From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Demons (1985)

Posted on June 3, 2026 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and to another “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update. For this one I will be talking about one of my favorite horror films as well as the comic book released by a U.K. record company based around it…and this film is the 1985 creepy classic Demons (or Demoni) and that record company is Rustblade Records. This is one I am very much looking forward to doing as Demons was one of those films I saw as a young teenager, and from the start it became one of my favorite fright films of all time as it’s up there with Tombs Of The Blind Dead, Halloween and Day Of The Dead for me. I see a strange man with a half metal mask handing out free movie tickets at the train station, so let’s grab our tickets and see what Rustblade and Demons has in store for us all, as I am sure it’s going to be a bloody good time.

Let’s start by taking a look at The Demons and their ways of dealing death to their victims as well as spreading their evil worldwide. The Demons are an ancient evil that will make cemeteries their cathedrals and the cities will be your tombs, and their reign of terror was even predicted by Nostradamus. The 1985 outbreak started inside a movie theater when the Man In Mask gave out free tickets to a screening at the train station to random people. Once inside the theater, the movie is a horror film about Demons and it along with a scratch to one of the guests caused by a Demon mask used as a promotional item starts the outbreak that quickly spreads throughout the theater via a bite or scratch from a Demon. When a person becomes infected, it’s very painful as they transform from being a human into a Demon and that means their teeth fall out, their nails fall off and turn into sharp fangs and long sharp nails. The Demons have a monstrous appearance that includes glowing eyes as well as green foam that pours from their mouths, and the site of them terrifies their victims. They are very violent and fast moving; they will kill their prey in packs and singly and are very dangerous as their main ways of killing is via their sharp teeth or their claws that shred flesh of their prey. They also seem to have the help of supernatural powers as once the outbreak starts the location’s exits disappear trapping the people inside and making it easier for them to be hunted down and slaughtered. The fact that they can infect people makes them much like zombies as their numbers can grow their threat level grows even higher for mankind. While The Demons are very dangerous and deadly, they can be stopped as they can be killed by being shot or slashed by a knife or even sword. The Demons are very deadly and while they can be destroyed they will truly bring Hell to Earth in their quest for chaos and death.

Now that we have talked about the Demons and their ways of killing as well as spreading their own kind, we should now take a look at the 80’s film they are from. And like always, I will be getting the film’s plot from our friends at IMDB and then I will be writing about the film’s production as well as my thoughts on the film. So if you are ready, lets’ head to the theater and see what film is going to grace the screen on this invite only screening.

Demons (1985)

“A group of random people are invited to a screening of a mysterious movie, only to find themselves trapped in the theater with ravenous demons.”

Lamberto Bava, the son of the great Mario Bava, was also making a name for himself in the world of horror cinema as he had made the films The House Of Exorcism (1975), Shock (1977), Macabre (1980), A Blade In The Dark (1983) and Devil Fish (1984) when he had an idea to make a horror anthology film that would be about demons. He then would change it up to a trilogy of films that would have the same spooky structure of Demons, but they would only loosely tie together. So what was slated to be one of the short segments in the anthology film would be developed into a feature film with the screenplay being written by not only Bava but also Dardano Sacchetti, Franco Ferrini and Dario Argento with Argento also coming on as producer. It is said that during the writing of the film, there was a little tension regarding the changes that Argento and Ferrini wanted to make to the story. The film would be shot in both Germany and Italy for nine weeks and Sergio Stivaletti would handle the film’s effects that would also go on to team with Argento on other projects. When it came to casting they would bring in such actors as Natasha Hovey, Paola Cozzo, Nicoletta Elmi, Bobby Rhodes, Geretta Giancario, Michele Soavi, Lino Salemme, Fabiola Toledo, Fiore Argento to name a few. The film would be released in theaters in Italy on October 4, 1985 and would be a hit at the box office. When the film would be released on home media in America it would gain a cult following. Demons would get a sequel in 1986 and was supposed to get a third film that would have taken place on airplane or a church in later ideas that would be scrapped and production would instead go to working on the film The Church from 1989. There are some unofficial Demons 3 films that are The Ogre (1989) and Black Demons (1991), both films have nothing to do with the series but got the title slapped on it. And as the years pass, it looks like we will never get a official Demons 3 as it’s said that Dario Argento and Franco Ferrini don’t think anyone wants to see one…and I say they are wrong. In 1985 Demons was released alongside such other horror films as Friday The 13^th Part 5: New Beginning, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Day Of The Dead, Fright Night, Howling II, House, Hard Rock Zombies, Ghoulies, Silver Bullet, The Stuff, The Bride, Blood Cult, Teen Wolf, Igor And The Lunatics, Night Train To Terror, Once Bitten, Cat’s Eye and Lifeforce, to name a few.

Demons is one of my favorite horror films of all time and is one that I watch several times a year since I first saw it as a teenager when my brother and I rented it from a Blockbuster Video during one of our iconic weekend long horror movie marathons. Demons is a film that I think packs in very scary bloody moments as the Demons themselves are brutal in their killing ways and it as well has a great score by Claudio Simonetti and a soundtrack that featured some of my favorite musical acts like Billy Idol and Motely Crue that just helped add to the dark and sinister events that are taking place in that movie theater as well as outside it. The look of the Demons in this film is pure nightmare fuel as the one that always stands out to me is the one that crawls out of the back of the character Kathy after she has been possessed. Something about that weird demon has always made my skill crawl, and that same Demon is on the cover for the VHS release put out by New World Video and was also on my phone case for many years. What works well for this film is that a group of mostly strangers are stuck inside a movie theater and are being chased around and slaughtered by Demons whose numbers keep growing the more they kill. Just imagine yourself in this situation: the fear, the dread and the pure terror that would be running through your body and soul as you try and survive. At my work many people ask me what horror movie should they watch that is not mainstream, and I always suggest Demons, and every time I see them again they tell me how much they loved it! I am very much a fan of Demons 2 as well because it holds the same raw and terrifying mood of the first and instead of a movie theater our characters are trapped inside a high-rise apartment building. Bava and Argento should have teamed up to make a third film in the series as the horror fans would have loved to seen another, as I myself have even thought of several locations that could be the place were the outbreak happens and the characters are trapped in like a soccer stadium, a in door mall or an amusement park. One other thing I have to point out is that actress Fabiola Toledo who plays Carmen is one good-looking lady! Demons really is like a zombie film as it’s about an outbreak of killing monsters attacking people and turning them into one of their own, but what sets The Demons apart from the undead is that they kill in order to end a life and not to feed. If you have never seen Demons and like your horror films filled with lots of blood, creepy villains, awesome music and a fast pace, make sure to give this film a watch.

So now that we have taken a look at Demons, both the film and the killing creatures, I think that it is now time for us to review the comic based on the film and its sequel. When it came to choosing which Demons comic series to do, I ended up picking the Rustblade one over the two issue Arrow mini comic series as this one just seemed like the right choice, and keep in mind at some point I will also more than likely cover the Arrow ones as well on a future update. I would like to thank Rustblade for having this comic in stock on their website and making this update possible, and on a side not the comic also came with the Claudio Simonetti score plus a print of the film’s movie poster. And I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. Let’s see if this comic can capture the creepy mood, bloody kills and over all downbeat dread that the film had.

Demons # 1 ***
Released in 2019 Cover Price $8.00 Rustblade # 1 of 1

Ingrid Haller has been plagued of a vision of her parents being killed by Demons and finding herself trapped in a car that is surrounded by them, and she has turned these nightmares into a book about a Kingdom Of Darkness and the demons that roam around it looking for ways to enter our world. After having a Q&A with readers, she heads home by taking the subway were she meets another woman named Ingrid who is selling items at the train station and the woman ends up giving her the silver demon mask for free before disappearing. Once on the train Ingrid finds that she has been followed by Bloom, Eric and Carl who rob her of her purse…but also on the train is George and Hannah with the young lady having a nasty looking wound and is feeling really sick as while Bloom keeps bullying Ingrid, Hannah turns into a Demon and starts to attack! The Punks attack the Demon Hannah but from her body comes a little Demon that kills George just as Ingrid and the Punks get off the train that was being driven by The Man In The Mask as they look for safety but find themselves in the Kingdom Of Darkness surrounded by a wasteland filled with people in cages and demons all around, while there they run into pimp Bob and his two ladies Rosemary and Carmen and he tells them that they all need to work together in order to get out of his Hell and they all agree and Bloom informs Ingrid that she know who she really is and the book she has written and is pissed when she finds the Demon mask hidden in her purse as she thinks this is the cause of all this nightmares going on around them. Things get worse when Bloom who has been cut has her blood drip onto the body of a Demon that wakes it up and it bites Rosemary turning her into a Demon who then attacks Bobby who then gets Carmen and down the line the survivors Carmen, Bloom, Carl and Eric become Demons leaving Ingrid all by herself surrounded by them as the Man In Mask appears and tells her that all hope is lost that is until movie theater Ingrid shows up holding the hand of the child version Ingrid Haller and makes her remember back to being trapped in that car surrounded by Demons after watching her parents and neighbors being killed and with this adult Ingrid Haller grabs the sword that is attached to a statue and starts slaying Demons, but soon she finds that she is in the hospital waking from a coma surrounded by Demons as her death is being shown on the big screen at the Metropol theater.

Well this was a fantastic read that for the most part did justice to the film series its based on as while at times it can get a little confusing in plot details it still did a great job of bringing the frights of the Demons as well as the dark mood set in the films. The plot has Ingrid Haller, a survivor of a Demon outbreak becoming a writer and finding herself in the mix of another that ends up taking her into the Kingdom Of Darkness and having to face the true nature of the attack she went through as a child. What is great is that characters from both Demons and Demons 2 appear in this comic as from the first film we see The Man In The Mask, Carmen, Rosemary, George, Hannah, Ingrid and Bob who is called Tony in the movie and from Demons 2 we have our main star Ingrid Haller who was a kid in the film and is an adult here…sort of as the younger version also appears. And besides the characters landmarks from the film also appear like the train, movie theater, demon mask, statue on motorbike, the apartment parking garage to name a few. Our main character Ingrid Haller was from Demons 2 and was played by Asia Argento, and her she finds herself in a strange reality that has her as a book writer but also being the target of the Man In Mask who is once more trying to usher in another Demon outbreak, and while at first she is scared of the demons and even bullied by some street punks by the end she finds her inner strength and armed with a sword sets to defended herself as well as try and protect the world. She also learns that the life she is living could not be a real one and she as well as all the other victims of the Demons outbreak is stuck in a world of damnation. There are other characters in this issue with the punks lead by Bloom being the only other ones who find them selves being attacked, killed and turned into Demons. The comic has its share of blood, nudity and violence as the Demons bite and claw their victims causing lots of the red stuff to splatter. There are also lots of throwbacks to the film series such as the couple who are choked to death in the theater with the red rope while making out, giving it that nostalgic feel for fans of the films…also giving us an almost hunt on each panel to see clues or parts taken from the films to spot. The cover for this comic is very eye catching as it shows Ingrid Haller holding the silver demons mask with demons all around her and if you are a fan of these films this cover with the films title logo in yellow is truly awesome. The interior artwork is done by the super talented Simona Simone who is truly one of the best artists in the Horror Comic world going as she does a top notch job of making characters look like actors as well as the way she draws the Demons themselves is spooky good. She is also the same artist who did the comic from Mardi Gras Massacre for Severin that you can read about here. This comic is also larger in size and is not your normal American standard as it’s taller and wider, so to bag and board it you will need a larger size than Golden or Magazine. If you like your horror comics based off cult films of the 80s filled with terror and blood, or like your horror mixed with a dream like fever feel than make sure to get this comic and give it a read. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Simone in this comic.

And as you can see, Demons is one of those horror films that could easily be made into a great horror comic or series and I would love to see a publisher like Eibon Press tackle doing so. I also wish that Rustblade Records would make more comics as they could truly be a powerhouse in the world of horror comics based on films, plus I wonder why they never did an issue # 2 for Demons? Well out time at the Metropol is coming to an end but do not fear our time with spooky hhorror comics based on frightful horror films is still going strong, as our next update will be about the 2003 short horror film called Farmer Joe that was released Independent B Movie and got the comic book treatment from Blood Scream Comics. So until next time, make sure to read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. So make sure for the next update you have some seeds ready for Farmer Joe as he is looking for a new crop to grow and a few heads to roll.

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)

Posted on October 12, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. Halloween 2024 is creeping up on us very quickly, and I am sure many of you readers are like me as I love the cooler weather and the leaves turning and falling to the ground as the wind picks up and brings that chill down your spine…and also around this time it feels like ghosts, witches, goblins, werewolves and vampires are watching you from a distance. That is why this time of the year is perfect for us horror comic readers as the spooky atmosphere and chill in the air makes for perfect reading weather…I love reading horror comics in a local cemetery around this time the most, but to be honest I do this year round as it is my go to quiet place to enjoy the terrors on the pages. Today’s update is a “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update that is based around the sleazy low budget slasher film called Mardi Gras Massacre that splatted its way into grindhouse theaters in 1983 and would be a prefect one to read while visiting your town’s creepiest cemetery. So if you are ready with the cold chill in the air, it’s time to enjoy this horror comic based on a cult film that is set in New Orleans and is surrounded by the mystic of an Aztec Cult.

Let’s first start by taking a look at John, the killer of this film, and his methods and reasons for killing his victims as he truly is an odd and bloodthirsty slasher. John is a middle aged man who has black hair and dresses very nicely in public. While very odd looking in appearance, he does not standout from the crowd, but his looks do give some ladies the heebie jeebies. He looks like he comes from money as he wears a big gold ring and carries big wads of cash that he is able to draw in his victims, mostly prostitutes, with. He is looking for “evil” women that he can lure in and then sacrifice to an Aztec god to please them. While in killing mode John wears a golden mask, a robe and uses a dagger to cut, stab and shred their skin with his main goal being to remove their heart. His golden mask and dagger truly do strike fear in his victims’ then still-beating hearts as they find out his true intensions are not to make love but to slaughter them. John does these killings as he thinks that doing so will give him powers, and he is a true believer in this Aztec cult. But while he mostly kills women, he will kill men if they cross him path or try to do him wrong. His dagger is his main tool of dealing death and he is very skilled in his ritual ways of killing that includes making his female victims feel good with oil messages before he kills them. But while John is dangerous and coldblooded, he is a normal man and can be killed like any other human so that means shot, stabbed, crushed, burnt and blown up, among many other ways one could die. While John is only a mortal man, this slasher is super dangerous and is a master butcher with his dagger. And I should note that John was not the killer’s real name, just that he was a “John” that picked up sex workers.

Now that we have taken a look at John, the masked Aztec ritual killer of New Orleans, I think it’s time we take a look at the film he is from, Mardi Gras Massacre! Like always, we will be taking the film’s plot for our friends at IMDB and then I will write a little about the film’s production as well as my thoughts about the film. So if you are ready, let’s put on our party masks, grab some beads and head to this Mardi Gras Massacre.

Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)

“Police try to capture someone who is committing ritual murders of women during Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

During the late 1970’s the grindhouse theaters and late night drive-in movies were gaining steam and more and more viewers were flocking to see these cheaply shot films and the more sleazy and exploitive, the better as horror, adult, martial arts and sci-fi films flooded these theaters and many would become cult classics over the years and most made lots of money for the companies who released these films. Jack Weis was one of those producers who cashed in at this time as he was a jack of all trades. He could also direct and write and was already the maker of such genre films as “Death Brings Roses (1975)” and “Crypt Of Dark Secrets (1976)”and in 1978 he wanted more profits so he came up with the script for Mardi Gras Massacre and would quickly get the film into production and would hire such actors as Curt Dawson, William Metzo, Gwen Arment and Laura Misch Owens. The music was done by Dennis Coffet and Mike Theodore, and the movie was filmed fast and yet sat around until 1983 before being released to theaters on February 11. At first it had an X rating due to the nudity and gore and would later be listed as a Video Nasty in England. When released in America, it was part of a triple bill alongside the films Sorceress and Humanoids From The Deep and would over the years build up a cult classic status after hitting home media on VHS, DVD and later Blu-Ray. When released in 1983, it came out alongside such other horror movies as Jaws 3, Psycho II, Sleepaway Camp, The Keep, A Blade In The Dark and Christine, to name a few. While it’s not a super popular and talked about film, for those who have seen this sleazy masterpiece of horror cinema they know the charm it has.

The first time I saw Mardi Gras Massacre was on a VHS that I bought from a video rental store called Accent Video that used to be in Ohio when I was a teenager. They had such a massive horror section as they carried not only the mainstream but also the cult and very weird! They would also over time end up selling some of the films when they needed to make room or sadly the film would stop renting. And on one of the trips to the store to see what horror films they would have in the used section is when I would get my copy of Mardi Gras Massacre, and when I watched it with some friends, I can remember we all had a good time watching the film and laughing at some of the more over the top moments. This film is not for everyone as at times it’s slow moving and is packed to the brim with lots of moments that feature female nudity and low budget style gore effects and main characters that don’t even get names! But to me, these are some of the reasons this film holds such a charm as it really does feel like a grindhouse film. It’s one of those films that has heroes that are two cops…but they are kind of scumbags themselves as one steals money and degrades a prostitute behind her back after he acts like he cares about her. But I will say that some of the prostitutes are the most likable characters in the film, and I have to also say for those of you who have seen this movie, what the hell was up with the pimp character Catfish? That really was a very strange dude who twitches around and talks in weird rhymes. The film’s gore effects for the time were really good and there is lots of it as several ladies are sacrificed and cut up by John The Killer. The most lovely of the “evil” ladies in this film is Laura Misch Owens who played Shirley, the first victim of the film who was also in the 1976 film Crypt Of Dark Secrets that was also directed by Jack Weis. When you hear from those who were involved in this film, it seems that production really was affected several times due to money issues and that is even why it sat unreleased for many years. This makes you truly wonder how many horror films from the 70’s and early 80’s had this same fate and have never been released, as the funds never came through. I am a fan of this weird little film that kind of makes no sense, has a strange soundtrack that features a killer that never even really gets a name.

Mardi Gras Massacre is a very weird cult horror film that is a sleazy gem that is very often overlooked, and that is why it is so awesome that it got the comic book treatment in 2022 via Severin Films and I am very much looking forward to reading this comic. I first would like to thank Severin Films for publishing and releasing this comic and making this update possible. I also want to give a big thank you to all the creators that made this comic possible as the world of horror comics needs more comics based on these type of cult horror films. I want to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. So if you are ready, let’s see what The Killer was up to on that Mardi Gras that many years back.

Mardi Gras Massacre # 1 ***
Released in 2022 Cover Price $14.99 Severin Films # 1 of 1

The body of prostitute Shirley Anderson has been found dumped on the train tracks, and Detective Mayer and Detective Frank Abraham head to a local bar where she used to pick up her clients and meet Sam the bartender who sends them to talk to Sherry, another lady of the night who tells them that the man Shirley left with that night had a big gold ring on. The Killer strikes again; this time he kills a stripper and it is clear he is killing what he thinks are evil woman, sacrificing them to an Aztec God. When this body is found, the police chief is really mad and wants the killer found, and this causes Abraham and Mayer to call in a cult expert who informs them about the Aztec Cults. Also Detective Abraham at this time is dating Sherry, and they are very much an odd couple. The Killer strikes again, and meanwhile Sherry and Abraham have a fight and break up over the dirty cop stealing the money of the deceased ladies of the night. She goes out and parties getting drunk and it’s Mayer who makes sure she gets home safe. During Mardi Gras, the killer hires three ladies to come over ,and he has the plans to sacrifice them all to his Aztec God with one of the ladies being Sherry, but they are all saved by Abraham (who patches things up with Sherry) and Mayer who go after the Killer, who ends up driving a car off the docks and into the water. When they tow the car out of the water, the Killer’s body is missing but his mask is left behind.

This is a really cool adaptation of a cult film that has a very simple plot as it’s about a Killer on the loose in New Orleans that is killing ladies of the night as he feels that they are evil and his God from Aztec lore needs sacrifices. On his trail are two cops who need to capture him before Mardi Gras. This basic story has charm as the sleazy nature of the film carries over to the comic as our Killer lures in young beautiful ladies to strip down for him and become his victims. But while the comic does have its charms, I should also note that it has a few flaws with the biggest being much of the film does not make it into the comic with the opening kill of Shirley missing. We just open with her body being found. The biggest parts missing are the dates and relationship between Detective Abraham and Shelly; it is talked about but not fully explained. And now that I am thinking about it, even The Killer’s motivation, showcasing he has money and even his charming ways to lure and capture his prey is missing…and for those of you who like the character Catfish, he is as well missing from the comic. The Killer aka John is a pretty dang bloodthirsty murderer as he kills at least three women in this comic and uses his trusty dagger to end their lives. Also it makes you wonder if he truly died when the car crashed into the water and his body is not found…or is he still out there killing more ladies for his Aztec beliefs. The heroes of this comic are Detective Abraham, who is kind of an ass and is corrupt as he steals money from crime scenes and seems to take favors in order to not report crimes. But we do see that he also has a weak spot for Sherry, and even after he hurts her feelings, he kind of feels bad and that’s a change as in the film I feel he is just a scumbag from start to finish. Detective Mayer, on the other hand, seems like a decent cop that really wants to crack this case and is embarrassed by his partner’s behavior. He tends to look the other way when bad things are going down that involves his partner and that is where he is flawed. Sherry is a prostitute who seems like a nice woman, but who tends to make bad choices as at the end of the comic she almost dies by going to a Mardi Gras Party with two other ladies at The Killer’s home! The comic has some blood and gore as the death of the prostitutes are mostly shown and has the red stuff flowing, and the comic also has lots of nudity holding with the feel of the film. The cover is pretty cool and holds the vibe of the film it’s based on and is eye catching. The interior art is done by Simona Simone and is fantastic stuff and after seeing her work in this comic, I am very much a big fan of her work and hope that we get more Horror Comics based on films from her in the future as she is that awesome. Over all this is a pretty great comic and one that is a must-have for fans of this cult film. Check out the artwork below to see the style or Simona Simone used in this creepy and sleazy comic.

I have to say that this Mardi Gras Massacre comic really was a cool read and was a nice treat for fans of the film as well as horror comic readers in general, and I cannot stress enough that I hope that Severin Films continues to release these comics based on the horror and cult films they release as they are doing some great work thus far. And with Error 444 and Wild Eye Releasing at least making comics that act as Blu-Ray extras, we might be heading in the right direction as media companies are seeing that comics are great tools to promote the films they release. And companies like Blood Scream Comics, Eibon Press and American Mythology are still killing it, releasing comics based on horror films. With that, I think it’s time that we get away from Mardi Gras and head to the world of pro wrestling as we will be taking a look at the crazed madman Waylon Mercy! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local horror host. And until next time, just remember “Lives are gonna be in Waylon Mercy’s hands”!