Black Demons (1991)

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].