I'd watched several Lucio Fulci pictures previously and found them distinctly underwhelming. For some reason I decided nonetheless to watch another; I think it was the premise that drew me in. I acknowledge that my expectations and viewing experience could well have been colored by my past viewership of Fulci flims, but I nonetheless think 'Demonia' speaks for itself: This is not a good movie. In fact it's very, very bad.
Early exposition wholly fails to impress, striking me as a mess with very weak writing, nearly haphazard execution of scenes, and camerawork so incredibly dubious that "rotten" is perhaps a better descriptor. Filming locations and set design or decoration are great, but these don't necessarily count for much if a movie isn't worthwhile overall. And, well - the kickoff of the plot is deeply unconvincing, and the film's construction does not improve. 'Demonia' is so frankly sloppy and graceless that it almost comes off as self-parody.
Effects are simply questionable at best; even the blood and gore that Fulci is supposedly known for - and which also failed to light my imagination elsewhere in the past - are basically perfunctory, failing to excite. Sound design is laughable; that the unmistakable echo of a person's staggered footsteps are intended to represent a heartbeat does not speak well to how 'Demonia' was made. Performances stop just shy of being phoned in, and are no more believable than any other aspect here; we need an extra layer of suspension of disbelief just to pretend that the cast are giving an effort to act. As if this feature weren't enough of an ordeal, every further instance of poorly considered dialogue makes the watching experience a strenuous exercise of endurance. Why, so it is with scenes broadly - all penned and played out with such ham-handed, inauthentic clumsiness that the result is laborious and excruciating.
The plot is direly thin and disjointed; narrative progression is slow, piecemeal, disordered, and lacking. There are no thrills, no tension, no suspense, no frights. The most interesting this gets are a couple scenes with passing shots of some cats. This is a trainwreck of a movie, so unexciting that I had a hard time staying awake, let alone focused.
Whether or not 'Demonia' belongs considered alongside other discretely low-grade, lackluster, lolling, loathsome gaffes of cinema as a contender for "worst movie ever made" is up for debate. I certainly would argue it does. This is so feebly decrepit and rickety a film that just recommending against it isn't enough; this needs to be wished out of existence.
There is no reason to watch this. There never has been and never will be a reason to watch this. 'Demonia' is a roundly awful movie. Avoid it like your life depended on it.
Early exposition wholly fails to impress, striking me as a mess with very weak writing, nearly haphazard execution of scenes, and camerawork so incredibly dubious that "rotten" is perhaps a better descriptor. Filming locations and set design or decoration are great, but these don't necessarily count for much if a movie isn't worthwhile overall. And, well - the kickoff of the plot is deeply unconvincing, and the film's construction does not improve. 'Demonia' is so frankly sloppy and graceless that it almost comes off as self-parody.
Effects are simply questionable at best; even the blood and gore that Fulci is supposedly known for - and which also failed to light my imagination elsewhere in the past - are basically perfunctory, failing to excite. Sound design is laughable; that the unmistakable echo of a person's staggered footsteps are intended to represent a heartbeat does not speak well to how 'Demonia' was made. Performances stop just shy of being phoned in, and are no more believable than any other aspect here; we need an extra layer of suspension of disbelief just to pretend that the cast are giving an effort to act. As if this feature weren't enough of an ordeal, every further instance of poorly considered dialogue makes the watching experience a strenuous exercise of endurance. Why, so it is with scenes broadly - all penned and played out with such ham-handed, inauthentic clumsiness that the result is laborious and excruciating.
The plot is direly thin and disjointed; narrative progression is slow, piecemeal, disordered, and lacking. There are no thrills, no tension, no suspense, no frights. The most interesting this gets are a couple scenes with passing shots of some cats. This is a trainwreck of a movie, so unexciting that I had a hard time staying awake, let alone focused.
Whether or not 'Demonia' belongs considered alongside other discretely low-grade, lackluster, lolling, loathsome gaffes of cinema as a contender for "worst movie ever made" is up for debate. I certainly would argue it does. This is so feebly decrepit and rickety a film that just recommending against it isn't enough; this needs to be wished out of existence.
There is no reason to watch this. There never has been and never will be a reason to watch this. 'Demonia' is a roundly awful movie. Avoid it like your life depended on it.