I'll rate this film 6/10, mainly because it's merits are few, but solid.
MERITS: 1) The soundtrack. Great heavy-metal, some rock-and-roll, all pitched to the various chase scenes. Lamberto Bava definitely has an ear for music.
2) The effects. Great, gruesome makeup effects. There's stuff here that, technically, can rival Rob Bottin's work in 'The Thing' (1982) though Bottin had a wilder imagination.
3) The photography. There's plenty of shadows thrown about and a nice color scheme. Lamberto certainly learned a few things when he was an assistant to his father, Mario Bava.
DEMERITS:
1) The script. You don't learn a thing about the characters and, moreover, don't care about them. They're just served up on a 'demon platter' and if they get killed, so what?
2) The dubbing. The lines have no wit or smoothness when dubbed into English, and some of the dialogue delivery jars horribly. Example: when they break into the projection room, they have to break through two doors. After busting through the first door, the black pimp says "Shit! Another door! Give me a hand!" But whoever dubbed that line reads it like this: "SHIT! A-NOTH-AH DOAH! GIVE-ME-A HAY-UND!" Ugh.
So, 6/10. Not for everyone, but gore-fans will dig it. But for me, the best thing about this film is the poster--high marks for whoever designed it!
MERITS: 1) The soundtrack. Great heavy-metal, some rock-and-roll, all pitched to the various chase scenes. Lamberto Bava definitely has an ear for music.
2) The effects. Great, gruesome makeup effects. There's stuff here that, technically, can rival Rob Bottin's work in 'The Thing' (1982) though Bottin had a wilder imagination.
3) The photography. There's plenty of shadows thrown about and a nice color scheme. Lamberto certainly learned a few things when he was an assistant to his father, Mario Bava.
DEMERITS:
1) The script. You don't learn a thing about the characters and, moreover, don't care about them. They're just served up on a 'demon platter' and if they get killed, so what?
2) The dubbing. The lines have no wit or smoothness when dubbed into English, and some of the dialogue delivery jars horribly. Example: when they break into the projection room, they have to break through two doors. After busting through the first door, the black pimp says "Shit! Another door! Give me a hand!" But whoever dubbed that line reads it like this: "SHIT! A-NOTH-AH DOAH! GIVE-ME-A HAY-UND!" Ugh.
So, 6/10. Not for everyone, but gore-fans will dig it. But for me, the best thing about this film is the poster--high marks for whoever designed it!