The Ogre

The Demons series takes a turn in storyline with "Demons III: The Ogre", a made-for-TV film from 1988 which has nothing to do with the first two films.

The film begins in Portland, Oregon where we see a little girl having trouble sleeping during a thunderstorm. She gets up to look around for her mother in what looks like some huge old style castle. The little girl makes her way down to the creepy basement where she sees some sort of a cocoon type thing growing on the ceiling. All of a sudden, a creepy hand punches out from the cocoon and the monster emerges, getting ready to attack the little girl. Just kidding - it was all a dream. The movie then switches to a couple with their son driving in Italy heading towards an old castle they've rented for a vacation. The mother (Cheryl) is a famous horror novelist, and pretty soon we realize that she was the little girl from the opening scene.

As time goes by, Cheryl starts exploring the castle and it becomes evident that it is the same one from her dreams as a little girl. One day while she explores the basement, we notice that the cocoon from her dreams is there, except open up with no monster inside. When Cheryl tells her husband, he of course doesn't believe her and thinks she's imagining things. Eventually, the Ogre makes an appearance, killing the babysitter one day while the parents are out in town. With the Ogre now roaming the castle halls, Cheryl gets her much anticipated confrontation with the monster and will have to try and survive.

The movie runs extremely slow, probably the weak point of the film for me and a reason why I didn't like it more. It has a calm, almost trance like feeling for the early part of the movie as we meet the family and get introduced to the town in Italy. The Ogre itself didn't make a real appearance and kill until around the 1 hour and 10 minute mark. The Ogre (or Demon) looked pretty creepy, it's just unfortunate we didn't see more of him throughout the film. Perhaps it being an Italian made-for-TV film is what caused the lack of airtime for the ghoul (and also the lack of kills/gore). And don't get me started on the rushed ending.

Demons III: The Ogre is a sequel to the original two films in name only, which I knew heading into it. Overall, it is an average/ok monster movie set in a creepy old castle in Italy. The story is a good one, and the acting by our final girl was good, but it all moved too slow and wasn't as scary as it could have been.

5/10.

In the late 80s, Lamberto Bava made a quadrilogy of Made-for-TV films. These include Graveyard Disturbance, Dinner With A Vampire, Until Death and The Ogre.

All are fairly similar, featuring a monster terrorizing people. As this is Italy, there is a bit of nudity, however unlike his earlier TV film, A Blade In The Dark, the gore is very minimal in these films.

The Ogre is the best of the lot, and feels the most like a real movie, coming off as a mix of latter-day Fulci with some Argento influences throughout. In fact, the script was reportedly the original draft for what would become House By The Cemetery, though it has more in common with House Of Clocks or Sweet House of Horrors (both TV movies as well). The child named Bob in this one is exponentially less annoying which is a plus!

The locations, soundtrack and the ogres makeup are all good. The story moves along well for a TV film, though a few more killings and a bit more action at the finale would have made this much better.

This is an Italian made for TV movie directed by Lamberto Bava, the man who directed the excellent Demons and its reasonably good sequel, however despite its title this is in no way part of the series. And for that reason I felt cheated when it was initially released on VHS, plus the fact that it is frankly a bad movie. Most of the "action" takes place at an Italian castle, this and the rural locations are nice, plus the Simon Boswell soundtrack is very good. Sadly the movie is slow, boring, the acting is wooden, there is very little in the way of blood or gore and Bava blatantly steals Argento's underwater scene from Inferno, only this time we get skeletons and ghouls that look like cheap Halloween decorations. As for the actor in the suit and wearing an Ogre mask, rubbish! Demons 3 The Ogre is a perfect example of the decline of the once great Italian horror movie.

Lamberto Bava's Demons III: The Ogre has nothing in common with his earlier films in this series. In fact, this film should have just forgone the Demons title because, just like Michele Soavi's The Church, this is not on the same level as the Demons films. The whole time I was watching this movie I was thinking this would be an okay film if they had just called it The Ogre. But by the finale I can't say this is on par with Bava's other works. It starts off decent and builds a certain atmosphere but it gets boring real quick. On top of that, the titular Ogre looked like a p*ssed-off William Shakespeare. I wish I were kidding. The only thing that shines in this movie is the music. Simon Bosell's goth-induced synth sound is always amazing, and this is no exception. Too bad it's wasted in this snoozefest. Bava and co-writer Dardano Sacchetti (who seemingly had a hand in writing every Italian horror film in the 80's) have had better luck in the past.

I really wanted to like this film,especially after watching the beginning,which was creepy enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.Unfortunately "The Ogre" becomes quickly boring and unintentionally funny at times.There's absolutely no gore and the underwater sequence near the climax totally rips-off similar(and much better executed)scene in Dario Argento's brilliant "Inferno"(1980).The main actress is really annoying,but overall I liked the Gothic feeling of this film.The setting(an old Italian castle)is a nice touch.5 out of 10.