Sometimes I watch old movies from the 80s and say to myself, “What were we thinking?” followed immediately by, “I’m so glad we were thinking it.”
If My Demon Lover was supposed to launch the film career of Scott Valentine, Mallory’s big dumb boyfriend Nick on Family Ties, well, it didn’t. Sure, Michael P. Keaton had success turning into a comic monster in Teen Wolf. But the Family Ties luck ended there. Hell, even Mallory’s little brother Jason Bateman tried to step into the Teen Wolf shoes the same year as Nick stepped into Demon Lover shoes, and also became nothing more than cable fodder.
We first see Nick on a subway playing a saxophone in his best Rob Lowe St. Elmo’s Fire impersonation. He sees a chick’s cleavage and goes all gnarly in the face. Ah! So when he gets horny, his demon grows!
Meanwhile, there’s this blonde chick who has no luck with men. She goes into this diner and the wacky waitress is none other than the amazing Lin Shaye! Some dude randomly dies at the counter, so the blonde goes to eat her lunch outside. Nick climbs from a nearby pile of garbage and begs for some of her food. Then he follows her home, acting really fricking obnoxious and stalker creepy. Naturally, she starts dating him.
Stupid 80s shit happens as the couple navigates the challenge in their relationship. Yes, I’m talking about Nick turning into a demon whenever he gets aroused. While we see Nick turn into many different demon forms, there’s one part of this goofy film that is actually pretty grossly good and horror-esque. On top of that, someone called “The Mangler” is killing people on the streets of the city. You’re never going to guess who becomes the number one suspect….
When it’s time for Nick to rescue his girl from the real Mangler, he has to have sex with her best friend so he can turn demon. The sex must be really good, because he sprouts wings and flies up to the top of the castle where his girl is being held captive. You can’t make this stuff up. Actually, I guess you can, because someone did.
Only one thing could make My Demon Lover better—an awesome 80s soundtrack. Oh, wait. There is! It features songs by a new wave band called Intimate Strangers. They were originally called Raise the Dragon, but then they recorded a song titled “Raise the Dragon” that was on the Out of Bounds soundtrack, at which point their band name changed to Intimate Strangers. Still waiting for their lone album to come out on CD. I’m probably the only one.
