Black Demons
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Year 1991
Black Demons is a low budget
zombie film that actually benefits from its low key origins and amateurish
acting, resulting in a voodoo-centric tale that relies heavily on its
atmosphere and creature effects to carry it along in the most stupendous of
ways. Filmed on location in Brazil
and directed by cult Italian filmmaker Umberto Lenzi, the movie is a mishmash
of genre archetypes, infused with that nasty European horror flair which swept
cinemas from the mid 70’s through the late 80’s in a trail of gore and guts. Shocking,
surreal and sometimes embarrassing, Black Demons is a unique entry in the
zombie genre, one in which missed the boat on the undead craze that was first
started when Fulci’s Zombie came onto the scene, but still manages to replicate
that movie’s potent atmosphere and creepy aura to great effect.
The film follows three
college students, Kevin, Dick, and Jessica, as they travel through Brazil on
vacation. Dick wanders off from the rest of the group and gets mixed up in a
voodoo ceremony, in which he captures with his audio recorder while partaking
in the bizarre ritual. After the ceremony, the group meets up and continues
their travels into the country only to end up stranded after having car trouble.
Lost in the middle of nowhere with no clue on what to do, the group is
unexpectedly visited by a young local couple who offer to have them stay at
their plantation. Once at the plantation, Dick decides to explore an old
graveyard on the grounds, where he, in ritualistic fashion, begins playing his
audio recording from the ceremony. Mysteriously, Dick’s recording brings six
dead slaves to life, men who were executed almost 150 years ago during a slave
rebellion. Armed with scythes, pitchforks, and knives, the six zombie slaves seek
revenge for their deaths and deem the inhabitants of the plantation as the
culprits to their plight.
When it comes to the acting
of the film, Black Demons is sorely lacking and pathetically dry, but that
doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a huge amount of entertainment to garner
from this enthusiastic zombie effort. Joe Balogh takes on the role of the
curious traveler named Dick, the one who accidentally or purposely raises the
dead and sets this whole bloody affair into motion. As an amateur actor, Balogh
does a good enough job, and even though you’ll find yourself laughing
throughout his performance, there still is a great deal of fun to be had with
his over the top descent into madness. Sonia Curtis plays the role of Jessica,
Dick’s sister, and she ends up being the heroine of the piece. Always in danger
and falling into every cliché in the book, Curtis does a commendable job with
the material she’s given and I appreciate the effort that she gives on screen.
Rounding out the group of travelers is Keith Van Hoven who plays the role of
Kevin, Jessica’s boyfriend. In more than one occasion, Keith’s purpose in the
film is to move the story along as he takes a more physical and proactive
approach in the story. Out of all of the actors of the film, I’d say that his
performance is the most solid.
Of course we can’t have a
zombie movie without at least a few more people to be zombie chow and the cast
is filled out by the presence of Philip Murray as Jose, Juliana Teixeira as Sonia,
and Maria Alves as Maria the housekeeper and voodoo practitioner. Each of these
lesser characters are a hoot, especially the awkward performance by the fro
wonder himself, Murray, and the scared shitless portrayal of Maria Alves.
Maria’s character is a one note pony as she stays in a constant state of shock
throughout the entire proceedings, only veering off course a handful of times
to dabble in some voodoo for the good of the group. Her character’s connections
with witchcraft is one of the film’s most interesting sort of twists, because
she often at times gets herself into hot water with the rest of the cast as
they think that she is behind the raising of the dead, even though she is
trying to protect them. All in all, there is no one performance that really
stands out from the bunch as outstanding, but that doesn’t mean that there
isn’t a great deal of fun to be had with the over the top acting that we are
given in this film.
Now where the film really
thrives is in its remarkable atmosphere and unsettling creature make-up. With
the film being centralized within a secluded plantation and its surrounding
properties, there is a tremendous opportunity for the movie to dwell on not
just the visual aspects of the location, but on the storied events of the
grounds past. With the back story of the slave rebellion some 150 years ago,
the movie gives the location an unsavory creepiness that saturates the
proceedings from the get go and only cultivates as the undead corpses begin to
rise and terrorize our lead characters. Another thing about the plantation
location that is so damn effective is that the place is like a tomb. Even
though there are six people living inside its walls, the estate always seems
void of life, especially during the night time scenes. Add on top of that the
aged look of the place and you’ve got yourself an ideal setting for a
fabulously grim zombie film.
The zombie effects are also
extremely disturbing as the filmmakers make an extra effort in realizing these
undead mounds of flesh as believable walking corpses. They are bloody,
disgusting, and oozing with a chilly presence that perfectly mimics death as it
slowly stalks its prey. One of my favorite visual looks for a zombie is used in
this film, and that would be the glazed over white eyes of the antagonists.
Void of life and distressing to look at, these zombies are top notch and of the
utmost of quality. As I mentioned above in my introduction, the movie may be of
meager origins but the inclusion of both the plantation as the central location
and the outstanding visual effects of the zombies, really makes this entry in
the zombie genre stand out amongst its counterparts. Forget the atrocious
acting and strange set-up and just relish in the otherworldly nature of the
film as it tells its little tale of the macabre.
Black Demons is a sadly under-appreciated zombie flick, as it hit the scene just a tad bit too late to
make an impact on the once thriving genre efforts of George Romero, Lucio Fulci,
Bruno Mattei, and even Lamberto Bava’s zombie-centric series of films. Filmed
in that same dire sense and drenched in a nasty disposition that Italian horror
was so known for in its hay day, the production is a real treat for those that
are looking to extend their zombie love into new and less glamorous territory.
Umberto Lenzi does an excellent job with this little zombie yarn, and you can
see that his love for the zombie genre hasn’t faltered since his last undead
effort some 11 years ago in the excellent Nightmare City.
If you set aside the
passable acting and just go along for the ride, Black Demons proves that it has
the atmospheric punch that is needed to bring about an unsettling tale filled
with gory moments, spooky locales, and expertly crafted and imaginative
vengeful dead. In my opinion, that is all that is really needed in order to
capture the spirit of this niche genre. It’s not a very complicated film
category, but nailing that tone and capturing that look can sometimes take out
even the most well-intentioned of film directors. Luckily for us, Umberto Lenzi
has constructed a gem with this one. If you’re looking for a zombie film
outside of the regular Romero/Fulci ilk, then give this one a go. You might
just find something that tickles your fancy, your zombie fancy that is. Black Demons
is an…..
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| The group wasn't too impressed with Jose's fabulous fro. |
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| Someone put the coins on Maria's eyes cause she sure don't believe what she is seeing. |
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| Only you can prevent graveyard fires. |
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| High-five man! I'm free! |
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| Quit making love to that voodoo doll and get back to work! |
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| Sir you look stupendous! |
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| Listen, the fabulous fro has got to go Jose. |
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| I've got my eye on you. |
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| Even this sneaky zombie is distracted by the fabulous fro. |
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| I told you I'm turning seven this year! You forgot a candle you ass! |
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| Maria just got one hell of a zombie beat-down. |
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| Not only was Jose's fabulous fro distracting, but he sipped water like an asshole. |
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| Quit hanging around and get back to work! |
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| Look at my camel toe when I'm talking to you! |
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| I warned you about the fabulous fro, but you wouldn't listen! |
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Ok Keith, just scan the area with the flashlight, but don't look directly at the camera.
Jesus Keith! What the shit did I just say! |
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| HERE'S DICKY! |
