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As this entry's title says, this is one of the end times flicks for genre product from Italy for most of the lesser talents. Much like the waxing days of '80s metal, the first few years of the '90s was the cut off point for the old guard to sadly hang it up. Luigi Cozzi's Demons 6: De Profundis (Ill gato nero / Demons 6: Armageddon) is one of the less embarrassing of these bottom of the barrel death knells from the once great boot country horror gristmill.


The problem is Cozzi's many varying angles reveal one of Demon 6's biggest flaws. The shot-to-shot editing is so sloppy; it wouldn't be surprising to learn the film was cut on rusty, broken equipment by vagrants in a damp alley behind Cinecittà. Every splice, which happens often, is accompanied by an explosion of obvious print damage, bad tears, and sprocket jittering. It's the "dirtiest" looking Italian horror film I've ever seen and if this reflects the condition of the negative; an extensive restoration would have to be done to fix every instance. Like that will ever happen...
The splatter will leave you wanting; despite a showstopping body explosion, a gut spewin' TV (how original!), and close-up throat slash. And yea, the supposedly doom-bringing Mother of Tears does look like a meatball rolled in shit wearing a Party City witch gown. The inevitable good vs. evil showdown is unfortunately more of a goofy laserlight show than a crimson cage match. The soundtrack tries to conjure memories of Bava's first two Demons entries with some generic hair metal. One of the Levana attacks even blatantly rips off Golden Earring's Radar Love and another track over Munro bathing mimics Guns and Roses's Patience complete with a little faux Axl whining.
If you have more than a passing interest in Italian horror, give Demons 6: De Profundis a whirl if presented with the chance. It's not essential, but it's always cool to track another one of these bloody Italian candy bars down no matter how stale. Midnight Video's DVD-R is solid being sourced from a full frame Japanese VHS. The composition never seems cramped, so 1.33:1 is probably correct. The audio is in clear English, and one wonders why Part 5 never got a dub. The Japanese Demons 5: The Devil's Veil VHS is Italian-only. Trailers for Sergio Stivaletti's The Wask Mask and Argento's Trauma are included.
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4 comments:
Great post! Thanks for the entertaining update!
Wow...there's a "Demons" beyond part 2? Who knew?
But...
"the supposedly doom-bringing Mother of Tears does look like a meatball rolled in shit wearing a Party City witch gown"
...this description is really making me want to see this! Love it!
-Billy
This one was better than I ever would have imagined a DEMONS 6 could have been, was wondering if you would ever get to this one Jay!
Where on Earth can I find this movie?! I'm having no luck at all and I'm dying to see it!
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