Demons at the Byrd!!

After attending a showing of Bava’s 1986 horror film “Demons” (Demoni if you’re looking for it on Wikipedia), I came away with a few observations, most of which have little to nothing to do with the movie itself.

First, the screening of “classic” films around Richmond, Virginia MUST CONTINUE. If you haven’t attended a “Movies & Mimosas” or “Insomnia Theater” film at the Bow Tie Movieland or a Gorehound Features presentation of one of many fantastic horror films (Zombie and Demons are recent examples) at the Byrd, then you are truly missing out.

In an age of home theater systems and high-quality digital sound systems, we are tempted to lose an appreciation for a time when films were meant to be a communal experience. Sure, you can pack a few of your friends into your living room, but there is still something essential missing when you watch a film at home. Not only just the big screen viewing, but laughing with a crowd of people you don’t know and seeing that people outside of your circle enjoy the same strange niche films that you do. Simply seeing that there is a whole seedy community of folks around me who are into watching the same films and loving them for the same reasons I do truly gives an irreplaceable feeling.

You might say that you can see these same films through your Netflix account or from the local Blockbuster and watch them in the comfort of your own home, nestled securely with the popcorn you’ve made in the microwave. But I say to you, there really is NO comparison. Hearing some guy on the other side of the theater yell something at the movie is PART of what makes these films great. You both know that you are enjoying the film on the same level. It’s just fun. Watching movies should not always be a solitary, lonely experience where you are focused intently on what’s happening on-screen. Entertainment is one important aspect of seeing a film, but it isn’t the only one. The gatherings I’ve mentioned are incredibly fun because you’re part of an audience that is watching a movie, and none of you (including, most likely, the filmmakers) are taking the process too seriously. There are simply a number of films that are meant to be enjoyed with others, to share them broadly and simultaneously, and sometimes that even means hearing what someone else thinks of what’s on-screen during the film.

When the film literally melted in the projector, we were all left in the dark theater and I took the moment to ponder how disposable media is these days. I have over 200 movies in my Netflix instant queue. That’s more than 200 films that I can watch at any moment, stop if I choose, watch later, or toss to the side. In addition to that, I have a Blockbuster which houses 1000s of films only a few blocks from where I live. I can order movies in any number of ways and begin watching them in just a few moments. What all of this has done is create a culture where we simply don’t appreciate how things used to be. I recently read an article on “cult” films which you can read here.

Basically, the author of that article points out that finding and screening these films has lost its luster because you no longer have to be in the “know” where they are concerned. A film that someone might have ordered from Thailand through the mail back when I was a kid can easily be added to a Netflix queue and at your house within two to three days (as I did with The Killing of Satan). The fact that the film had actually melted was a completely new experience for me. The worst that had happened previously is that I got a scratched DVD in the mail and had to send it back for a replacement. Big whoop.

As another example, a film that would only be seen in the theater, and then only during its run, can now be queued up with the rest. What we often forget of these movies is that they were meant to be screened in a theater, not on a 42’ inch television (even if it is widescreen with surround sound) in your home.
Unfortunately, since we don’t have to work to see these movies, they are just lumped in with the rest and judged along the same standards as the most recent Hollywood blockbuster we saw in 3D.

So I’ll definitely pay another $10 to see the next Gorehound Feature at the Byrd and around $6 to see the next “Movies and Mimosas” because even though I can see Touch of Evil, Demons, Hidden Fortress, and Zombie in my home and enjoy them on my own couch, I certainly can’t have the same great experience with a group of people who are digging them for the same reason I am.

Fun.

The Killing of Satan (1983)

1. A “snake boy”
2. Hand Repulsors
3. An elbow shield
4. A superpower granting zombie
5. A main character named “Lando” played by the Burt Reynolds of Filipino cinema
6. An inexplicably exploding chest
7. A mute boy
8. A cross-eyed “Scanners” moment (seen above)
9. Superpowers that operate according to a completely invented version of physics
10. The red spandex on the “Prince of Magic”, son of Satan
11. A jailfull of naked women
12. The main character throwing people into animals (not ‘into’ as in “someone bumped into me” but rather “he turned into a frog when she kissed him”)
13. And finally, Lando vs. Satan



If you don’t want to see how all these disparate elements come together on film, then I’m going to need you to prove to me that you’re not dead inside.

I drink your blood ('nuff said)

You know that warm feeling you get when you think about the horror films of your youth? How great, cheesy, and fantastically gory they were? The ones of your youth really had it right, didn't they? They really knew how to balance all the best parts of a fantastic horror movie. That's a great feeling, isn't it?

Well, now go back and watch one of those movies. Just watch a single one that you thought was great and simply classic when you watched it. You were young enough to dive into the sense of wonder you felt without the skeptic cynicism tainting the experience and the film for you. Now, it pales in comparison to smaller elements from more recent films, it just tries too hard, and achieves so little ultimately.

Sure, there are some films that live up to both your nostalgia and pre-cynicism (Evil Dead 2, Halloween, Re-Animator, etc.), but they are certainly rare. What's great about "I Drink Your Blood" is that it immediately elbows it's way into that category.

This film puts a hand on the shoulder of Nuke 'Em High and asks the Billy Jack series to give it a nudge against The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera in the stands at the Friday Night High School Football Game. When they're making out underneath the bleachers, I Spit On Your Grave interrupts jealously.

As you watch the film, there is the strongest sense that it knows exactly what it is. The movie is self-aware in that every aspect of it works like the perfect little gear in the machine. What results is a fantastic horror film that is both gory and cheesy and finds an implied humor in-between the two. This is not a film where nothing happens for most of the screen-time. Every scene is either handing you bad-acting gold or giving you a solid gore handshake over a business deal.

Those elements spring from the simplest of scenarios. It all revolves around a fun-loving group of devil-worshipers who hurt an old man by sharing their illegal drugs with him and unwittingly eat some rabies-pie baked with a slight hint of "grandson revenge" in the crust. Their ensuing murderous rage sets the stage for greatness.

In other words: watch this movie. Soon.