Jean Rollin's first serious attempt to venture outside the parameters of his famous erotic vampire tableaux, The Demoniacs (Les démoniaques) finds him working with a stronger plot and assortment of characters than usual. In the memorable opening, a quartet of pirates led by the sadistic, very heated Tina (Seven Women for Satan's Coeur) and a brutish Captain (Rico) lures a ship onto the rocks. Urged on by Tina, the wreckers molest two young girls (Lone and Hermenier) who managed to flee from the crash. The victims are left for dead, but during a heavy night at the 
local tavern, the Captain experiences Macbeth-style visions of the maidens, their hands and eyes stigmatized with blood. He flees to Tina, who leads the wreckers back to the scene of their crime. The two girls are still there, barely alive, and escape to the haunted ruins of a church where a powerful spirit resides inside a cell. After meeting the spirit's handmaiden (a woman dressed as a clown, of course), the girls release him and engage in some sins of the flesh. In gratitude, the spirit grants them supernatural powers which, until dawn, will allow them to seek revenge.
Like all of Rollin's films, the formal visual design plays an important role, and here he plays with the conventions of serials and pirate dramas (Fritz Lang's Moonfleet is an acknowledged influence, but traces of Jamaica Inn show up as well). The delightful opening features a voiceover introducing the characters over superimposed cameo-style shots of the actors, a device indicating that Rollin will be venturing into slightly different territory. However, the expected nudity, violence, and bizarre imagery are still in rich supply, with 
Rollin crafting some highly memorable sequences thanks to the eerie ruins and the strange beach scenery, punctured with the torn and ragged wooden remains of crashed ships. The performers are also allowed opportunities to exhibit more personality than usual with the villains making a memorable bunch, especially Tina's scene-stealing "kill them!" rants. Rollin's trademark visual fetish motifs are all present, including the mute blonde twins who were later turned up in various performer guises in Requiem for a Vampire, Phantasmes, and Two Orphan Vampires. A few moments are slightly spoiled 
by the rushed production, such as one awkwardly edited death involving a ridiculously huge liquor bottle, but for the most part this is a solid introduction to Rollin's style and a satisfying demonstration of his strengths as a director.
Rarely seen in English for decades but briefly released in a shortened version by Something Weird Video as Curse of the Living Dead, The Demoniacs found most of its audience early on through blurry, bootleg SECAM-converted tapes. The eventual premiere DVD edition from Image and Redemption in 1999 was a complete revelation at the time in 1999; though not anamorphic, the source materials used here are absolutely immaculate without any noticeable dirt or print damage whatsoever, and the color and detail quality are never less than striking. The optional subtitles are always legible and well chosen, though for some reason the use of "merde" receives some amusing British euphemisms (e.g., "bloody hell!"). The original French trailer is also included.
After that first American edition was discontinued, Rollin fans were given several reissues to contemplate. The triple-disc Encore DVD edition is as lavish as their other Rollin treatments, packing in a new anamorphic transfer, a slew of optional subtitles including English, a 50-minute Rollin interview, the trailer, a shorter interview with regular Rollin actor Willy Braque, the 
Rollin short Les pays loins, a photo slideshow, illustrated essays, and best of all, 18 minutes of deleted footage (some with sound, some without), including a completely superfluous but surprisingly graphic sex scene at one of the tavern bedrooms between one of the younger pirates and a barmaid, a ludicrous semi-rape scene between Coeur and Rico, and two chunks of additional erotic footage from the climax that were included in initial French prints but omitted at Rollin's request on video at the time. For some reason a B&W version of the film is also included on the third disc.
The American DVD reissue from Salvation in 2009 ports over the same anamorphic redo with optional English subtitles; it's interlaced 
and the PAL conversion isn't handled very well.
The first Blu-ray edition came from Redemption through Kino Lorber in 2012 with a far more earthy and subdued palette than before (even the blood has more of a sepia cast), with the grungy, brown appearance presumably meant to hearken back to silent serials and Hollywood pirate yarns. This cut also reinstates the extra beach footage to the finale (where it has remained ever since now), while the other two extra sex scenes are still there as extras. An additional outtake reel is basically lots of lingering shots of burning ships at night. The late Rollin appears for a video intro to the film, while jack of all trades Jean-Pierre Bouyxou contributes a surprisingly deep interview (14m42s) about working on the film both as a PR agent and as an extra. A very brief snippet with Natalie Perry (also seen on other Rollin releases) is also included along with excellent liner notes by Tim Lucas (covering the second wave of Rollin Blu releases) and trailers for other films in the Rollin series.
In 2017, German label Wicked Vision released its own mediabook edition (with multiple covers) with one big selling point: a new restored scan from the original negative with a closer approximation of the original color scheme. It's also a newly created composite version (104 mins.) featuring all of the excised footage back in place apart from that one endless, 
unconvincing softcore scene with Coeur and Rico which is still segregated as an extra. French and German audio options are included with optional English and German subtitles, while extras include a 24-page booklet by Pelle Felsch and David Renske, a partial (52-minute) Rollin audio commentary (in English, carried over from the Encore release) and video intro, the interview with Braque, the outtake reel, three trailers (German, French, and U.S.), and an image gallery.
By far the most pleasing presentation of Rollin's film didn't come along until 2024 when Indicator issued it as part of their line of separate UHD and Blu-ray special editions. The difference here image-wise is striking with either option looking wonderfully rich with vibrant, healthy colors at last, especially those red accents present in every scene and those deep blue night skies. It's a real joy to watch, with the HDR10-compatible 
Dolby Vision and extra resolution of the UHD making it a no brainer if you're set up for it. The LPCM 1.0 mono audio also sounds perfect with newly translated English subtitles provided. Here you get three separate viewing options: the 100-minute French theatrical (still the best version and absolutely the one to watch first if you're new to the film), an even longer "export version" (which never existed anywhere until now, here adding every shred of sex scene footage back in for the longest edition to date at 108 minutes), and in a very welcome gesture, the 85-minute Curse of the Living Dead version with the long-absent English dub finally back. The Rollin selected scenes commentary is ported over here, but you also get an extensive new Tim Lucas commentary (only over the export version) covering the homages to French serials, the differences between the theatrical and extended cuts, the backgrounds of pretty much every actor on screen, and the transitional period in Rollin's career that found him taking more and more chances, often at his own financial peril. Also included here are the French trailer, the outtake reel, the Rollin intro (3m7s), a revised edit of the Braque interview (10m6s), a longer edit of the Bouyxou interview (20m42s) now called "Un des démoniaques," and an archival 8m39s interview with actor Paul Bisciglia, "One Perfect Shot" (8m39s), who recalls Rollin's reputation and his own casting in this film as one of the malicious sailors. A new appreciation by Stephen Thrower, "Vengeance and Purity" (41m48s), is an insightful deep dive into the film analyzing its release history, the melodrama elements in the performances, the colorful backgrounds of some of the actors (including a small role for Jess Franco regular Monica Swinn), the joys of Joëlle Coeur's feverish presence, and the dichotomy of doubled characters in Rollin's films that finds one of its many potent variations here. Finally the disc wraps up with a 93-image gallery of promotional stills, fun behind-the-scenes shots, and promotional material, while the limited edition packaging comes with an essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an archival essay by Rollin about the film's creation and an archival interview, and an archival interview with Swinn.
INDICATOR (UHD)
WICKED VISION (Blu-ray)
KINO LORBER (DVD)
ENCORE (DVD)
