Night of the Demons 2 (1994) - Pretty good, bar nun

‘Night of the Demons 2’ is the unimaginatively-titled sequel to ‘Night of the Demons,’ but at least when a film gives you such a big clue as to what it’s going to be about, you should know what you’re getting.  And, unsurprisingly, here you get one night (and some demons).

However, I was a little disappointed at the lack of demons.  There’s only really one main one and, granted she can possess people to help swell her ranks, but I was expecting hordes of the nasties.  Perhaps I was thinking it would be more in line with the Italian horror classic B-movies ‘Demons’ and its own unimaginatively-titled sequel ‘Demons 2.’ Despite also having demons in it, ‘Night of the Demons 2’ was its own movie.

You have the typical mix of obnoxious, over-s*xed teenagers, all of which attend a religious school run by nuns and priests.  They hear an urban legend of a haunted house and decide to go and investigate on Halloween.  Naturally, rumours are true and they end up unleashing one nasty old demon-woman among their numbers.

It doesn’t sound like anything too memorable, but it does have its traits which make it stand out.  For a start there are a few nice touches which go against the horror genre’s conventions (no spoilers here – you’ll have to watch it to find out!).  Plus it’s surprisingly quite a slow burner.  You’ll either see it as a plus or a minus at how the plot progresses, but it takes quite a while before the heads (literally) start to roll.  Then there’s the plot itself.  Normally slasher/horror films are set in one location, however this one seems to bounce its location back and forth between various sets.  Again, this can be seen as a positive or a negative.  Some may find it refreshing that the story defies the norm, others may find it a bit disjointed and think that it doesn’t really have any direction.

There’s gore and bits that stand out, but what saves it from being totally forgettable amongst the infinite ranks of similar movies is one character: the nun.  Far from being one of God’s more passive servants, she kicks demon butt at every given opportunity and, as a result, single-handedly saves the movie from oblivion.

If you like tongue-in-cheek horror with the occasional moment of story brilliance and a nun who wouldn’t look out of place wielding an Uzi, then sit down and watch this.  As long as you’re in a forgiving mood you’ll find enjoyment here.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that