Demons 2 is an Italian horror movie by returning director Lamberto Bava with a producer credit from the famous Dario Argento. I recently reviewed Demons and admitted to having previously watched it. As much as I enjoyed it, I never got around to watching the sequel. So, the 4K release by Synapse Films is my first exposure to the film. I am not really sure if the movie takes place in the same universe as the first movie, but Demons 2 follows the same rules. Instead of taking place in a theater, this movie takes place in a high-rise apartment building and the first demon possession takes place at a party for a young woman named Sally. There is a scene where a demon starts to push its way out of a TV screen, jumping from the scary movie into reality. The effect looks good by today’s standards. So, I can only imagine how mind-blowing it looked back in the 80s. Throughout the film, most of the special effects look good except for one glaring exception. There is a scene where a demon claws its way out of a possessed person’s body and the small demon puppet that emerges looks terrible. It is jarringly bad compared to the rest of the effects, but there are a lot of iconic images in the film, especially the demons with glowing eyes methodically working their way down a darkened hallway.

The cast is good, and I see several returning actors from the first film cast in very different roles. The pimp from Demons is a fitness instructor in Demons 2 and the leader of the drug addicted gang is recast as the apartment building’s doorman. The action set-pieces are larger. There is a battle between survivors and the demons in the apartment building’s parking garage that is wildly chaotic and dwarfs all of the fights from the first film. The movie also heightens the tension for the human characters in that several children and a pregnant lady are thrown into the mix, whereas the protagonists in Demons were all adults that did not evoke such a high level of concern.

The sequel continues the tradition of having a kicking soundtrack and my only complaint about the music is that there is a point where the hard rock does not match the scene where a pregnant woman is giving birth. The audio is uncompressed sourced from the original audio masters with English and Italian language options. There is also an audio commentary from a film critic. Visually, the picture looks crisp and was remastered in 4K from the original negatives. In terms of other special features, there are all kinds of featurettes including interviews with the composer, the effects specialists, the director, authors, and critics. The original trailers are also included. Like the first film where Synapse included an invitation to the theater as an insert in the case, Demons 2 includes an insert that is an invitation to Sally’s birthday party where the demon infestation begins.

While Demons 2 is not quite as good as the first one, it was still a highly entertaining gore-fest in keeping with the tone and aesthetic of the first film. If you are a fan of the first movie, this one will not disappoint. Overall, this release gets very high marks for the fun movie, the technical quality, and the wide range of special features.