The Ogre (1988) User Reviews

So-so Made for TV film

[kbtoys100 · 6/10 · 31 August 2021]

In the late 80s, Lamberto Bava made a quadrilogy of Made-for-TV films. These include Graveyard Disturbance, Dinner With A Vampire, Until Death and The Ogre.

All are fairly similar, featuring a monster terrorizing people. As this is Italy, there is a bit of nudity, however unlike his earlier TV film, A Blade In The Dark, the gore is very minimal in these films.

The Ogre is the best of the lot, and feels the most like a real movie, coming off as a mix of latter-day Fulci with some Argento influences throughout. In fact, the script was reportedly the original draft for what would become House By The Cemetery, though it has more in common with House Of Clocks or Sweet House of Horrors (both TV movies as well). The child named Bob in this one is exponentially less annoying which is a plus!

The locations, soundtrack and the ogres makeup are all good. The story moves along well for a TV film, though a few more killings and a bit more action at the finale would have made this much better.

Demons III: The Ogre

[HorrorFan1984 · 5/10 · 31 July 2023]

The Demons series takes a turn in storyline with "Demons III: The Ogre", a made-for-TV film from 1988 which has nothing to do with the first two films.

The film begins in Portland, Oregon where we see a little girl having trouble sleeping during a thunderstorm. She gets up to look around for her mother in what looks like some huge old style castle. The little girl makes her way down to the creepy basement where she sees some sort of a cocoon type thing growing on the ceiling. All of a sudden, a creepy hand punches out from the cocoon and the monster emerges, getting ready to attack the little girl. Just kidding - it was all a dream. The movie then switches to a couple with their son driving in Italy heading towards an old castle they've rented for a vacation. The mother (Cheryl) is a famous horror novelist, and pretty soon we realize that she was the little girl from the opening scene.

As time goes by, Cheryl starts exploring the castle and it becomes evident that it is the same one from her dreams as a little girl. One day while she explores the basement, we notice that the cocoon from her dreams is there, except open up with no monster inside. When Cheryl tells her husband, he of course doesn't believe her and thinks she's imagining things. Eventually, the Ogre makes an appearance, killing the babysitter one day while the parents are out in town. With the Ogre now roaming the castle halls, Cheryl gets her much anticipated confrontation with the monster and will have to try and survive.

The movie runs extremely slow, probably the weak point of the film for me and a reason why I didn't like it more. It has a calm, almost trance like feeling for the early part of the movie as we meet the family and get introduced to the town in Italy. The Ogre itself didn't make a real appearance and kill until around the 1 hour and 10 minute mark. The Ogre (or Demon) looked pretty creepy, it's just unfortunate we didn't see more of him throughout the film. Perhaps it being an Italian made-for-TV film is what caused the lack of airtime for the ghoul (and also the lack of kills/gore). And don't get me started on the rushed ending.

Demons III: The Ogre is a sequel to the original two films in name only, which I knew heading into it. Overall, it is an average/ok monster movie set in a creepy old castle in Italy. The story is a good one, and the acting by our final girl was good, but it all moved too slow and wasn't as scary as it could have been.

5/10.

Unremarkable, but watchable enough.

[Hey_Sweden · 5/10 · 6 April 2022]

Once again, a title (in this case, a horror movie originally shot for Italian TV) is added to the "Demoni" series with no connection story-wise to the other entries. The title entity used to plague the childhood memories of famed horror novelist Cheryl (Virginia Bryant, who *was* actually in the second "Demoni" as Mary the prostitute). Now, she's grown up and married to Tom (Paolo Malco, "The New York Ripper"), and they take their son Bobby (Patrizio Vinci) on a vacation to an ancient villa in the Italian countryside. There, Cheryl becomes convinced that the ogre of her nightmares is a reality.

Directed, produced, and co-written by Lamberto Bava, who'd guided the only two official films in the "Demoni" series, "The Ogre" is a rather underwhelming psychological thriller. One may wish to enjoy it more than they end up doing, for it has good ingredients: good production design, decent atmosphere, a wonderfully creepy (but repetitive) music score by Simon Boswell, some fun effects, and an amusingly conceived monster. But the movie plods (and plods) too often, with the run time often devoted to Cheryl exploring her environs. The interplay between Cheryl & Tom, and the plot, are oh-so-familiar, as he is one of those stubbornly rational types who is always dismissing her notions and fantasies.

"The Ogre" is not really for hardcore horror fans, as they may feel cheated by the abysmally low "body count", the fact that any and all violence takes place off screen, and the fleeting use of nudity. Still, it has its moments, especially a late sequence wherein Bava was clearly inspired by Argentos' "Inferno". It's also rather similar to "The House by the Cemetery", and in fact, this supposedly started life as the original draft for the screenplay for that Lucio Fulci classic.

By the way, the kid in this movie can be annoying at times, but he's not likely to stick in peoples' craws the way that that OTHER "Bob" did in "The House by the Cemetery".

Not entirely bad in general; at the very least, it may appeal to genre lovers looking for something a bit more subtle than "Demoni" 1 and 2.

Five out of 10.

This is NOT a sequel to Demons

[Stevieboy666 · 3/10 · 1 March 2021]

This is an Italian made for TV movie directed by Lamberto Bava, the man who directed the excellent Demons and its reasonably good sequel, however despite its title this is in no way part of the series. And for that reason I felt cheated when it was initially released on VHS, plus the fact that it is frankly a bad movie. Most of the "action" takes place at an Italian castle, this and the rural locations are nice, plus the Simon Boswell soundtrack is very good. Sadly the movie is slow, boring, the acting is wooden, there is very little in the way of blood or gore and Bava blatantly steals Argento's underwater scene from Inferno, only this time we get skeletons and ghouls that look like cheap Halloween decorations. As for the actor in the suit and wearing an Ogre mask, rubbish! Demons 3 The Ogre is a perfect example of the decline of the once great Italian horror movie.

Not a demon in sight, but still decent horror

[Coventry · 6/10 · 12 November 2022]

For the sake of convenience and, of course, to reach wider audiences, this modest made-for-TV horror flick got released as a second sequel to the hugely popular "Demons"-franchise. Apart from the fact that Lamberto Bava directed them all, there aren't any similarity between "the Ogre" and the previous two "Demons" films. "Demons" (as well as its dull sequel) is a gross and outrageous splatter flick, whereas "The Ogre" is an attempt at an atmospheric spook-tale.

The amount of bloodshed and hideous make-up effects in this film is very limited (also because it's a TV-production), and bad-boy Bava even attempts to insert some style & subtlety. The plot isn't very convincing and contains a few holes, but still the premise is interesting enough to hold your attention for a good 90 minutes. We're introduced to a female horror writer who keeps having the same nightmare ever since she was a little girl. 22 years later, she and her family are spending a vacation in an ancient Italian mansion and this setting strangely resembles the one in her dream; - especially the ominous cellar. Events identical to the ones in her nightmare start to come true and it seems like there really is a monster living in the cellar.

This creature is an "Ogre", but he has nothing in common with Shrek! The film offers a little bit of suspense, but could have used a lot more action! There are too many overlong and pointless scenes in which the heroine just walks though the mansion, but even though the ominous music gets louder, nothing happens! The acting is fair, and Virginia Bryant definitely is a fine looking lady (there's a bath-sequence to confirm this statement).

Bravo, Bava!

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 3 April 2023]

I completely enjoyed this Italian TV film (fortunately made in English, or possibly the best English dubbing I've ever seen), directed by Lamberto Bava, son of legendary Italian horror director, Mario Bava, whose 1960 grand guignole classic "Black Sunday" is a favorite of mine. Lambert has the same ability as his father did to scare the bejeebers out of you without gore, although the cocoon with the beating heart that drips green slime is delightfully eerie and just a bit gross. The nightmares of American born Virginia Bryant come to life when she moves with husband Paolo Malco to a huge gothic castle with their children, and what before was just in her mind now seems to be reality.

Truly chilling, but being done for TV making the narrative less graphic than it would have been otherwise, this had me transfixed from the start. The film is gorgeous to look at, with the location footage stunning with the castle itself, the gardens and the surrounding area. I don't need slit throats or guts pouring out of opened gashes to be scared, just the element of the unknown and plenty of out of the blue surprises. The performances don't require much acting, just the ability to scream convincingly when startled, and Bryant (who is better than I expected her to be), although the sound effects of husband and wife each taking slugs at each other was poorly done and didn't make sense in the context of the film. But the utilizing of gothic themes in a modern setting does work in this one, and the result is a surprisingly effective spooky film.

Demons III: The Ogre (1988)

[jonahstewartvaughan · 7/10 · 24 November 2023]

NOctoberween #16 (The Week of Gutter Trash 7): Demons III: The Ogre (1988)

(7/10): No actual relation to the previous two Demons films, but rather adopting its title for a quick cash in but it's not without its moments.

Demons III: The Ogre is about a woman who, in her childhood experienced nightmares of being trapped in a dark dungeon of an old stone building and being pursued by a monstrous humanoid creature.

Later in life she has become a successful horror author and has a family, they are travelling to Italy to stay in a mansion on the hilltop of a small town.

She begins to experience her nightmares once again and soon discovers that the basement looks virtually identical to the dungeon in her nightmares.

She starts visiting a new friend who has some kind of psychic powers and eventually explains to her that she too has similar powers but to a greater extent and what they allowed her to do is warp from one location to another when in an unconscious state, hence the basement being identical to the dungeon in nightmares, which also means that somewhere down there is that monster that tormented her in her childhood, putting her sanity and family at stake.

The movie is definitely a solid watch but it does lack the punch of the Original Demons and instead goes for a more slow, tense and atmospheric approach.

This film is also a unique case of a director somewhat ripping off themselves as Lamberto Bava Directed the original Demons as well.

The effects are pretty decent all around and the basement looks pretty great for a TV-Movie.

The dungeon is very much what contributes to the films more droning atmosphere and its dark, dank and dilapidated.

The film is a bit stingy with the kills and gore but it's still got enough effects and atmosphere to make it an enjoyable watch.

Fun but no cult classic

[sorendanni · 7/10 · 25 July 2021]

I like Italian Horror and Thriller movie genre, they have a unique style and are characterized for their heavy gore and violence. The Ogre has the typical Italian style. However, the gore and violence is absent! It seems like all the hard scenes have been cut out of my copy.

Still, You do have an exciting film. The movie is slow, but I don't mind that. Slowly you become one with the fears of the main character. There are a few tense scares in the film, all in the legacy of the Giallo style!

The big disadvantage of the Ogre, is that you are stuck with annoying secondary characters: The female main character is interesting, but for example her husband beats her! And her son is a spoiled kid. The roles of her neighbors are also substandard.

For the rest, nice filming, good location, great atmosphere and music. The typical poor 'film in Italian, dub to English' finish is also present. I prefer original Italian dialogue with subtitels!

The ending is a disappointment. And a little too easy too. Unfortunate! If you come across the DVD for a good price: definitely worth buying. But this is not a classic in the canon of Italian horror films.