Synopsis
Black Demons is a 1991 Italian horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. It also is called Demoni 3. It follows a group of young people who become stranded on a remote Brazilian plantation that is home to a voodoo cult. The film features many elements of the supernatural and occult horror genres.
The film opens with a group of Italian tourists arriving by boat to a small island in the Caribbean for vacation. The island is inhabited by a secret voodoo cult that performs dark magic rituals deep in the island’s dense jungle. Soon after arriving, some of the tourists start to go missing under mysterious circumstances. The remaining tourists suspect something sinister is occurring and attempt to find their missing friends.
As they search the island, they encounter various clues and occult artifacts that point to the voodoo cult’s involvement. One by one, members of the group are hunted down and captured by the cult to be used as human sacrifices in their rituals. Two of the tourists, Sara and Mike, manage to evade capture and delve deeper into the jungle to find the source of the evil on the island.
After discovering the cult’s temple and witnessing one of their ceremonies, Sara and Mike try to escape and warn the authorities. But the cult’s high priest puts a death curse on them, causing Mike to die in a freak accident. Sara becomes the cult’s final target for a grand ritual they believe will conjure a powerful demon.
In the climactic scenes, Sara is captured and brought to the temple as the ritual’s sacrifice. As the cult performs the ceremony, a demon is seemingly brought forth amid flames and supernatural events. But just as the demon is about to take Sara, the authorities raid the temple having been tipped off by Sara and Mike earlier. The demon and cultists are defeated in a dramatic confrontation.
Cast
- Keith Van Hoven as Kevin
- Joe Balogh as Dick
- Sonia Curtis as Jessica
- Philip Murray as Jose
- Juliana Teixeira as Sonia
- Maria Alves as Maria
- Cléa Simões as Wetnurse
- Justo Silva as Witchdoctor
- Rita Monteiro as Mucuma Dancer
- Felix Lorival as Zombie
- Paul R. Goodman as Zombie
- Tony Martins as Zombie
- Gleis J. Pereira as Zombie
- Sérgio Costa Andrade as Zombie (as Sergio Costa)
- Louis Karlson as Zombie
Trivia
The movie was released in Italy as “Demoni 3”, even though it has nothing to do with Lamberto Bava’s “Demons” series. Director Umberto Lenzi was disappointed when he saw the leading lady Sonia Curtis arrive for the film. He wanted a gorgeous actress for the role and felt she was too plain and not attractive enough for the part, resulting in Lenzi treating her badly during filming [3].
Reviews
A review by IMDb describes the movie as “a goofy but entertaining entry in the zombie genre” [3]. A review by Black Horror Movies describes the movie as “a typical cheesy Italian zombie movie” [2]. A review by Rotten Tomatoes describes the movie as “an Italian horror flick” [4].
Citations
1: “Black Demons (1991) – Trivia – IMDb”. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
2: “Black Demons (1991) – User Reviews – IMDb”. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
3: “Black Demons (1991)”. EOFFTV Review. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
Anonymous on October 29, 2023