1985's Demons, from Italian horror producer Dario Argento and director Lamberto Bava, has often served as a next step for American genre fans who want to go deeper into the dark realm of grizzly demonic terror after acquiring a taste for the stuff from films like The Exorcist and The Evil Dead. The Italian's take on this unique subgenre of horror was perhaps the most fun with its pop music soundtracks, social commentary, and self-referential nods to filmmaking and media as a form of prophecy and doom. "They will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be your tombs." remains one of the boldest taglines of any film from the era.
While the movies clearly took inspiration from William Friedkin and Sam Raimi's approach to no-holds-barred demonic cinema, the Italian films stand apart for allowing a far more literal take on the concept, proposing three distinct stages of demonic transformation whereby the end, we have otherworldly creatures (sometimes with wings) bursting out of the human body, wreaking havoc on humans with blood-drenched, rabid joy. That combined with the Italian filmmaking sensibilities that allow for more dream logic and gonzo flair, the Demons films are truly special. For horror aficionados, they hold a distinguished place on the genre's mantle, with the third entry in the series presenting a fittingly bizarre rabbit hole of film discovery. It's as if a creative bomb went off, and Demons 3 was scattered into various pockets across Italian horror cinema.
Shortly after completing Demons 2, Lamberto Bava, the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mario Bava, was commissioned to direct a number of feature horror films for an Italian television series called Turno di notte (Night Shift), with Lamberto's entries referred to as Brivido Giallo. These features were later repackaged and sold internationally, with different titles depending on the region. The Ogre, a movie about a monster in the cellar, was dubbed Demons 3 in certain countries. However, another episode called Graveyard Disturbance actually gets closer to the vibe of a Demons movie with returning cast members and a similar dream-like approach to horror. An Italian zombie film from 1991 called Black Demons, about a group of former slaves who return from the grave, has also been sold as Demons 3.
An official Demons 3 script was developed with Michele Soavi directing (who played the silver masked ghoul handing out tickets at the beginning of Demons). However, the film was reworked and retitled The Church, as Soavi saw an opportunity to create something unique with his own artistic signature. Still, obvious tropes of the Demons movies are present in the film, helping to propel the status of this ghostly installment into a kind of supernatural realm of macabre creativity.
Demon Dreams
Fans have called out a film titled Evil Clutch that stars Demons 2's Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni (who played Sally) as having Demons 3 vibes, with the film having clear Evil Dead inspiration. Soavi's film, The Sect from 1991, about a satanic cult, has been sold in certain territories as Demons 4. Piling on to the strangeness, Lamberto's 1990 film Mask of Satan has been sold as Demons 5, which opens with a group of skiers getting stuck inside an arctic cave and discovering a similar metallic mask of evil, leading to more dreamlike horror.
Most recently, Arrow Video released a special edition of the original two Demons films that included a two-part comic book insert called Demons 3, that dove back into the Nostradamus prophecy about "the coming of the demons," continuing to add fuel onto the burning question that is, what is Demons 3? With no end in sight to this strange cinematic quandary, Geretta Geretta, who played Rosemary in Demons (and ranked among Playboy's top 10 Scream Queens), plans to deliver the latest answer with a new entry, currently listed in IMDB as Untitled Lamberto Bava/Geretta Geretta Project. We caught up with Geretta to provide exclusive intel on this highly anticipated work.
Geretta Geretta to Direct
Famously known for one of the most horrific monster transformations in '80s horror history, Geretta Geretta's performance is one of the franchise's major highlights. Rosemary is a truly nightmarish demon who did for movie theaters what Jaws did for the ocean. Her demonic form pushes the horror dial to eleven, which is why it's no surprise she has become the face of the brand over the years, appearing in documentaries and horror conventions to share her experiences with the Italian film industry. Her unique presence as an African American horror icon made famous by Italian cinema empowers the actor turned director as the most fitting person to helm this truly unique project.
With Covid having impacted the original schedule for the film, Geretta hopes to be in production sometime in 2023. The cast and crew include a swath of horror veterans, including Bill Moseley, Linea Quigley, and Mark Steger of Stranger Things. With original composers Simon Boswell and Claudio Simonetti set to score the film, horror fans can rest assured that Geretta is looking to truly recapture the vibe of the original Demons movies while bringing in a few new twists entirely unique to the collaboration. With Lamberto Bava set to co-produce and already providing notes on the script to crank up the kill count, Geretta is sure to deliver something special for fans who are excited to once again return to the nightmare. Setting the film in New Orleans with plans to explore the city's underground railroad history is another aspect of Geretta's approach to the material that sounds absolutely fascinating.
Geretta on the Untitled Project:
"The script is about ten years in the making. At the time I lived in Los Angeles where a friend and I developed the concept around a group of tourists getting trapped on a tour bus. The film would mostly be exterior locations, setting it apart from the other movies. Once I moved to New Orleans, things really started to click with all the underground railroad history and tunnel systems beneath the city, once used by fleeing gay men to escape arrest when their clubs were raided and career ending arrests made.
My people, enslaved, have also told the tale, whispered to each generation our escape routes, tunnels -- having to hide and go underground. I still wasn't sure, then the George Floyd incident happened. An "arrest" that culminated in his murder in broad daylight, a horror that stunned the world. It provoked a question; what makes someone see YOU as a "monster" and what makes someone else become that monster?
I knew it was a sign that the social commentary direction I was moving toward was right on point. It was always there in the Italian films with the punks, the Blacks, the whites, the kids, etc. Our script brings in a more poignant twist on the material involving relevant issues regarding historically marginalized groups of people, especially within the Black and LGBTQ+ communities. I think people will really get behind it, especially the horror community whom I've sincerely come to appreciate over the years."
Geretta made reference to the horror streaming service Shudder, which may signal where the film could find a home. In recent years, Geretta and Bobby Rhodes have both appeared at Quentin Tarantino's New Beverly cinema in Los Angeles for special screenings of the original Demons movies. When asked if Bobby may return for the project, it was still up in the air, according to Geretta. With some intriguing socially conscious efforts at work, Geretta is on course to give back to the communities she has come to love in her hometown of New Orleans, a truly fitting place for the Italian-born ghouls to run amok in the land of the free.