February is the month of love, romance, passion and, of course… demons! Plenty of everything can be found in the 1987 horror comedy My Demon Lover. If I could sum up this movie in one word it would be “nutty”. Sheer absurdity is what makes it fun to watch and its cheesiness pays off with scenes that are both grotesque and whimsical.
My Demon Lover is about a man named Kaz and a woman named Denny who meet and eventually fall in love. However, due to a Romanian blue balls curse, Kaz has an unfortunate flaw about him: he just happens to turn into a demon whenever he is sexually aroused. While in his demonic self, Kaz’ sensations take over and, much like a werewolf, he can’t remember his actions the following morning. Meanwhile, in seedy New York City, a series of killings have raised the alarm among citizens and police alike, who have labelled the murderer as “The Mangler.” Could Kaz be, in fact, The Mangler?
The film’s hellbound hearththrob is played by the aptly named Scott Valentine (real name!) who some of you may remember as Nick Moore from Family Ties. He plays an obnoxious bum who panhandles by means of drunken saxophone serenades. What’s even more absurd is that he still pursues women by groping them and making obscene facial gestures on the street and subway. This romantic lead is a bit of a lunatic too!
Denny, on the other hand, is your typical doormat: she lets men walk all over her and take advantage of her generosity. The first time Kaz and Denny meet, he wakes up in a literal pile of garbage, steals a bite of her lunch then spits it out at her. Who says romance is dead? Of course Kaz follows her down the sidewalk and, even after all that, she is still gullible enough to fall for his antics and doesn’t tell him to fuck off. Luckily for him, a mugger attacks Denny, opening the door for Kaz to come to the rescue and kick off their offbeat relationship.
When Kaz finally reveals his demon form to his new love, he’s not all that accommodating and does nothing to ease her revulsion, but I guess maybe he can’t help himself when he gets a demon boner. I’d have to say the best scene in My Demon Lover is when Denny, after deciding she doesn’t care about Kaz’ condition, attempts to have sex with him. It turns out her demon boy also has telekinetic powers which throw her apartment into total chaos! Furniture shakes, items fly around, champagne bottles pop, all the while demon Kaz speaks in tongues, and HIS HEAD GETS SUCKED INTO HIS BODY THEN CHANGES TO A DIFFERENT HEAD, THEN ANOTHER HEAD THAT GETS PULVERIZED INTO YELLOW BILE! This is when the movie just goes straight up bonkers… and I love it!
Because Kaz is homeless, there are also a bunch of hobos in this movie! I’d have to say my favourite is the drunk guy sitting on the steps to Denny’s building’s who says “Hey lady, you remind me of my wife! That bitch!” Now I like to think that I’m pretty well versed in all aspects of the ’80s but, I’m sorry, what is that machine at the diner that spews edible vomit that Lin Shaye flings a piece of celery on and serves to a customer!? As I said earlier, nutty!
Oh and did I mention Kaz also grows wings and flies at one point? How can My Demon Lover get any better you ask? You’ll just have to watch it to find out! I find myself laughing out loud at this film so I’m glad I own it on VHS. My only complaint is that I wish there were more scenes of dreamy pre-demon Kaz playing the saxophone!
