THE DEMONS

Before diving into the review, allow me to give you an idea on what's in store for you:

Girl 1: Have you ever made love with a woman?

Girl 2: Yes.

Girl 1: Did you enjoy it?

Girl 2: Yes, I did indeed…

Go Franco go!! I find that you get nutters who absolutely adore Jess Franco or sane individuals who absolutely hate Jess Franco. Is there a mid-point? Well I suppose there is, I always enjoy watching his films although I know my instinct is telling me, "Broonage, why are you wasting 90 minutes of your life with this shit?" Go figure…

The Demons is obviously a rip-off of Ken Russell's The Devils, but don't let that fool you, it's a decent rip-off! (Was it the nuddy parts that swung me to that direction….or the boobies swinging in my direction…?). I'm not an expert on Russell's controversial film, I once saw a version of it on UK TV several years ago, taped it, and left it sitting somewhere in my wall of neglected tapes. So, I'm not going to try comparing the two films.

The Demons is set during the hysteria of witch hunts, torture, and burnings at the stake. The film could be thought of as an unofficial sequel to The Bloody Judge (a Franco film that I actually don't think is shit). It has a similar theme, is full of torture, breasts, and witch trials. The look and feel is really similar to The Bloody Judge and I think perhaps good ole Jess wanted his audience to remember his previous film by making us compare it unconsciously to this one.

It begins in typical violent Franco fashion with a woman going through painful torture to see if she is a witch. She is incriminated and during her burning she curses her accusers - Lady De Winter and Lord Justice Jeffries. It is her daughters that will follow-up on the cursing! Well, her daughters Kathleen (lovely Anne Libert) and Margaret (sexy Britt Nichols) are nuns in the local convent, how lucky for us! Mix nuns with Franco, what do you get? Yup, gorgeous girls, pointless nudity, and funky music, great!

Anyway, the witch-hunt for these daughters reaches the convent. The nuns are feeling frisky and are getting themselves off at any possible chance. Kathleen is accused and sentenced to death, but is then freed by inquisitor Thomas Renfield (Alberto Dalbés) who has a soft touch for her. Lady De Winter and Lord Justice Jeffries don't take to this news warmly and further perusing occurs. Renfield must prove his loyalty by capturing her but of course he's madly in love and tries to flee to Holland with Kathleen.

They are caught and are tortured. Lord Jeffries tries his luck, if Renfield submits Katherine as Jeffries' lover then he will be spared. The final half continues with hot steamy relationships between Lady De Winter and Margaret, Jeffries and Katherine, and wonderfully tacky special effects.

The plot is ridiculous, the acting is deadpan and over-the-top (even from "legend" Howard Vernon who appears briefly), and there's enough sleaze to keep any fan happy.

The film has done the collectors circuits for years with various bootlegs, cuts, and language prints. There's been various DVD releases, but I do not have them to compare. However, Franco-phobes will be keen to know that Redemption has done an excellent job delivering one of the most complete versions (apparently it's the uncut director's cut?).

The print quality is restored but changes throughout, and French is used occasionally without English subtitles. I was able to comprehend what was going on but it seemed strange not to include subtitles! All in all, you can see that Redemption have tried to deliver the complete goods. Thumbs up to them!

The DVD is a region 2 bog standard affair with simple extras such as a stills gallery, Redemption trailers, and a trailer. As mentioned before, the print has been restored and is delivered in a nice 2:35.1 ratio. The sound is clear enough but there is a constant background hissing that you kind of expect with this sort of forgotten relic.

The best thing about this movie was the music, seriously catchy funky rock during the chase scenes and jangly guitar during the raunchy parts.

A wonderfully erotic film to definitely hide from the missus (not because of the nudity, just for the embarrassing special effects)!!

Review by: Broonage.