Medium-strength French horror from the eighties that’s rather trashy and overwrought, but not entirely unaffecting. THE DEMON IS ON THE ISLAND (LE DEMON DANS L’ILE; 1983) was a rare horror entry in French cinema, which during the 1980s saw very little genre fare. For that reason alone the film is worthy of notice, although I think it’s been overrated by many (it won prestigious awards at two prominent fantastic film festivals).
THE DEMON… starred the beautiful Anny Duperey, whose other film credits include 2 OR 3 THINGS I KNOW ABOUT HER (1967), THE BLOOD ROSE (1970) and BOBBY DEERFIELD (1977). The director was the late Francis Leroi, better known for sexploitation fare like PRIVATE NURSE (1980) and parts 4 and 6 of the EMMANUELLE franchise.
Dr. Gabrielle Martin heads to a semi-secluded island in order to escape a recent trauma. There she confronts the eccentric Dr. Marshall, who she was supposed to replace. Even stranger is the fact that various domestic appliances begin going crazy all over the island: a coffee maker’s top blows and scalds the face of a young woman, and shortly thereafter a man has his fingertips sheared off by an electric knife.
Before long non-electrical objects become dangerous, as when a little girl has an eye poked out by a drumming teddy bear. Inanimate objects prove equally deadly when a man is cut by a bursting wine glass, a woman’s hand is cooked when an oven door slams shut on it, and a young couple are incinerated by an exploding gas can.
With all this mayhem Gabrielle obviously has a lot of medical work on her hands. She decides to investigate the killings, and discovers that all the deadly items were purchased from the same supermarket. Gabrielle stakes out the market, and while searching the backroom spies an odd little person with a giant head stocking the area and then disappearing through an unseen door.
Needless to say, something deeply odd is going on, and Gabrielle herself isn’t immune to whatever evil force is loose on the island. In fact the “Demon” appears to have Gabrielle directly in its sights, as she discovers one night when seemingly every object in her house turns against her.
French film haters will find much in this film to validate their opinions, as for the most part it’s every bit as trashy and exploitive as the American splatter films of the eighties, complete with much gratuitous nudity and a distracting electronic score. Overall the film is about on par with the EMMANUELLE flicks for which director Francis Leroi is best known.
Yet Anny Duperey is quite arresting in the lead role, and there are many striking directorial touches. The frequent lingering close-ups on various objects are utilized with notable skill, creating a distinct sense of apprehension (it’s what Stephen King was evidently trying for in the similarly-themed MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE). A great deal of suspense is generated by the mere presence of various appliances within a scene, as in a particularly clever sequence in which Leroi intercuts a family performing ordinary domestic chores—fixing a TV set, slicing a carrot, turning on an oven—that we know full well will be the death of at least one of the participants, but not precisely how.
Vital Statistics
THE DEMON IS ON THE ISLAND (LE DEMON DANS L’ILE)
Films 7
Director: Francis Leroi
Producer: Patrick Delauneux, Claude Zidi
Screenplay: Francis Leroi, Owen T. Rozmann
Cinematography: Jacques Assuerus
Editing: Caroline Gombergh
Cast: Anny Duperey, Jean-Claude Brialy, Pierre Santini, Gabriel Cattand, Cerise, Catherine Alcover, Juliette Brac, Bruno Bruneau, Michel Caron, Evelyne Dandry, Jean-Louis Foulquier, Agnes Gattegno