The Demoniacs — The Demoniacs( Blu Ray)
The Demoniacs is a wacky ‘n’ weird early 70’s take on the rape-revenge genre. The 18th century-period set film focuses on a group of pirates, flits of sex & violence, a ghost clown, and dives into puzzling fantasy- all edged with a decidedly comic book/ pulp tone. The film was directed by Euro cult director Jean Rollin, and here as either a UHD or Blu Ray is a recent release of the film. It takes in a new 4k scan of the picture, a commentary track, and a good selection of new and archive extras.
The Demoniacs (aka Les Démoniaques, Demoniacs Revenge of the Virgins, Curse of the Living Dead) was released in 1974. It was the tenth film from Jean Rollin, and aside from the erotic and dark fantasy elements- it was the most untypical of the director's releases, as of course he was most known for his vampire-focused erotic horror films such as The Nude Vampire(1970), and Lips Of Blood (1975).
This release presents us with three versions of the film: the original theatrical version (100 mins); the longer, explicit export version (109 mins); and Curse of the Living Dead (86 mins), the alternative English-language cut- I watched the longest of these three versions.
The film opens with shots of fires burning on a nighttime coastline- as Mr Frenchman's voice-over talks about the dubious trade of Wreakers- Pirates who lure in ships by the fires, then steal & kill all on the boats. We then get a series of moving portraits of a group of wreakers led up by Le Capitaine ( John Rico)- who looks rather like daytime TV wheeler-dealer Dave Dickinson, with his longish curly greying hair & tanned skin.
We then watch the gang finding two young women on a nighttime beach along with the remains of the crashed ships- they attack/ rape off-screen the women, then smash in their heads. This first fifteen or so minutes of the film( aside from the voiceover) it plays like a silent film- with very pronounced soundtracking, and only a few words of dialogue
We see Le Capitaine and his crew going to a cheap ‘n’ crudely dressed pirate bar- here he starts seeing the dead women everywhere- dripping blood on his hands/ in his drink, leering at him, and suddenly appearing/ disappearing.
As the film unfolds a female ghost clown turns up, along with a man/ spirit with an impressive beard- these both dwell in grand ruins, and I’m not completely sure who they are meant to be. We also get a fair bit of twitchiness and sweaty panic from Le Capitaine, as well of course the revenge which largely centres around statutes crashing people.
The longer version I watched was 109 minutes long, and boy it certainly felt its length and some. The structure/ flow of the film felt rather awkward, at points frankly a little boring. The explicit content is largely focused on rather flaccid/ dull harder softcore encounters. There are a few splashes of over-red gore.
I’ve enjoyed ( on one level or another) all of Rollin's filmography, but this was a real struggle to get through- it just all felt so cheap & badly gaudy, there are only subtle touches of his more dark art-house elements, the acting is pretty terrible throughout, and the plot is barely there. At a stretch, I’d say the moments of sweaty panic are done well enough, we get one or two more creepy/ unsettling moments, and some of the nighttime footage of the sea is effective.
Moving onto this release, we get a new 4k transfer- this has some great bold colours and good definition/ balance in the darker elements/ nighttime shots. On the extras side we have a good mix of new and archive extras- all of which of most worthy/interesting.
On the new side, we have the following: Export cut audio commentary with film expert Tim Lucas, and as we’ve come to expect from Mr Lucas this very well-researched/observed track- which could easily be played more than a few times. He starts by talking about how the film was first released in France on December 5th 1974, saying the film is an unusual & important Rollin’s filmography. He discusses where the film sits in his larger body of work, talking about how the director very much wanted to step away from what he had done in the past. He talks about the film's impressionistic feel- with in the beginning the characters standing out as they would in the inky black background- like a comic. He comments on the interesting choreography in some of the scenes, as well as the use of fleeting action in the picture. He comments on shooting locations, and some of the more difficult set-ups. Later on he talks about the films skewed logic, and how one or two scenes bring to mind a Western. We find out the budget ran out at one point, and much more.
Next, we have Vengeance and Purity ( 41.38) where author and musician Stephen Thrower discusses the film, and once again this is excellent/ very well-researched. We find out the film was only released in France in 1974, not getting released elsewhere until 1977. He moves on to give a rundown of what Rollin films were released in the UK & Stateside- including in the latter three of the director's soft/ hardcore films. He talks about the film's unreal feel, going on to comment/ give informative bios on the cast. He talks about Rollin’s love of decaying buildings- in this and the rest of his output. He comments/ breaks down his favourite and much more. A must-watch.
Otherwise, we get on the archive/ updated side of things: a 2005 commentary on selected scenes audio with Jean Rollin (50.01). A 1998 intro from the director(3.07). Un des démoniaques (2024, 21 mins):a new presentation of an interview with regular Rollin collaborator Jean-Pierre Bouyxou. The Iron Eagle (10.08): a newly edited archival interview with actor Willy Braque. One Perfect Shot (8.39): a newly edited archival interview with actor Paul Bisciglia. Outtake footage (2.07). Original theatrical trailer, and Image gallery: promotional and publicity material, and behind the scenes.
The finished release comes with an eighty-page booklet with a new essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an archival piece on the making of the film by Jean Rollin, an archival interview with Rollin, an archival interview with actor Monica Swinn, and full film credits.
There is no doubt that with The Demoniacs Rollin was trying to do something a little different, and this has to be admired/ respected. But I’m afraid to say I felt it was one of his least successful/rewarding films. That said with the wonderful new scan, and worthy selection of new & archive extras I’ve pushed my original two mark up to a three.