Demonwarp (1988) Online

I rented this movie at Rogers video, and may I say that it was quite alright even if it was made on a low budget, but it would definetely stood a chance at playing in theatres. A neat horror-science fiction gorefest. There's good supporting roles by Billy Jacoby(whom I remembered being a regular for a while in that bland sitcom "Silver Spoons") and by cult B-movie scream queen Michelle Bauer and boy did she ever scream when she first spotted that alien monster and was topless too running away from it. They both had quite good parts. It's a rare video to find, but if you come across from it, rent it! Worth checking out!

The creators of this film really broke the goofy meter with this one. The movie begins routinely for the horror genre - five twenty somethings alone in a cabin in the woods (Demon Woods no less) with a murderous bigfoot type monster on the loose. Typically, the twenty somethings are slowly killed off and from this point on the flick gets incredibly asinine. Turns out that bigfoot and people in zombie masks are being controlled by a master alien in a Bronson Canyon cave. The zombies bring victims to the slaughter for the alien so it can partake of various body parts (one scene in particular shows one of the topless females on a slab getting her heart torn out and fed to the master alien). And how the hell did George Kennedy get involved with this mess? It always amazes AND saddens me to see fading veteran actors take embarrassing roles like this. Prepare to be astounded and puzzled if you watch this debacle.

The main reason why I rented this movie was scream queen Michelle Bauer, but it has so many things in it that made me want to buy and I did. For being low budget it has everything a horror flick should have, nudity, gore, some graphic effects and is very fast paced. Rent it, you won't be dissappointed

Cyborg-vampire extraterrestrial overlords with giant scorpion stingers; shapeshifting Sasquatches on murder sprees; Zombie drones; Demonic cult sacrifices; and loads of totally unnecessary full frontal nudity...Demonwarp has a little something for everyone.

This is one of those totally bizarre, so bad it's brilliant, 80's schlock horror gems that never made it past a VHS release...though it is certainly due for an upgrade.

It starts off like you'd expect your standard "don't go into that part of the woods" film with bigfoots would. But by the time the end rolls around you find that you have been taking in something much more bizarre- and hilariously so!!!

For a while I was worried they weren't going to tie up all the loose ends that were subtly introduced in earlier parts of the film (like the crash of the spacecraft, and inexplicable zombie that makes an appearance half-way through). But alas, I was too quick to judge. I just needed to let it all play out...and when it does...it's gold, baby. Gold.

The overall style and acting are incredibly cheesy- albeit in the most entertaining way possible. Which only acts to compliment the b-grade aura exuded by this epic monster flick.

The special effects and gore tend to be hit or miss. Some parts are as bad as the acting...while others are actually quite well done (like the transformation scenes near the end).

Patently ridiculous storyline aside, the highlight of this production is definitely the monsters. They are actually pretty well done, considering the nature of the film and all. Especially the Bigfoot character...which is badass!

What starts off as a pretty standard "group of kids wanders into the wrong part of the woods" type film, quickly takes a turn towards the bizarre...and that's what makes it so great! The final twist is a bit cliché- but honestly, I expected nothing less. A true cult classic!!! Comes highly recommended.

7 out 10 for creativity and entertainment value. Though it probably deserves far less.

A group of teens in a cabin in a woods are attacked by a creepy-ass Bigfoot monster, which kills a couple of them. The monster disappears into the night and the next morning they go on a search into the woods to find and destroy it. The name of the forest the carnage takes place in is Demonwood, and it seems many strange events have occurred there over the years, according to some supporting characters. The teens meet up with George Kennedy who's daughter was carried off by the same monster. He's also looking for revenge. A few extras wandering around the woods get slaughtered by the Bigfoot. Some of the murders are gross. Some of the gorier special effects are good. The last 20 minutes comes out of left field and adds another spin on the story, a spin that involves aliens, zombies, and a cultish looking maniac. Not a bad horror movie, it should prove to be a good view by any un-demanding horror fan. The twists at the end are kinda fun, and there are some good grisly moments strewn through out the story. Gratuitous nudity helps keep things interesting and the cast is not all that bad. George Kennedy is fun to watch hamming it up as the vengeance-minded father. Worth a look. Two And A Half Stars.

In the eyes of the majority of splatter fans across the globe, John Carl Buechler has always played second fiddle as a serious contender for king of the horror crown. Despite Roger Corman crediting him as 'the best in the business' and being the only make up effects guy to work on all three of the giant franchises (Freddy/Jason/Michael Myers), he never quite attracted the cult appeal that Tom Savini held throughout horror's heyday. As a director he showed potential with kids favourite Troll; but Paramount's stringent censoring of his Friday the 13th sequel (part VII) left the movie ranking among the series' worst. His directorial career pretty much faded following The New Blood's dismal reception and his recent slasher – Miner's Massacre – underlined the fact that he would never share a stall with the likes of Wes Craven and John Carpenter. Demonwarp was my first taste of Buechler as an author and in all honesty I felt quite optimistic. There's no denying that he possesses extreme talent, it's just unfortunate that a few of his greatest moments have suffered under the hands of the MPAA.

Demonwarp chucks everything but the kitchen sink into a horror cocktail that sounds extraordinary on paper. Zombies, aliens, UFOs and a murderous big foot all play a part in a plot that's riddled with gore and mayhem. But it can really only be categorised as a slasher movie, because the majority of the runtime plays almost identically to cult favourite and former video-nasty Night of the Demon.

The opening scene is actually supposed to be set in the 1880s, but we're not told that until much later in the feature. A priest is wandering leisurely along the top of a cliff reciting bible psalms and giving his horse a personnel sermon. (I know that sounds strange, but there was no one else anywhere near him!) As he reaches the peak of the mountain, out of the corner of his eye he spots an unidentified flying object hurtling directly into his path. It crashes down to create a huge crater just a yard from his feet. Despite leaving a chasm the size of a football pitch, the impact doesn't even unbalance the churchman and his trusty mule! Don't forget that this guy is so religious that he even preaches to his horse, so it's understandable that he believes it's the second coming. I'm less convinced.

Transport forward a century to the glorious eighties and things are already looking hackneyed as we enter a remote cabin in the woods. That old hamster George Kennedy must have been in desperate need of a bit of extra 'beer money'; because here he is further degrading his one-time Academy Award garnished status. You can tell that he did this just BEFORE the first Naked Gun job was offered, because that pretty much lifted his career beyond the realms of B movie plop for a few years or so. Anyway here he plays Bill Crafton, an old coot that's just trying to spend a little quality time with his bubble-permed daughter. We can tell that this reunion isn't going to last much longer as soon as we see those classic growling POV shots creeping up the road in front of the cabin. Before you can say 'Friday the 13th', the door flies off the hinges and Julie Crafton is victim numero uno. She gets brutally smothered to death by what looks to be a huge Big Foot creature, whilst her dad's left fighting for consciousness on the floor.

Next up a van full of clichés pull up outside the cabin, presumably for a woodland break, although Jack (a creditable Kurt Russell look-alike) has his own reasons for visiting that particular spot. Apparently his uncle Clem disappeared around that area and so he's brought along some psycho-fodder to help track him down. As if you hadn't guessed Big Foot is still out roaming and he continues his rampage upon the group of eighties space fillers. Will George Kennedy's numerous explosive traps save them? Or will they have to stop the beast by themselves?

Demonwarp traipses through the trappings like a programmed robot for the first hour or so, with nothing to separate it from any other killer in the woods flick from around that time. As soon as scream queen extraordinaire Michelle Bauer turns up only to rip off her top, I knew that this was going to be cheese by the bucket full. But then on the hour-mark things get even sillier as we're given zombies, aliens, satanic rituals and even spacecrafts all in the space of about thirty-five minutes. I won't ruin the plot by telling you how Buechler's story tried to incorporate every known horror icon in one movie; but let's just say that by the end it wouldn't have looked out of place if we had seen cameos from Frankenstein, Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde.

The acting is as below par as you might expect and Kennedy just looks to be waiting for that paycheck to be written. There's a couple of OK-ish gore scenes that brighten things up, which include a gooey head ripping and a disembowelment by stick. Unfortunately there's nothing here that we haven't seen somewhere else before. Emmett Alston fails to lift the shocks above passable, but what do you expect from the guy that directed New Years Evil?

So all in all a run of the mill eighties hack and slasher, despite the promise of everything rolled into one. The ending leaves you wondering just what drugs Buechler was snorting when he dreamt up this little beauty? Average…

This film, while no film great (or even genre giant), is oddly entertaining. The acting and direction are pure mid-to-late-80's B-movie cheese, but somehow the ridiculously convoluted plot and hysterical performance by George Kennedy make this film a good time waster-especially if you've got a few friends who appreciate this sort of crap.

This overambitious, overlong, sci-fi/monster mish-mash, tries throwing in everything, including the proverbial "kitchen sink". The results are decidedly mixed. George Kennedy is the only semi-competent actor in the film., The hero is annoying and unlikable. The thankfully sparse dialog is completely inane. Finally, the wheels come off with an ending that makes even less sense than the nonsense that precedes it. However, the women are all attractive, and there are ample "boobs" on display throughout. Overall, this is nothing more than a chased in the woods affair. The bigfoot, who is frequently seen in daylight, and the alien/ zombie makeup, is marginally acceptable. It is interesting to note that the same cave featured in "Demonwarp" was used over 20 years later in another bigfoot related film, "Strange Wilderness". - MERK

I'm pretty much a fan of any horror/sci fi film - especially older ones which were made before the Sci Fi (oops that's SYFY now) channel seems to have gotten the monopoly on astonishingly poor B films. Anyway Demonwarp is one such film which somehow managed to slip past me completely. I'd never seen or even heard of it until just last night when I ran across a mention of it on another website. I found it online and watched it today.

I liked it. It certainly wasn't even close to "great" but I liked it anyway. The story itself was rather original although wonky pacing and poor editing ruined what could have been a better film overall. The acting was nothing to cheer about either but all the girls were - shall we say - easy on the eyes? Yes. The gratuitous tit shots didn't hurt but even in the absence of them, they were still cute. The film's direction was also more than a little clunky and the fight/conflict scenes were poorly handled at best. Sound design was interesting and the musical score was pretty good.

THE SHINING this wasn't but it was far superior to anything I've seen on SyFy channel in the last 10 years. At least I watched this one to the end.

First of all let's get one thing straight..."Demonwarp" doesn't have demons or warps. But it does feature an assortment of monsters and enough T&A (and 80's bush) to please any B-movie fan.

I have fond memories of this film from childhood. As a kid, I was genuinely disturbed by "Demonwarp". My brothers and I would rent it from the Ma and Pa video store on a monthly basis. Sadly, "Demonwarp" has not aged well and I find myself bewildered at how a film so cheesy and cheap could have frighten me as a young boy.

The flick revolves around some teens at a cabin who encounter Bigfoot. A vengeful father eventually shows up intent on hunting the beast. But then zombies and aliens pop up and all hell breaks loose.

"Demonwarp", in terms of plot and acting, is all over the place. The gore is below average but it gets bonus points for nudity. Michelle Bauer (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers) runs around topless covered in blood screaming for most of her screen time. There's also a male hiker who's character suddenly appears out of nowhere and spends half the movie running from Bigfoot until Bigfoot disembowels him with a stick(?). "Demonwarp" is a cheap B-Movie made for the video market boom and it does exactly what it was produced to do...entertain. Check it out if you like your horror cheesy with lots of skin. "Demonwarp" was written by John Carl Beuchler (who also designed the creature) and directed by Emmitt Alston (New Year's Evil).

"Demonwarp" features George Kennedy fist fighting Bigfoot, a crazed priest, a shower scene, drinking and driving, Michelle Bauer sun tanning topless, the little brother from "Just One Of The Guys" getting his neck snapped, a decapitation, and the most awkward sex scene ever filmed.

Till next time horror hounds and fright fanatics, beware the darkness

Its a dangerous business going into the woods in the US. First your got your standard slasher killers, be they scarred, deformed or just plain ticked off at people trespassing on their territory. Then you got hillbillies, inbred or otherwise, and they generally want to kill, eat or sexually violate you (sometimes all three and not necessarily in that order. Then there's Bigfoot. In the 70's Bigfoot movies by and large treated the beloved wood ape as a gentle creature who just wanted to get along. This is because said films were generally made by hippies, who identify with Bigfoot because like them he has long hair and smells foul. But by the 80's all the hippies had either died of too much hair or became investment bankers and Bigfoot started kicking some cinematic ass. Demonwarp is a good example and among the last breath of truly bonkers horror in the 80's, though certainly imperfect. For much of the first half it comes across a distant second to James Wasson's classic Night of the Demon (best film with that name?), there are a few tits and a couple of decent gruesome kills but its mostly set in daylight, sapping its atmosphere, and the pace is less relentless. Fortunately the writers seem to have hit the bong pretty hard before coming up with the final block as the whole thing goes mad. I won't say anything about what transpires because its best to approach with as little foreknowledge as possible. Lets just say its an everything and the kitchen sink approach , and if only the film were a bit less competent it could have been a full on classic of insane schlock cinema. Still, even in the slower first half there's stuff to appreciate. A rather dazed and confused looking George Kennedy does his best to muster up some gravitas as a dedicated hunter. The women are generally attractive and several go topless, including the always awesome Michelle Bauer. The Bigfoot suit is designed by John Carl Buechler and though a bit overexposed during the course of the film its a nicely shaggy and fierce looking creation, imposing enough to be a decent enemy. I wouldn't say any of the lead actors are terribly good but they give it a shot and their characters are just dumb enough to amuse but not dumb enough to infuriate, a happy medium. The general look of the thing is nice as well, not especially evocative like the true backwoods classics, but the locations come across nicely, and director Emmett Alston has a fairly sure hand when it comes to directing the exciting bits. And when the film really gets in gear you'll likely be forgetting most issues that have come up earlier. So all in all this is no great and inspiring work of art, but very much worthy of a watch if nutsoid trash is your kettle of piranhas. Strong 7/10 from me

While not as bad as THE CREEPING TERROR (how could anything be?), this confused mess definitely ranks (literally) right down there with some of the worst. As someone else wrote, even a couple of topless bimbos can't begin to save this dreadful piece of crap. It wouldn't have taken much for a competent director/screenwriter to turn this into a truly hilarious comedy. As it was it had me giggling in frank disbelief at the absurdities on screen. A 'Bigfoot' monster that's taken high school auto shop classes? Must have, given how it cleverly disabled that engine. But wait! It's not a monster movie, it's a zombie movie, as shown by the Romero retreads seen shuffling about. Although that's not right either as you've got aliens. But are they aliens? Where does the 'demon' part from the title come in? Actually, this film doesn't know WHAT the heck it wants to be. I can only conjecture that George Kennedy, an otherwise fine actor, is staying up nights wishing he could find ways to destroy every copy of this abomination.

To be fair Demonwarp isn't the worst film I've seen (I've just seen Night Of The Demon and survived) but it is pretty dire. It starts off OK (as many films do) but it soon becomes clear what we're dealing with - a mostly boring and silly film that isn't going very far. Still it had plenty of shots of breasts, a topless woman gets her head pulled off (though this is not as spectacular as it sounds) and a man gets a dismembered hand thrown at him, which is sort of funny. Everything seems to be crammed into the second half, with zombies, a Bigfoot monster and aliens all making appearances. By this time though I was throughly bored and fast-forwarding through most of the tedious dialogue.

Don't bother seeing this unless you're desperate. There are tons of better films out there.

Ok, I'm a big fan of B-movies and films that are so bad they are funny, but this is just baaaaaaaaaad. The special effects are pretty cool, but only towards the end of the film. The guy in the ape suit is really pathetic. The plot is absolutely dire and the characters... what characters? they are that shallow! Plenty of RGB's (random gratuitous breast shots) but even that can't save this. I wanted the hour and a half of my life back that I wasted watching this garbage, its terrible.

Sasquatch splatter schlock reaches its seriously stupid jaw-dropping zenith with this incredibly idiotic low-budget direct-to-video sci-fi/horror atrocity. A gaggle of bonehead kids venture into a spooky forest called Demon Woods looking for Bigfoot. Well, these immature collegiate dolts find Bigfoot all right: He's one mean bloodthirsty bastard with a nasty propensity for tearing off heads and spearing folks in the stomach with a tree branch. WARNING: Possible *SPOILERS* ahead. In a stupendously ridiculous surprise twist ending (that's directly swiped from the 70's "Six Million Dollar Man" TV series), Sasquatch ultimately gets exposed as a front for a nefarious extraterrestrial who's worshiped by a crazed priest as a god (!), has a fondness for eating human hearts (!!), and possesses the magical ability to reanimate the freshly dead so it can use the zombies as slave labor (!!!). As one character brilliantly deduces early in the supremely inane action, "Hey man, there's weird s**t in these woods! Do you know what I mean?" No kiddin', dude. But that's not all this silly dilly has to offer. We also get clumsy (mis)direction by Emmett Alston, who previously gave us the equally awful (and uproarious) "Nine Deaths of the Ninja." Then there's the sorry sight of a rotund, trapped-in-a-dismal-career-slump George Kennedy grumbling his way through the demeaning part of a crusty old father who's determined to bag Bigfoot because it murdered his daughter. Better still, three luscious ladies dutifully doff their duds in the name of sleazy low-grade exploitation: Pamela Gilbert does just what you think with her boyfriend, Colleen McDermott takes a gratuitous shower, and the always desirable Michelle Bauer shucks her bikini top in order to avoid tan lines. The rusty tin-eared dialogue includes such priceless gems as "Come on you six foot fleabag!" A real gut-buster.

I saw "Demonwarp" when I was real young, and for years searched to find out it's name (for I had been to young to recall it when I first saw it) and find a way as to how I could possibly see it again. All I remembered was that George Kennedy was in it, and I could vaguely recall some of the scenes. 15 years later, my search came to a conclusion, as I not only learned it's name by "investigating" the films of George Kennedy, but I was also able to purchase a former rental copy of it off of eBay. I just recently sat down and watched it again, and I now give you my comments on this old friend that I've become acquainted with once more.

As a rule for viewing B-movies, especially in the horror genre, you can't set your expectations too high. You know beforehand that the B-movie is not going to be along the lines of "The Godfather" or "Citizen Kane", or any of the other movies regarded as some of the greats. So there's no reason to seriously bash a B-movie; simply, take it for what it's worth. Yes, with the exception of George Kennedy, and perhaps one or two bright moments from the other actors, the acting ability portrayed in "Demonwarp" is pretty poor. You'll notice it especially when two or more characters are arguing in the film (it actually happens quite often). Although technically their words are focused on the same subject, their portrayed emotions are so different (sometimes really hokey and lame) that you would think they're arguing about two separate things. I guess just not enough acting school, or poor talent to boot. The director is not the greatest either, but then again, we shouldn't expect him to be. There are far too many drawn out "chase" scenes of people running through the woods, being chased by a horrible monster. Especially the scenes regarding the lone hiker/photographer. This guy never utters a single word (other than screams), and yet we are forced to go through numerous snippets of him running through the woods, over and over, before we find out what's going to happen to him. So yes, those are the bad parts of the movie. But as most people who view "Demonwarp" note, there is a really unique and unexpected ending to the film. I don't want to say anything in more detail, for fear of spoilers or ruining a potential surprise, but the last 30 minutes or so of this film "Demonwarp" EXCEED expectations. The majority of B-horror movies would not take the surprise twists and turns that do occur towards the end of "Demonwarp". I'm a regular surveyor of movies; just the same as anyone else. I particularly enjoy horror films, and have seen a good deal of them, but I truly was surprised by the sudden "creativity" (for lack of a better word) used to bring this film to a conclusion. My advice to those who view this film: Take it for what it's worth. You know beforehand that it's not going to be anything spectacular, so don't expect it to be. But feel free to enjoy it's good parts, including the unique final portion of "Demonwarp".

This movie has potential- granted that potential lies in re-editing the movie at random, I'm thinking dadaism meets one awesome music video. Aside from that Demonwarp is obviously a con job perpetrated on the financiers, because who wants to pay for this kind of movie on purpose? As a vehicle for the display of bare breasts, why not merely invest in standard porn? Some guy from Parker Lewis Can't Lose appears as the comedy relief, he is not funny and comes across as a sex-offender. I mean there are half-scenes y'know quarter-scenes even images in this movie that are beautiful and cool, but its fleeting and unintended. I guess if I taught a film class I would use this movie as a teaching tool, I would call it turd polishing.

Demonwarp is set in the ominously named Demonwoods where Bill Crafton (George Kennedy) has rented a cabin, while enjoying a game of trivial pursuit with his daughter Julie (Jill Marin) a huge Bigfoot type creature breaks in knocking Bill unconscious & killing Julie. A few weeks later & Jack Bergman (David Micael O'Neill) along with four of his friends arrive at the cabin, the cabin belongs to Jack's uncle Clem (Joe Praml) & he has gone missing & Jack intends to find him, warning his friends about the infamous Demonwoods which has a long history of people reporting sightings of monsters, murders & even UFO's they all agree to help find Clem. However the first night they are there the cabin is attacked by the Bigfoot creature which leaves two dead & takes a toaster. Jack is determined to get to the bottom of the terrifying events & eventually discovers an alien spaceship nearby in which the owner has been using zombified humans to repair his craft as well as eating naked young girls...

Directed by Emmett Alston this crazy mix of horror & sci-fi is actually quite entertaining in a bad sort of way although I don't think I would go as far as to describe it as good it is fun, an oddball mix of gore, horror, sci-fi, monster film with a fair amount of nudity too at lest Demonwarp is rarely dull. Having said that Demonwarp is also rarely amazing, at about an hour & a half in length it moves along at a fair pace even though there's a slightly dull middle third which spends far too much showing people wander around Demonwood Forest. The character's are very thin, Jack gets a little back-story but otherwise the other character's are pretty empty cardboard cutouts. Where Demonwarp shines is it's various clichés & plot ideas that come together at the end in an ending that feels like it belongs to a different film than the hour or so that preceded it. There's Bigfoot creatures, zombies, aliens, human sacrifice, sex, nudity, gore, big George Kennedy & not one but three 'it was all a dream' twist endings which is maybe some sort of record. The script builds-up & with various strange aspects being thrown into the story there's just about enough here to make you want to know the answers to the questions posed & keep you watching.

There's an interesting interview the writer of Demonwarp on the internet in which he says several things were changed like Crafton was apparently to had set up spike pit traps but they couldn't afford to dig the pits & used bear traps while the two girls were meant to go nude swimming but they couldn't afford the plastic to line the pond & that too was changed while the hiker was added after they discovered the film under-ran (75 minutes instead of 90) & needed to pad the time out a bit. The obvious low budget doesn't help matters but the main Bigfoot monster suit isn't too bad & is used sparingly with quick cuts, the alien at the end isn't that great while the gore is alright with a cut out heart, a ripped-off head, someone has a stick stuck in his stomach & there are some surprisingly good looking zombie make-up effects as well.

With a supposed budget of about $225,000 this is still competently made & looks alright considering the impoverished production, filmed at the Brosnon Canyon & Topanga Canyon both in Los Angeles. The acting isn't great, it's not terrible but it's not great. George Kennedy looks a little disinterested although his daughter Shannon Kennedy turns up as one of the sunbathing babes & gets her head ripped-off.

Demonwarp is a mad late 80's gore horror monster sci-fi film that is quite fun & entertaining if you just go with it, Demonwarp isn't a masterpiece but it's perfectly watchable & the final oddball twenty minutes is worth watching.

...some fun anecdotes regarding the shoot, and especially- rarely or NEVER revealed (for low-budget indie films!), info about the financing, production, and marketing of this little gem: "GET TO KNOW ME!"*

Why? Well, although discretion for professional, and legal considerations is necessary in this public "forum", I can say here, (proudly!), that I appeared IN the film, and was kept thoroughly informed on all details of the entire project by its director, EMMETT ALSTON...whom also happens to be one of the coolest humans on the planet!

-ksmyaz

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*Jon Lovitz (SNL)