Demonia

No, it's not the name of a disinfectant used by exorcists, but rather the title of Lucio Fulci's 1989 film about demonic possession on the island of Sicily.

Brett Halsey and Meg Register star as a pair of archeologists, one sensible and scientific, the other sensitive and superstitious, whose latest dig is plagued by a series of violent, non-Mafia-related deaths. It seems a local Medieval nunnery was once the site of devil worship, flagrant carnality and ritualistic murder - until the locals banded together to exorcise the evil by crucifying the nuns (depicted in the film's prologue). Turning a deaf ear to the warnings of the village leader and the local butcher, the archeologists carry on digging, and ultimately loosing the hounds of Hell, Fulci-style.

DEMONIA is a largely uninteresting affair, sluggishly paced and directed with apparent indifference by Fulci. Everything seems a bit tame (artfully placed blankets throw cold water on the orgy scenes) and second hand, from Giovanni Cristiani's corny, tympani-heavy score to the use of such hoary spook-cinema devices as double exposures to suggest ghostly apparitions and echoey dream voices (has anyone in your dreams ever spoken with an echoey voice?). Fulci stumbles further by having his heroine plagued by nightmares that offer no information beyond what we already saw in the prologue.

Fulci himself turns up late in the film as an inspector from Scotland Yard, only to turn up clues to a mystery that is no mystery to us; worse yet, Fulci's Inspector Carter's last scene finds him eyeballing a piece of cloth (torn from the habit of one of the murderous ghost-nuns), identifying it as centuries old, and then disappearing from the film entirely). Al Cliver (aka Pier Luigi Conti) appears as Porter, a fellow archeologist who meets an untimely end at the hands of a transparent, headless, speargun-toting haint (Fulci regular Cliver is billed in the credits as Al "Clever").

The film perks up a bit halfway through, when the local medium (a character similar to one played by Rada Rassimov in Mario Bava's BARON BLOOD) meets her predetermined demise by dint of half a dozen cat hand puppets, but DEMONIA is still slow going. A third act disemboweling of one of the dig members is gross but unconvincing, and the film climaxes on an ambiguous note that fails to satisfy or justify the investment of an hour and a half.

..But she's no Catriona Macoll. Wow.....I like "Zombie," "The Beyond," even have a special place for "The Gates of Hell." For some idea of this one's rank in the Fulci canon, "Aenigma" is better. This one makes no sense, the gore is cheap, and everyone, including Lucio must have been sleepwalking when they made this. Sure it ain't the worst thing ever, but it's pretty bad. Flatly directed with a potentially interesting storyline, Fulci missed the target big time with this.

Not the worst of Fulci's films (MANHATTAN BABY wins that dubious distinction in my book...) but DEMONIA takes so long to get to any of the classic Fulci "good-stuff", that you'll probably be asleep by then.

Two archaeologists are digging around Sicily, and the locals don't like it too much. Apparently a group of nuns who were into group sex and Satanism once resided at the site of the dig. The locals don't like the scientists messing around in their backyards, and when some strange deaths occur around the dig-site, all hell breaks loose.

Luckily, DEMONIA does come with the "goods" towards the end. A good tongue-hammering, and a guy split in half are a couple of the notable scenes - unfortunately, the story isn't interesting enough for you to care by the time you get there. Drawn out and boring storyline isn't saved by a few cool gore scenes. Worth a look to the TRUE Fulci fan - don't expect a gore-fest masterpiece...5/10

It didn't stink, but it was nowhere near the brilliance of "Zombie." It was more like "Gates Of Hell," a so-so plot with some decent scenes to keep us interested.

Italian nuns get crucified in medieval Italy for...wait for it...being a secret satanic coven. Years later (aka present day) they rise and attack a Canadian archaeology team digging under the ancient churches.

Lucio re-did his zombie films with nuns. There's some good creepy atmosphere here. And the story itself isn't bad, it just doesn't really take off.

Al Cliver gets a cameo role and the Maestro himself shows up as a (what else?) high-ranking cop. And Canadian Brett Halsey does a good job in the lead.

The drawn and quarter scene, despite the shoddy effects, (DeRossi where were you?) will make a few of you cringe. It seemed to ape Deodato's "Cut And Run" scene stealer.

It makes a good addition if you're a completist, but Lucio's done better.

A team of archaeologists are exploring the ruins of an ancient crypt in Sicily where five heretic nuns had been stoned and crucified by superstitious villagers.One of them Liza starts to suffer terrible nightmares about the nuns and other members of the team start to die in particularly horrible ways."Demonia" is a mediocre Lucio Fulci's nunsploitation flick that offers surprisingly little amount of gore including a tongue nailed to a barrel an,eye-gouging and an "Inferno in Diretta"-style decapitation between two springy trees.Still the film is well-shot,picturesque and enjoyable enough to give it a 6 out of 10.However if you are new into Fulci I suggest watching first "The Beyond" or "City of the Living Dead".