Demon of Paradise is basically, for all intensive purposes, a Filipino version of Creature from the Black Lagoon. The difference is, this movie is a cheesy horror film from the 80s with severely hammy acting, tons of gun violence and an odd-looking monster, as opposed to a well-made, well-produced and well-acted 50s B-movie, which Creature from the Black Lagoon was!
The plot is about a legendary demon, known as Akua who lives in a lake that terrorizes and kills people who decide to go boating or swimming in the area. The lake is near a local resort whose residents are being ravaged by the monster. The pretentious, spoiled owner of the resort, Cahill (Laura Banks, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) wants something done about it immediately. She has decided to use the legendary Akua as a marketing gimmick to bring in tourists to her resort, who are now being slaughtered by the demon! A herpetologist, Annie (Kathryn Witt, Star 80, Philadelphia) is brought in to investigate the area along with Sheriff Keefer (William Steis, Equalizer 2000, Lost Angles) and are set to exterminate the creature. Of course, no one believes Annie, including Keefer at first, until it’s too late! Yes, it’s that “we don’t believe you” formula which has been used millions of times!
Demon of Paradise is a guilty pleasure of mine, as the film really is not very good, but I enjoy a good monster romp no matter what the budget is for a film. The acting is nothing to write home about, probably knowing that they were all in a lemon. The creature is an interesting design, basically a cross between a lizard and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy! The movie to me is not dull, despite lacking any real likeable, compelling characters although Leslie Scarborough is nice to look at if nothing else.
Previously released on VHS and also a double-feature DVD with Up From the Depths (which is actually worse!), Demon of Paradise arrives on Blu-ray ! Boasting brand new 2K scan of original camera negative, Demon the Paradise looks marvelous with bold, rich colors. Greens, reds, yellows, and blues look deep and quite strong with this release, with lots of rich texturing and lots of details to the beautiful locations and scenery in the Philippines under clear blue skies. Evening scenes also look fine throughout with excellent shadow detail. This easily is an uptick over the DVD. There is very little print damage, although there is a shot with a few vertical lines at the beginning, but otherwise the picture is clear throughout.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono is also exceptionally good with clear dialogue, monster roars and action noises such as gun shots coming in perfectly balanced. English subtitles are available.
The lone extra for this release is a trailer.
Also of note is that this Scream Factory Blu-ray is limited to 1500 units. I can’t see it selling out right away, but if you want it, don’t procrastinate too long.
I think for fans of monster movies, that like almost everything out there ranging from the worst Godzilla movies to schlock like Reptilicus, The Giant Claw, Konga, It Conquered the World, Monstroid and other low-budget wonders, Demon of Paradise should fit right in with your collection. The excellent audio and video quality to me makes the release worthwhile!
Demon of Paradise
Director- Cirio H. Santiago
Cast- William Steis, Kathryn Witt
Country of Origin- The Philippines
Distributor – Scream Factory
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date – 4/5/2023