This 1985 horror film mainly takes place in a movie theatre where a group of people are screening a new horror film about demons. One of the viewers, tries on a mask prop from the film causing demonic possession like in the film. Soon, others become demons bringing gory terror for the rest struggling to survive. Despite bad dubbing, this is a pretty good flick with great, gruesome make-up effects. Fans of the genre should check this out at least once.

I watched "Demons" (aka "Dèmoni") in the late 1980's and I remembered it as being a good and scary movie back then. So I sat down to watch it again in 2016. And I must admit that I might have been more easily impressed back in my teens."Demons" is about a group of people invited to a night screening of a movie in an old theater building in West Berlin. However, the events in the movie much resembles what happens in the theater, as a woman puts on a demonic mask on display and cuts herself when taking it off. Soon after, a demonic entity takes over her body, possessing her and starts to kill the other people in the theater. Fleeing the theater in panic, the people find themselves trapped and walled in, having to fight a desperate fight in order to stay alive and not be turned into a ravenous demon.Sure, the storyline was adequate, albeit generic and stereotypical. And it definitely had that mid-Eighties feel to it. However, "Demons" was not a particularly outstanding movie, especially not by comparison of horror movies by today's standards. Of course, a comparison with 30 years in between is hardly fair, but I mean that "Demons" just doesn't leave a lasting impression.The effects were adequate, taking into consideration that the movie is from 1985. And I do remember that I found the effects great and somewhat disturbing back in the late 1980's when I watched the movie.However, the acting in the movie was less than mediocre, and that was a shame, because the movie did suffer from that.The ending of the movie was really one that didn't sit well with me. While the concept of the ending would be great on paper and in idea, sure I can relate to that, but it just was a bit too much. But of course, it is a matter of personal preference."Demons" is not a major movie in the horror library, but if you grew up with horror movies in the 1980's and 1990's (in particular the Italian horror movies), like I did, then "Demons" is most likely a movie that would have crossed your path.

I recently re-watched this and was much better than I remembered. Great 80's nostalgia, great practical effects and gore, drugs, hot chicks, and bloodthirsty demons amok in a movie theater. A woman named Cheryl is given two tickets to a free screening at the Metropol theater. She brings her friend, Kathy. The lights go down and the movie starts playing. They see that it's a violent, disturbing horror movie which features a look-alike of the mask from the lobby. (One of the women in the lobby named Rosemary tried on the mask and it cuts her face) The movie is about four teenagers who discover an old tomb and dig up the grave of a sixteenth-century fortune teller called Nostradamus. When the teenagers dig up Nostradamus's coffin they find no body, just an old book and a mask identical to the strange mask in the foyer. When one of the characters puts the mask on he's scratched by it, just like Rosemary was and her face begins oozing with blood and green pus. She is soon transformed into a bloodthirsty, green-skinned, red-eyed, fanged demon and starts attacking people in the theater. Those people turn into demons too. The untouched people try to escape the locked up theater They make a stand and fight back against them. If you love bloody nostalgic horror movies, you'll love DEMONS!!!

"Demons" is full of practical effects and action, but contains few scares and very little tension. The plot can be summed up as "trapped in a confined place with monsters." There's no back story, there's very little character development, the dialogue is hokey even by Italian horror movie standards, and the blaring soundtrack consists of 80s metal and synth-rock. In other words, if you're interested in a Dario Argento type scarefest you're barking up the wrong tree. But as a Saturday afternoon diversion or as a film to be watched party-style with friends it's perfect. There's enough gore to keep horror fans entertained and enough camp to tickle non-horror fans' funnybones. If you enjoyed "Night of the Creeps," "Killer Klowns From Outer Space," or any of the Friday the 13th sequels, you might find this worth your while.