Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

This disastrous Italian horror brings the late great Donald Pleasence along for the ride and surely didn't do his career any favours.With not only a low rating but barely 250 ratings on IMDB this clearly fell into obscurity and I can see why.Italian horror during the 80's was generally fantastic, this was a rare miss and quite a big one at that.It tells the story of a crew investigating unexplored catacombs and the ancient demonic evil that they unleash.With a messy plot, shoddy audio and camera work and a forgettable cast this is pretty bad stuff saved to a degree thanks to Pleasence and an interesting setting.If you seek Italian horror look elsewhere.The Good:Donald PleasenceNeat settingThe Bad:Poor sound editingDonald Pleasence looks like a big fish in a small pond hereAwful endingThings I Learnt From This Movie:Donald Pleasence must have been short on cash

This is a disjointed, sometimes confusing affair which spends an inordinate amount of time with people wandering around in dark tunnels. If you've seen Michele Soavi's THE CHURCH then you'll be well prepared for this film's structure as the two films are very similar. Both have confusing editing and plot strands which don't make sense. At least with THE CHURCH, Soavi had some style and pleasing religious imagery on show. When it boils down to it, SPECTERS is simply a monster-on-the-loose movie with some ancient mumbo-jumbo thrown in for good measure.Strangely enough, I actually enjoy films which have people wandering around ancient tombs and catacombs, so for me a lot of this film was pretty eerie. A single low note on the soundtrack helps add to the spooky atmosphere of the crypts, which certainly look impressive, being littered with skeletons, Latin inscriptions, rats, and mysterious artefacts. There's a sense of brooding menace and "eeevil" (as Pleasence would say) lurking in the shadows and, as is nearly always the case, it's what you don't see that's most frightening. When, at the end, the makers let their demonic creature on a rampage in the tunnels, a lot of the tension is dispersed as we realise it's just a man in the suit. At least the guys here were wise enough to figure that quick glimpses of the monster were enough instead of dwelling on it for a long time and totally shattering the myth.Donald Pleasence lends a welcome face in what otherwise is a completely Italian production (crew, cast, whatever). Pleasence gets all of the best lines here and gets to say the word "evil" in his own inimitable style about a dozen times. Aside from Pleasence, the acting is uninspired with boring leads who have the 'designer' look and not a single drop of charisma between them. A lengthy sex scene helps to pad out the running time but to serve no other purpose, while the film's best shock scene has been stolen from another film (the hands reaching out of the bed and dragging the victim down moment is a direct reprise of Johnny Depp's demise in A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET).There's a predictable twist ending and some mild gruesomeness to enjoy (a skinned head jutting from a wall), but only two major gore sequences. The first has an old duffer, who happens to be an antiques hoarder, get his head crushed against a tunnel wall - an exceptionally unpleasant moment. The other shows a blind man having his heart pulled out, but some rushed editing ruins the impact of this one and just makes it look rubbery. SPECTERS is okay, but a little too light on the horror and a little too heavy on the dialogue for me.

This cruddy, late-80s, Italian supernatural/demonic horror sees horror icon Donald Pleasance slumming it as archaeologist Professor Lasky, who, as the result of tremors caused by subway drilling under Rome, discovers a pre-Christian tomb full of pagan carvings, including an inscription which warns that "evil will come". And come it most certainly does, in the form of an ancient demon that proceeds to attack those involved in the excavation.Italian horror films of the 80s often displayed little regard for logic, but made up for their general incoherence with a sense of style, enthusiastic gore, and—if possible—some nudity from a good looking babe or two. This one tries on all three counts, but fails spectacularly on the first two, director Marcello Avallone's overuse of his smoke and wind machines hardly qualifying as stylish, while the splatter, most of which is saved for the film's closing moments, is frustratingly brief (blink and you'll miss it). Thankfully, Trine Michelsen as Alice, sexy girlfriend of archaeologist Marcus, is on hand for the gratuitous T&A, obligingly stripping off a couple of times in order to keep the viewer awake.The bulk of Specters, however, consists of lots of dreary dialogue and numerous supposedly scary scenes that rarely amount to much (with the best moment being blatantly ripped off from A Nightmare on Elm Street); as such, the film proves extremely tedious and delivers little in the way of genuine frights. The demon (created by Italian FX expert Sergio Stivaletti) remains hidden until the final moments, and, to be honest, isn't really worth the wait.3.5 out of 10, generously rounded up to 4 for the hilariously bad computer graphics used to track Marcus as he explores the tomb, and Alice's hub-cap sized earrings.

There is never any mention of a "specter" in this film. The creature we finally do see (other than Universal's Gill Man) is an ugly beast not unlike the She Creature. If it weren't for the ridiculous horror clichées, this film might have worked, as the set design is fascinating and some scenes are actually suspenseful, and the archaelogical dig is exciting. Unfortunately, a lot of it deals with stupid teenagers, gratuitous pop songs, sex, and topless scenes, and predictable junk make much of the film annoying. When wine bottles start spraying and catacombs are collapsing, it's interesting, but it has the cliché horror it's not really ending, no one survives by the main fornicating couple, and girls panicking from little mice. The blind man's beating heart getting ripped out is the ultimate in gratuity, since it lacks all the significance of Evan pulling out his own heart in Michele Soavi's _La Chiesa_. It could have been better than _Demoni_, but at least it's not worse, nor as disgusting.