Demonia (1990) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

In 1486, a mob from the village attacked the monastery and tortured and crucified five nuns who were suspected of witchcraft. The nuns had been practicing occult rituals, hosting orgies with local youths, and murdering them at the height of ecstasy. They also drank the youths' blood and killed newborns born from these encounters. The village sealed them in a hidden chamber beneath the convent to erase both the nuns and their crimes.

• nuns
• crucifixion
• 1486
• witchcraft
• monastery
• Sicily

During a seance in Toronto, Liza experiences a vivid vision of the five crucified nuns and collapses in fear. This vision establishes a supernatural connection between Liza and the nuns that predates her arrival in Sicily. The vision foreshadows her later obsession with the monastery and suggests she is uniquely sensitive to the spirits trapped there.

• seance
• vision
• Liza
• nuns
• possession
• spiritual connection

The murders begin immediately after Liza breaks into the monastery crypt and discovers the charred remains of the five nuns. By disturbing the hidden chamber where the nuns were sealed, Liza awakens the spirits of the crucified women, who then begin exacting violent revenge on anyone who enters the ruins. The discovery acts as the catalyst that releases the trapped spirits.

Foreshadowing: The locals' warnings about the monastery and the supernatural legends foreshadow the danger that the discovery will unleash.

• remains
• discovery
• crypt
• spirits
• supernatural
• murders
• curse

Porter is killed by a spectral nun wielding a harpoon on his boat near the dig site. This vision of a ghost nun attacking with a harpoon is the first supernatural murder that confirms the danger is real and not just local superstition. The killer is one of the five crucified nuns, now appearing as a vengeful spirit.

• Porter
• harpoon
• spectral nun
• boat
• murder
• ghost

Sean and Kevin are lured into the monastery ruins by enticing female voices that call to them. They follow the sounds and fall through a weak floorboard into a pit of metal spikes, where they are killed. The nuns' spirits used the same seductive tactics they used centuries earlier to lure victims to their deaths.

Foreshadowing: The historical accounts of nuns luring youths to their deaths in the monastery provide the pattern for these murders.

• Sean
• Kevin
• ruins
• spike pit
• voices
• lured
• death

Liza becomes possessed by the spirits of the five evil nuns, dressing in a white robe similar to theirs. Under this possession, she stabs Evans in the stomach in the hidden chamber of the monastery. This act demonstrates that the nuns have taken complete control over Liza, using her body to attack those who threatened their resting place. She then vanishes into the darkness, dissolving as if into air.

Foreshadowing: Liza's growing obsession with the monastery throughout the film builds toward this moment of total possession.

• Liza
• possession
• Evans
• stabbing
• hidden chamber
• nuns spirits

Yes, Liza is dead at the end. After the mob sets the skeletal remains and the nuns alight in the hidden chamber, Evans staggers into the cavern and finds Liza dead at the foot of the burning crosses. The ritual fire destroys both the nuns' remains and Liza's body, breaking the possession but leaving her dead. The ancient evil is vanquished, but at the cost of Liza's life.

• Liza
• death
• possession
• fire
• crosses
• ending

Centuries before the events of the film, the nuns at the monastery practiced witchcraft and held secret orgies, inviting local young men to the ruins. At the height of these sexual encounters, the nuns would murder the youths and drink their blood in a ritual frenzy. Any nun who became pregnant from these encounters was forced to carry the baby to term only to throw the newborn onto fires. This horrific history is what led the village to crucify the nuns in 1486.

• monastery history
• nuns
• witchcraft
• orgies
• blood ritual
• murder

During the mob attack on the ruins, Robbie manages to escape after being abducted by a faceless nun in white robes. However, he witnesses his father being torn apart by a hidden trap outside the camp. This brutal death occurs as the townspeople surge into the monastery area, and the ancient traps set centuries ago claim another victim.

• Robbie
• father
• death
• trap
• ruins
• mob attack

Turi DeSimone, the butcher who threatened the archaeologists, is killed in his meat shop freezer. A torn piece of clothing found in Turi's right hand points to his killer, and the evidence casts suspicion on Professor Evans himself. This revelation creates tension among the remaining team members as the investigation deepens and the death toll rises.

• Evans
• Turi
• suspicion
• murder
• clothing evidence
• investigation

Despite warnings from locals like Porter and Turi, and despite Professor Evans cautioning her about the supernatural after her Toronto seance, Liza becomes obsessed with finding another chamber behind the monastery walls. Using a pick-axe, she breaches a wall and discovers the hidden cavern with the charred remains of the five nuns. Her driving curiosity and the supernatural connection established by her vision compel her to pursue the truth beyond rational caution.

• Liza
• crypt
• wall
• discovers remains
• obsession
• breaking in

After Liza appears foaming at the mouth on one of the crosses in the hidden chamber, the mob enters and sets the skeletal remains of the five nuns alight. The townspeople believe destroying the remains is the only way to rid the area of the evil that has plagued them. This burning pyre is meant to finally lay to rest the spirits that have been committing murders and to seal the dark history of the monastery.

• mob
• nuns remains
• fire
• burning
• chamber
• destruction