Demonoid (1981) Movie Review
Written By: K.M.C
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Alfredo Zacarias
Producers: Alfredo Zacarias, Miguel Zacarias
Writers: David Lee Fein, F. Amos Powell, Alfredo Zacarías
Date Released: June, 1981
Cast:
Samantha Eggar as Jennifer Baines
Stuart Whitman as Father Cunningham
Roy Jenson as Mark Baines
Lew Saunders as Sergeant Leo Matson
Narciso Busquets as Dr. Julian Rivkin
José Chávez as Pepe
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Mark and Jennifer Baines set out to uncover an ancient Satanic temple in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico in order to find silver. The temple was home to satanic rituals that included sacrificing people to Satan by cutting off their left hands then killing them as offerings. Once there, the couple discovers a 300 year old tin hand with a real hand inside and decides to bring it back. Upon the first night back, the couple quickly realize that the hand is possessed as it tries to possess and kill anyone in its path.
Gore Factor
Demonoid has a decent amount of gore that comes in short waves. It is the kind of gore that gives the audience a chuckle on how obviously phoney the blood is. Even though there are moments of severed limbs and spraying blood, it is nothing heavy enough to cause disgust.
The Grave Review
The film is the epitome of a cheesy 1980s movie with a comical plot and mediocre acting. It’s a bit of a meme to have a movie be centered around a hand that attacks people. Although the film starts off strong with an intriguing opening and good acting, the film starts to descend as soon as Roy Jenson was introduced to the screen. Believe it or not, Jenson’s character death was the gateway for Samantha Eggers to really show how disappointing her performance was in Demonoid. One would think that the death of your supposed husband would cause more of an extreme reaction than what she gave.
The actor that stood out from the rest is José Chávez who played Pepe. Although his screen time was short, he was more of a believable actor than any of the main characters. The second runner up for “best” acting would be Stuart Whitman who played Father Cunningham. The only reason being that he maintained the poised and calm persona that a father would usually maintain in real life. Other than this, it seemed as though the actors didn’t really let their characters be phased by major events.
Although Demonoid did exhibit some interesting ways of killing off its victims and had a few interesting scenery changes, it wasn’t exactly what one would deem as a must watch film. The acting was especially what brought disappointment upon watching. The plot, although comical and ridiculous, could have been executed better if say Satan himself made an appearance or if there was more of a purpose for the hand being incorporated as the main antagonist.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Demonoid (1981) two graves out of five graves.
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