Demonia (1990)

 

One of director Lucio Fulci's later films has been released in the UK on Blu-ray by Arrow in an extras-packed two disc set. The film itself is a bit of a half-arsed ghost nun saga but some of the extras on here will make it worth the purchase for Fulci fans. 

In fifteenth century Sicily, an angry mob drags five nuns to their deaths in the bowels of a monastery where the women are crucified and the chamber sealed up. Hundreds of years later, a very CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD seance causes Liza (Meg Register) to collapse the day before she's due to embark on an archaeology field trip to the very same are under the leadership of Professor Evans (Brett Halsey).

Once they arrive strange things start to happen. ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS star Al Cliver is killed by a speargun fired by a naked ghost lady who appears on his boat. Sadly nothing else in this film is quite as strange as this bit, as a somewhat garbled story unfolds in which, presumably, local descendants of the nun-killers are bumped off.

While it boasts a fantastic central location, some inspired shots, and a couple of dream sequences bordering on the Franco-esque, Lucio Fulci's DEMONIA nevertheless feels as if nobody's heart was really in this one. Like the archaeologists in this who never seem to get any work done, there's very much a sense that everyone's treading water. The murder are too few and far between, and too outrageous compared with the tone of the rest of the film, to be effective. 

Arrow's Blu-ray comes with a Stephen Thrower commentary that, as you might expect from the man who wrote a book on Lucio Fulci that's so heavy you could probably perpetrate a Fulci-esque murder with it, tells you all you ever need to know about the film as well as the historical events that it's set against.

Holy Demons is 33 minutes with co-screenwriter and assistant director Antonio Tentori. Recorded over Zoom during Covid restrictions this is well-illustrated with clips and images as he talks about Fulci's career, DEMONIA's personnel and the film's shortcomings and the reasons behind them. In Of Skulls and Bones camera operator Sandor Grossi talks about the film's locations, the use of the fog filter, as well as Fulci's love of the zoom. Other bits and pieces include 10 minutes of on-set footage from a Fangoria video back in the day, and a four minute interview with Fulci conducted on the DEMONIA location.

The second Blu-ray in the set is dedicated to Fulci Talks, an 84 minute interview with the man himself recorded in 1995. It's a fascinating insight into the man himself as he comments on his entire career, lists his favourite directors and his favourite parts from his own films. Add in some gorgeous packaging and this is a beautiful presentation set from Arrow that Fulci fans will want to check out.

Lucio Fulci's DEMONIA is out now from Arrow in a limited edition two disc Blu-ray package