfully they are joined in the next segment by Schnaas himself who goes through the process of the proud movie salesman, nice chat but would have been more interesting if scripters Sonja Schnaas and Ted Geoghegan had been onboard here also. Finally in the interviews is a very brief chat with Sergio Stivaletti who discusses the even shorter CGI clip that he provided for the movie.

Next on the extras trail is a selection of 12 deleted scenes, some of these actually would have helped the movie if they had been left in place with expansions on the characters and set pieces (chat, flashbacks and symbolic gore!) But it's when we move onto yet another extras screen that we find some very tasty delights as not only to you get the movies trailer but the original teaser short that was produced in order to get financing for the main feature (and very nice it is too!) Also here, is an extended promo and deleted scenes from Schnaas little seen sequel 'Anthrophagus 2000' - this obviously never went anywhere near the BBFC as they would not have been pleased with the gory soft porn eye candy on show, lovely stuff and even more reason for someone to get off their arse and pick this up for an English subtitled release!

The rest of the extras plays much like Schnaas has supplied everything but his kitchen sink with amongst other things a video montage of Schnaas visiting film festivals, an interesting storyboard comparison scene (including clips 'dropped'?!), some behind the scenes footage of the effects work being created (with the unseen body sawed in half), a music audio track ('Soldier of Fortune') that Schnaas created as his spaghetti western theme (though it in fact sounds like something from one of Jorg Butgeriet's movies) and most bizarrely a short enthusiastic video endorsement for Schnaas' work by Troma kingpin Lloyd Kaufman (he gets everywhere!)

'Demonium' is not going to change the face of horror but it should at least provide a pleasant distraction for many horror fans. Poor acting, lots of blood and some titillation thrown into the mix - can't really complain! The disc from Screen Entertainment though is an absolute belter, the print looks great and the numerous extras will keep folk busy and entertained for ages! Worth checking out!

Review by Alan Simpson