Demon Wind (1990)

Another one for the Demon possession marathon. I had always seen the poster/cover for Demon Wind, but never rented it. The cover seemed very generic and after watching the movie I have to say barely has anything to do with it. The title is accurate but that is about the best we can expect from the packaging.

Things kick off with a body being burned on a cross. We know that it is nineteen thirty-one because of a helpful date being splashed on the screen. Then we shift to a cabin where there are a lot of religious icons and music playing. The lady inside is trying to keep something out but fails. The evil is portrayed as wind banging into the house rattling everything. Her husband goes all demonic on her and bad things happen. Very Evil Dead like in many ways. That will become a theme here.

After this opening we meet the main cast. Cory is the grandson of the people we saw killed just a few minutes ago. He has decided to check out the family farm and bring along a bunch of victims… I mean friends. They drive off into the middle of nowhere only to find a weird cabin. Wait I know this story. They get trapped when the cars won’t start and have to spend the night where the evil that lurks outside tries to lure them to their doom. But this isn’t until they get trapped by a fog that rolls in all creepy like. When they die or get bitten they become possessed by the evil and go all demonic like in the opening. God you know I really think I’ve seen this movie before. When we finally do get to the big finale we find Cory changed into a good demon or maybe an angel? It looks freaky either way. Good guys win bad guys die.

Okay I guess that I’ve made my point. One of the things in my notes from watching Demon Wind is “Well someone has seen the Evil Dead”. This movie was clearly taking its cues from that. Which considering that it is a classic of the genre isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While I wasn’t terribly fond of the movie and found it a pale imitation of Rami’s masterpiece the cast was decent. They aren’t given much with the script and fall into the roles of hero, girlfriend, bully, and the love triangle. About what you would expect. But they give it their best and deliver some really silly dialogue about as well as it could be done. Though this is hurt by the pacing as there are parts of the movie that seem to just plod along without purpose.

Things do get a bit gooey

Demon Wind is at its best when we get to see the possessed on camera. The makeup they used is very simple latex but works great on screen. We get an old preacher leading his flock of demonic farmers and they don’t skimp on the good stuff. Each character has a costume and look that is unique to them. Much like a zombie movie when filmmakers take that much time on the “monsters” regardless of how far from the camera they might be I appreciate it. The kills are decent, but not as bloody as I had hoped they would be. Though all in all the makeup effects work is by far the best part of Demon Wind.

The last line in my notes sum up what I think of Demon Wind pretty concisely. Cheesy Evil Dead rip off that is a harmless mediocre bit of fun. I guess I sort of recommend it. Though you really shouldn’t expect too much. God these reviews where I’m not passionate for or against movies are just the worst.

© Copyright 2019 John Shatzer