Demons 2

Despite his reputation as the ultimate vegan curmudgeon, Morrissey must have developed a sense of fun somewhere along the line. This thought is most clearly laid out by the inclusion of Panic, a kinetic track from the dour troubadour’s classic The Smiths days, in the ecstatically rambunctious horror romp Demons 2.

Simon Boswell, the film’s composer and music coordinator, has recounted in interviews how his request to the illusive singer was framed around the film’s mild condemnation of media and consumerism. Still, as the project’s title so steadfastly reveals its true nature, one can certainly hope that this very British gentlemen is just as turned on by humor-stained gore as the rest of us.

Indeed, Boswell’s more gothic instincts gives the soundtrack, as a whole, a dark wave of jubilance. But none of the other cuts – including fun tracks by everyone from The Cult to Peter Murphy – quite give Sally’s birthday party, where the music here takes zombie-blooded root, the shot of adrenaline that is contained within this early take on social blandness from the one and only Master of Mope.