Where does this one belong? This one is the third one to be labeled as Demons 3. Hence, this is also known as "Demons 3: Black Demons".
First of all, this is not Demons 3. This is a entirely different idea from the first two, and while I could see the relationship with the raising of the dead and stuff, there is not much more that holds it together besides the fact that there are undead creatures in this movie. But, you know, I honestly don't think this was seen as a true "series" to anyone, more like similar ideas.
In the beginning of this, Dick is a straight-arrow kid who spots some black children playing on the street. He meets an old blind black man who invites him to some ritual where Dick passes out, unknowing of what happened there. Then Dick and his friends Kevin and Jessica are driving to Rio de Janeiro when their Jeep breaks down. They find a nearby house with friendly Jose and his maid Maria. They stay there for the night. Dick wanders out and finds a graveyard. Suddenly a ritual flashback occurs and six zombies pop out of their graves, coming for everyone!
This movie walks a very fine line between racist and just plain crazy. Sure, it definitely has some racial things going on here. Every black person in the film is evil or a stereotype, and the black gathering that Dick goes to is straight out of some 1950's racial stereotype where the black people dance around with spears and beat on drums. When the zombies, who are also black people, are raised from the dead, they're all former slaves, out for revenge, which is nice, but it still feels exploitative. And finally, Maria is black, and Jose is a real asshole to her constantly.
All that aside, the movie is pretty good! It's probably one of the more linear, easy to follow Demons entries, and it's minimal approach helps that. The actors are decent, the effects are decent, and it moves along quickly enough. It was shot in Brazil and looks nice, and the whole feel of it is super 80's, which for 91 may be an insult, but it felt nice to me. Like one of these classic 80's giallo films.
There's a ton of eye gouging and eye effects in the film. The first two kills involve both girls getting their left eye gouged out... How much ya wanna bet that they liked the way it looked the first time and were like, shit let's just do that again?
There is a lot of blood, and there is a lot of fire. It's a decent enough movie, and I didn't dislike it. With a bit of nudity it may have been near perfect in fact. It has some weird racial stuff that is offputting, and it's a bit old looking for 91, but given that it's sort of the "last reach of the classic giallo feel" I will give it 4.
So, technically Cemetery Man with Rupert Everett is sometimes called Demons 95. Like the year 1995. I have seen it, a very long time ago, and I sort of remember it. Do I rewatch it and review it for completion? I'm not saying no, I'm not saying yes. We will see. Maybe. No promises. For now, I'm calling it a done franchise.
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