Demonstone (1990)

the audience applauded

Good movie but grossly overrated

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Col. Joe Haines (Ermey) and Andy Buck (Jan-Michael Vincent, who we call JMV) are Marines going around Manila trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious series of murders. The authorities are blaming one of their fellow Marines, Tony McKee (Skipper), but Haines and Buck aren't so sure. Soon, reporter Sharon Gale (Everhard) is involved in unraveling the puzzling case. Meanwhile there is civil unrest with plenty of protesters objecting to the American presence in their country. A local senator and baddie with the less-than-frightening name of Belfardo (Gamboa) is trying to manipulate things for his own ends - and what of the ancient curse of the Demonstone? Could that be the cause of all the misery? Find out if you dare...You might be thinking right now, "Demonstone? Isn't that a horror movie?" - and that is reasonable enough to think, but Demonstone is actually an action movie. Granted, there are some horror elements and the whole thing plays out like a cross between Saigon Commandos (1988) and Soultaker (1990) with a bit of Braddock: Missing In Action III (1988) thrown in for good measure. There's the prerequisite barfight and constant machine gun shooting. But JMV and R. Lee Ermey make a great team. While JMV's dialogue seems a bit slurry this time around, his own hair picks up the slack. It looks cool, and gets progressively cooler in every scene. Truth be told, both his and Everhard's hair look exactly the same. You wouldn't be able to tell them apart if you saw them from the upper forehead up.As for Ermey, he plays a...wait for it...tough-talking Marine Colonel! Hey, better to be typecast than not cast at all. We're actually big Ermey fans, and he does a great job. He's as intimidating as usual here, until a shot of him walking with JMV reveals him wearing some highly ridiculous shorts. Then we felt less intimidated. Interestingly, the great Brian Trenchard-Smith is credited as a producer on Demonstone, and he featured Ermey prominently in the previous year's The Siege of Firebase Gloria (1989). Perhaps he was so impressed with him, he opted to use him again in this project. The editor on 'Firebase was director Prowse, who also directed Driving Force (1989). While Prowse did a good job, we can't help but wonder what the result would have been if Trenchard-Smith (who is one of our favorites) was in the director's chair.We appreciated that the movie was shot in - and also took place in - the Philippines. They didn't try to pretend it was somewhere else. And actors like Gamboa and Avellana that we often see help liven things up. Surprisingly, Vic Diaz was not around for this one. In some of the protesting scenes, there are signs that say "Yankee Go Home", among others with questionable English. You gotta love it. Maybe whoever wrote the signs also wrote the script, because there is plenty of funny dialogue on display, which actually is one of the strongest points of Demonstone. Where else will you hear someone angrily call someone else a "corndog" as an insult? While Demonstone would have been stronger if there was a specific, central villain and JMV and Ermey were cops busting heads to get to him, it's still worthwhile, especially if you've enjoyed the other horror/sci-fi/action hybrids of Fries Entertainment such as Peacemaker (1990) and Steel and Lace (1991).

"Demonstone" is a fast-paced, cinematic hybrid that synthesizes elements of paranormal chillers, police procedurals with a military slant, and whodunit gumshoe thrillers. Although it is an obvious low-budget, grindhouse kind of classic, this gritty actioneer is a lot of frivolous fun. Jan-Michael Vincent narrates the film like the private eye character Phillip Marlowe might do in a Raymond Chandler novel. Indeed, like Marlowe who was a former District Attorney snooper, Andy Buck has recently quit the military because of a very military dispute. Like Marlowe, Buck is brazenly insubordinate. Therefore, we have a solid, virile, take-no-crap hero. Add to the formula a demonically possessed amulet, and a vindictive father and sons out to kill the hero and you've got a neat little thriller. The villain is a slimy mobster/politician whose evil dates back to ancient times. Nancy Everhard is a television reporter. She is a primarily character, not strictly a love interest. She also turns out to be the most surprising character in "Demonstone." Of course, grumpy R. Lee Emery is always joy to watch, and his dialogue is memorable. Impressively decked out in Navy dress whites, Peter Brown makes a believable Admiral. It should come as no surprise that his character and Buck don't get along. The hero and the villain are definitely at odds."Demonstone" opens with our hero's first person narration. "The legend of the Heart stone goes a long way back in Chinese history. The key to awesome power, it also inspired greed, envy, and violence in those who pursued it. A warrior priest named Han Chin was the last man to wear the stone. He left China with his followers in 1489. He settled in a remote part of the world known as the Philippines. There he remained untouched until a travel known as Belfardo decided that he must possess it." Professor Olmeda and his workers find a 400-year old tomb in a cave. Despite her claustrophobia, a harmless-looking lady, Sharon Gale (Nancy Everhard) joins Olmeda in the cave. She spots the medallion and finds herself experiencing a flashback. She sees a native bandit steal the medallion from Han Chin. Chin vows to kill all his descendants. Meantime, elsewhere on the island, Andy Buck (Jan-Michael Vincent of "Defiance") is staking out a corner dive called 'the Silver Eagle' where a buddy of his died. Buck has resigned his commission in the Marine Corps. In his narration, Buck explains that he has a personal score to settle with a man named Senator Belfardo. He has spent a week night and day watching the place. He watches as Tony McKee (Pat Skipper) is confronted by three thugs at the entrance. They take him into the bar and kick him about. Buck tries to intervene, but they gang up on him. Eventually, he beats them up, while the thugs try to get him to pay up his gambling debts. Just as Belfardo is about to stab McKee to death, a blinding white light pierces the room. When Buck enters the room where Belfardo was going to kill McKee, he is shocked by what he sees. Whatever it is, director Anthony Prowse prefers to keep it hidden.Marine Corps Colonel Joe Haines (R. Lee Emery of "Full Metal Jacket") is getting a back massage when Buck calls him late at night warning him that the Corps is in some deep trouble. When Haines shows up at the scene of the crime, he looks at the three thugs and their horrible wounds. He takes a bloody knife away from McKee. The local authorities want to arrest McKee. Haines says about the crime scene, "Looks like some kind of voodoo crap." Senator Belfardo is appropriately angry, and an army of protests surrounded Haines and Buck with McKee. Later, the Marine doctor says McKee is suffering from the worst case of shock he's ever seen. The Admiral (Peter Brown of "Laredo") shows up at the hospital with a nervous expression because the military agreement with the Philippines is at stake. Not surprisingly, the Admiral isn't happy to see Andy Buck. McKee escapes from custody while the Admiral attends Belfardo's son's wedding. Afterward, our heroes pursue, capture, and struggle to protect a suspected murderer from a pugnacious family.Prowse keeps the formulaic action swiftly-paced, with some humor, and the horror. You'll be surprised at who is responsible for killing the Belfardos. It won't take you long to figure out the identity of the monster. The monster is a sort of shape shifter--like a werewolf but without a change of skin, and usually doesn't remember anything during the transition moments of transformation. We have an obligatory kissing and sleep rendezvous between the leading man and the leading lady that doesn't rely of naked body parts. The dialogue is a lot better than you'd expect from a movie like this. My favorite R. Lee Emery lines out of several are: "I support half of the whores in Manilla. I know'em all." He utters another memorable one after Jan-Michael crashes the truck that they are riding in: "You drive like old people f--k." Emery and Vincent make a chummy pair of detectives with a friendly rivalry. Prowse doesn't emphasize blood and gore as much as he could. The glowing death scenes and the lighting won't give you goose bumps but it is atmospheric. A sufficient number of shoot'em up action scenes bolster the narrative."Demonstone" ranks as an above-average, often exciting, paranormal thriller. The on-location photography is a plus.

This was a pretty decent movie I thought, considering it was really a low-budget action flick. The setting is convincing - the lush, tropical Phillipines. The acting is very good. R. Lee Emery (you've seen him so many times as the Southern-drawling bad guy - like the newer "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ) is refreshing as Col. Haines in this. He's a good guy for a change! Nancy Everhard is very good as Sharon, a TV reporter who gets possessed by an ancient Chinese monk. She has a nice svelte figure, and her quiet, intelligent persona make her much more interesting than the usual girl/love interest in these kind of action movies. Jan Michael Vincent puts in a decent performance as well. He's neither coked up or drunk in this, which is saying a lot for one of his later movies. Jan must have just gotten out of rehab when he filmed this, because he looks great. This is the gruffer, older JMV, but he's very blonde and in great physical shape (JMV fans, take note of all too brief but really great love scene with Everhard!). It's nice to see him still starring in something like this in the late 80's, getting lots of screen time, before the string of bad sci-fi/erotic films he made in the 90's, in which he appears for only a few minutes. Overall, it's worth a look, especially if you are a JMV fan (like me!).

I admit it was with some trepidition that I watched this movie. I was more than pleasantly surprised! It's a classic tale of possession and revenge with actors that stayed true to character and were quite believable. The subtle changes between normalcy and possession that Everhard shows is wonderful. Jan-Michael Vincent's acting abilities have not yet been taken over by the drinking and drugs. R. Lee Emery as Jan-Michael Vincent's CO and friend is a wonderful character.I really can't fault this movie, but it IS for adults (or older teens) because of the violence (lots of shooting between the good guys and bad guys) and a little adult language.