Demons 2 - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

From Mr. Duarte's 2021 Demons 1 & 2 4K UHD Review

If we're going to be perfectly honest and objective, Demons 2 is all sorts of badness, tenanted by daft characters and many cartoonishly stupid sequences, but I freaking love it! The atrocious acting by the entire cast makes the dialogue all the more ridiculous while certain, roll-your-eyes plot points raise more than an eyebrow. A pregnant woman (Nancy Brilli) suddenly has a sugar craving while all hell breaks loose in her apartment building and loses concern for her husband's (David Edwin Knight) safety. A little boy home alone eventually gives birth to a hideous crossbreed of a gremlin and the Black Lagoon creature, and it spends a good amount of time menacing the defenseless expecting mother. And the scenes with the gym instructor (Bobby Rhodes) and his wimpy soldiers of bodybuilders are laugh-out-loud hilarious, a splendidly genuine highlight in an ocean of bad camp. A bad movie that's nonetheless dearly beloved!

In the first movie, the demonic pandemonium started after a Rick James wannabe scratched her face with a mask, and her transformation corresponded with events in a random horror movie. But here, director Lamberto Bava and producer Dario Argento skip such expositional formalities and simply have a demon break through a TV screen, attacking the annoyingly self-centered and callow Sally (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) on her birthday.  Suddenly, doors, phones, and elevators don't work throughout the high-rise building — except when convenient to the story, of course. And despite all the goofiness and ridiculous moments, the sequel is an enjoyable, gore-tacular campy follow-up, littered with tons of disturbing, shockingly disgusting details that induce just as many laughs as churn stomachs. Full of screams, shrieking panic, demonic bedlam, and another fantastic soundtrack for a horror movie, it's the best birthday party ever!

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Demons 2 celebrates its first single-title release on 4K in the U.S. thanks to Synapse Films. This is the same BD-100 disc previously issued in Synapse Films' 2021 Demons 1 & 2 4K collection. The disc is housed inside a hard, black plastic case. There is no cardboard sleeve. There is a replica of Sally's Birthday Party invite with restoration information and a Synapse product catalog booklet. The insert artwork is reversible. One side features the original movie poster art and the other features the iconic child demon only from a movie still and the television demon that pops out.

As this is the same disc from the now out-of-print 2-film collection, the video score stands pat. 

Like the first movie, this UHD edition of the sequel easily towers over its home video predecessors thanks to a new remaster and restoration of the original 35mm camera negatives, the same scan enjoyed on the Arrow package. 

Within the first few opening minutes, viewers can see the massive improvements in this HEVC encode, enjoying sharper and better-defined lines in the costumes, the hallways of the building, and the various apartments. We can better make out the small objects decorating each space, and the overall grain structure is far more stable and consistently layered, except for a couple of minor sequences where it's understandably a bit more pronounced, such as the gym and garages scenes. Unfortunately, one major distraction that plagued previous releases is carried over here, which is a strange stuttering, ghosting-like effect, most prominently happening when Jacob crashes outside the building. This is an inherent anomaly that permanently damaged the elements, caused by a defect in the film stock used at the time. It's obvious, given the overall quality of the 4K transfer, that the best was done to repair the damage but is nonetheless distracting. 

On a more positive note, the Dolby Vision HDR presentation boasts a bolder, more dynamic array of primaries throughout, showering the violence in animated crimson and garnet reds while bathed in a mix of vivid cobalt blue and warm marigold orange lighting. Likewise, the selection of vibrant, full-bodied secondary hues supply an ironic flamboyance to the gory visuals, like the hot-pink sweaters, the royal purple design of some leotards, and the loud buttery yellows of some apartments. Also immediately apparent is the improved, spot-on contrast balance with intensely bright whites and crisp, narrow specular highlights, furnishing the deluge of bloody carnage with a realistic sparkle and glistening glare from the lights. At the same time, the rooms and hallways are bathed in inky rich, velvety blacks and raven, stygian shadows without engulfing the finer details while providing the 1.66:1 image with an impressive depth and cinematic appeal.

Likewise, the audio package remains the same.

Similarly, the cult sequel moves into home theaters with the same English and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and 5.1 soundtracks enjoyed on the Arrow UHD edition, but Synapse also upchucks an English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track that was remastered by them, which is quite good. 

This new true stereo theatrical mix delivers a more natural and appealing soundstage, feeling fuller and more convincingly spacious as various background activity flawlessly moves between the three channels. Imaging is better focused and stable in the center of the screen, creating a more faithful presentation with an excellent sense of presence while dialogue is crystal clear and precise. The mid-range also exhibits discrete detailing and clarity in the music and in much of the bombastically loud action with the exception being the scenes of the baby demon where its ear-splitting screams can come off as somewhat brash and too bright. On the other hand, one could argue that this was the intended effect of the filmmakers, which is a possibility since there is no hint of noise or distortion during those segments. All the while, the low-end is surprisingly hearty and energetic, providing the visuals and song selections with an appreciable weight.

Demons 2 on its own may not sport as robust a bonus features package as the first film, but what we get is a nice array of archival and recently produced content. Between the featurettes and interviews, you're looking at almost three hours of content before you get to the audio commentary.

• Audio Commentary features critic and film historian Travis Crawford
• The Demons Generation (HD, 35 min)
• Together and Apart: Space and Technology (HD, 27 min)
• A Soundtrack for Splatter (HD, 27 min) is an interview with composer Simon Boswell
• Creating Creature Carnage (SD, 21 min)
• Bava to Bava (SD, 17 min)
• The New Blood of Italian Horror (HD, 16 min)
• Screaming for a Sequel: The Delirious Legacy (HD, 16 min)
• Demonic Influences (HD, 11 min)
• Trailers (HD) is a pair of theatrical previews

Demons 2 explores some of the crazier demonic sides of religion and science fiction. The visual effects are still gory this time around and the soundtrack still rocks. The 4K image looks wonderful with Dolby Vision HDR (and HDR10) and the DTS-HD 5.1 audio track sounds amazing. The treasure trove of extras is all a must-see. For those who were lucky enough to get the limited edition 4K set a couple of years ago where only 6000 were made, there is no need to get this stand-alone release. But for those who are still wanting to see Sally murder everyone - it doesn't get better than this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!