Demonicus

Rating:
Summary: Demonicus is so cool!!!
Review: "Demonicus" sure starts out cool. It's in a cool-looking box, has a cool tagline (who wouldn't want to see a [cool font here] "DEMON GLADIATOR FROM HELL"?), has an especially cool title (say it in a loud, deep bass... "DEMONICUS!"), and a cool first ten minutes or so. Then, well, you're better off doing *anything* else you can possibly think of. Seriously. I decided to try asexual reproduction during the remainder of Demonicus. I don't think it worked.

So, here's what happens in the first ten minutes:

We're introduced to a bunch of unlikeable, annoying, badly-acted characters who are hiking to the top of a mountain (in Italy... it's not important) for a campout. For reasons of machismo, they're all trying to get there as fast as humanly possible.

One of the hikers finds a tunnel, and becomes a warrior (NOT named Demonicus) who kills people and uses their reluctantly parted-with body parts to awaken a dead gladiator (who is inexplicably ALSO NOT NAMED DEMONICUS). At this point, the viewer, who is becoming upset with a lack of Demonicus-named characters, begins to feel the arcane demon evils awakening within, telling him "BURN THE DISC, BURN THE DISC!". But, hold on, there's a pretty painful dismemberment scene that'll have you in stitches. After that, the movie might as well be over. Nothing else that happens is remotely interesting or relatively original (and the dismemberment wasn't, really... it was just unexpected and amusing).

Skip "Demonicus" if you can (or can't, even) guess the following horror cliches:

Will characters "split up" because they can "cover more ground"?

Will the scriptwriter come up with a ridiculously farfetched way to resolve seemingly improbable odds?

Will the ending be a gratuitous setup for a sequel?

If you don't know any of those, odds are you haven't watched enough Full Moon movies. Good for you.

Rating:
Summary: One excellent scene, and then...?
Review: "Demonicus" sure starts out cool. It's in a cool-looking box, has a cool tagline (who wouldn't want to see a [cool font here] "DEMON GLADIATOR FROM HELL"?), has an especially cool title (say it in a loud, deep bass... "DEMONICUS!"), and a cool first ten minutes or so. Then, well, you're better off doing *anything* else you can possibly think of. Seriously. I decided to try asexual reproduction during the remainder of Demonicus. I don't think it worked.

So, here's what happens in the first ten minutes:

We're introduced to a bunch of unlikeable, annoying, badly-acted characters who are hiking to the top of a mountain (in Italy... it's not important) for a campout. For reasons of machismo, they're all trying to get there as fast as humanly possible.

One of the hikers finds a tunnel, and becomes a warrior (NOT named Demonicus) who kills people and uses their reluctantly parted-with body parts to awaken a dead gladiator (who is inexplicably ALSO NOT NAMED DEMONICUS). At this point, the viewer, who is becoming upset with a lack of Demonicus-named characters, begins to feel the arcane demon evils awakening within, telling him "BURN THE DISC, BURN THE DISC!". But, hold on, there's a pretty painful dismemberment scene that'll have you in stitches. After that, the movie might as well be over. Nothing else that happens is remotely interesting or relatively original (and the dismemberment wasn't, really... it was just unexpected and amusing).

Skip "Demonicus" if you can (or can't, even) guess the following horror cliches:

Will characters "split up" because they can "cover more ground"?

Will the scriptwriter come up with a ridiculously farfetched way to resolve seemingly improbable odds?

Will the ending be a gratuitous setup for a sequel?

If you don't know any of those, odds are you haven't watched enough Full Moon movies. Good for you.

Rating:
Summary: Demon Gladiator From Hell...or not.
Review: Attempting to cash in on the popularity of Ridley Scott's Gladiator, Full Moon purchased Demonicus to release under it's Cult Video line. While at the video store, the cool cover, font and tag line might enduce you to spend the $3.50 to rent. After viewing you would be disappointed to find that the actual film was not as well produced as the box it came in.

With the exception of the burial cave set, the entire film is composed of external forest locations. One would think that after the Blair Witch Project, both hikhers and film-makers would stay out of the woods. If you are truly a fan of low-budget horror film you may see this as cost effective filmmaking.
My respects go out to the prop department for the Demonicus helmet, which will likely be the only thing to find it's way to a sequel.

Character dialoge and motivation are incredibly poor. When the action is as spare as it was in this film, and most of the time involes the characters wandering through woods, sharp, clever, inteligent dialoge is key. Look to Charles Band's Blood Dolls for an excellent example of creative dialoge.

The men are initally only motivated by sex (which while eluded to often, this film does not actually contain). None of the characters have any believeable relationships with one another nor do any develope. The one time when it would make sense for two of the men (who are supposed to be childhood friends) to develope a connection in regard to a common goal. The writers decide to have them bicker and swear at one another, knowing that they plan to just kill off one of them anyway, so why bother.

Like the writers, the viewer does not come to care for any of the characters, so there is no impact when they are killed.
As an aspiring writer I saw this film as a lesson in what you need to have to make a story work. Unfortunately, this story did'nt. I hope the writers learned as much from this film as I did.

My apologies to Tim Sullivan and Jay Woelfel, but I did buy (not rent) the picture.

[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Demonicus is a winner!!! OWN IT NOW!!!!!
Review: Demonicus is a movie turned into a video game! I just love the story and the things that goes on in the film.It is a B-film ofcourse but that doesn`t bother one bit because its made just right and the music was rad! Horror and sword fight freaks,buy this movie now!

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS PRETTY BAD
Review: I have always enjoyed a truly good cheesy B movie...but DEMONICUS is so badly done that it's hard to find anything of merit. It's pretty low even for Full Moon standards. Filmed in the Angeles National Forest, it's a pale comparison to the Italian alps. Director Jay Woehl (?) offers little in the ways of suspense, and the cast...well, I don't know where they found them, but acting is not their forte. Even Gregory Lee Kenyon, the studly dude who plays the possessed gladiator, has little energy, and the one "sword fight" is so badly staged, it's laughable...and it was choreographed by said G L Kenyon. The gore is even so fake it's not gory; the special effects, if that's what you'd call them, are prehistoric compared to even the gladiator movies of the sixties. So, I would avoid this movie, unless you want to rent it on a night you're having your worst enemies over. Definitely, I don't think I'd buy it...unless for a penny at a yard sale. Why the two stars? I guess because I finished watching it?

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS PRETTY BAD
Review: I have always enjoyed a truly good cheesy B movie...but DEMONICUS is so badly done that it's hard to find anything of merit. It's pretty low even for Full Moon standards. Filmed in the Angeles National Forest, it's a pale comparison to the Italian alps. Director Jay Woehl (?) offers little in the ways of suspense, and the cast...well, I don't know where they found them, but acting is not their forte. Even Gregory Lee Kenyon, the studly dude who plays the possessed gladiator, has little energy, and the one "sword fight" is so badly staged, it's laughable...and it was choreographed by said G L Kenyon. The gore is even so fake it's not gory; the special effects, if that's what you'd call them, are prehistoric compared to even the gladiator movies of the sixties. So, I would avoid this movie, unless you want to rent it on a night you're having your worst enemies over. Definitely, I don't think I'd buy it...unless for a penny at a yard sale. Why the two stars? I guess because I finished watching it?

Rating:
Summary: terrible
Review: i have never seen such a bad movie...it could be much better and it has nothing to do with its being a low budget film

Rating:
Summary: Great little horror movie!
Review: I loved this movie! It is a great little horror film! This is the type of film that Full Moon used to make. Kudos to the director and production team behind this film. And since this is Full Moon, I am sure a "Demonicus 2" can't be too far off. I can't wait.

Rating:
Summary: What A Waste of the worlds time
Review: If amazon did a 0 then this would score that, what a waste of my time, halfway through I took my dog for a walk, it was that bad, what a blooming waste of my time.

Now I have to admit, the babes were quite good, and the main actor did what he could with a script they got off a cereal box packet, but overall it rated a 0, and I am being kind giving it a one star.

Rating:
Summary: Demonicus is so cool!!!
Review: It begins with a guy and girl walking down a Italy road and the guy spots a cave that really looks like a tunnel.This is your same old don`t go in there scene but the guy had to have a look anyway. What he finds is a almost perfect dead body of the legendary gladiator Tyranus. He puts on his helmet and become posed by the evil gladiator. So thru out the movie we see the guy killing every camper,hiker,and everybody else in sight and Demonicus is got such cool music that sounds like it`s from a video game and yes this movie has some errors in it but they are funny!.Horror fans will be thrilled to see a crazy gladiator movie this.