Attack Of The Demons is animator Eric Power’s follow-up to 2013’s Path Of Blood. This time, instead of samurais he’s focusing on demons attacking a small town during a Halloween festival. Using the same paper cutout stop motion animation as his first film, the result is certainly unique. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, think the first few seasons of South Park, only more detailed.
Set in 1994 a demonic cult is set to unleash the results of centuries of planning. They unleash hoards of demons to destroy mankind. Three friends find themselves the last line of defense not only of their small Colorado town but for mankind itself. Can they, with the help of a mysterious sorcerer, save the world from the Attack Of The Demons?
Despite Path Of Blood getting a fair amount of acclaim I was totally unfamiliar with Eric Power before I saw a promo for Attack Of The Demons world premiere at this year’s Cinepocalypse. It was certainly something different, so I had to check it out.
Plot-wise, Attack Of The Demons is nothing groundbreaking. The three leads are a horror fan Kevin, (Thomas Petersen), an arcade game fanatic Jeff (Andreas Petersen, who also wrote the script) and Natalie (Katie Maguire) who’s in town to see her favorite band. That’s certainly familiar stuff. The cultist with his self-destructive ritual to kick off Armageddon at least has an unusual venue for it. He passes his chants off as some kind of odd music/performance art.
But the locations of the mayhem, such as a carnival ghost ride are familiar. The transformations resemble those from Lamberto Bava’s Demons, only animated with construction paper. And the result is pretty cool looking. Indeed a lot of the animated gore, and there’s lots of it, is quite inventively done.
It’s obvious Power put a lot of time and effort into the animating of Attack Of The Demons. It’s certainly worth seeing by anyone who’s a fan of animation. I’ve said that the plot is overly familiar, and it is. But I think that’s kind of the point. This is a film Kevin would love. It’s loaded with familiar touches and lots of nods to genre classics.
Attack Of The Demons, along with Achoura were two excellent surprises Cinepocalypse delivered this year. You can check for more screenings on Eric Power’s website