Year: 1981
Runtime: 80 mins
Language: English
Director: Alfredo Zacarías
An ancient curse haunts a Mexican mine being reopened by a British husband. When his wife travels to visit him, the workers refuse to enter, fearing the legend. Determined to prove there is no danger, they venture inside and inadvertently unleash a demon that possesses people’s left hands, compelling them to act in a diabolically wicked manner.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Demonoid (1981), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Mark Baines and Jennifer Baines explore a grim Guanajuato mine where a satanic cult once built a temple and performed brutal rites, severing the left hands of their victims as offerings to the Devil. In the present day, the couple uncovers a small casket containing a severed hand and decide to take it back to their hotel room. That night, when Mark opens the container, he is violently seized and possessed by the monstrous hand, setting off a terrifying chain of events that pulls them into a nightmare they could never have imagined.
Their desperation drives them to Las Vegas, where the hand seems to unlock a dangerous luck for Mark as he wins a fortune at the gaming tables. Yet the possession gnaws at him from within, turning his fortune into a deadly curse as he tries to cut off the cursed limb. The botched attempt ends in tragedy when Mark is burned to death by his own hand, a macabre fate that also condemns his body to a burial in Los Angeles. Jennifer, shaken and alarmed, seeks help from Father Cunningham and warns that her husband might still be possessed, requesting an autopsy that could reveal the truth behind his death.
Before any examination can proceed, Mark’s horribly charred corpse inexplicably reanimates, bursting from the coffin and fleeing into the night. The nightmare accelerates when Sergeant Leo Matson arrives to investigate the strange events and is attacked by the undead Mark. In a brutal moment, Mark slams his left hand in a door, severing it from his own body; the hand then possesses the sergeant, pulling him into a new, violent obsession. Disturbed by his uncanny new appendage, Matson acts under its control, arresting Jennifer under false pretenses and heading toward a plastic surgeon’s office with sinister intent.
At gunpoint, Matson coerces Dr. Julian Rivkin into severing the hand, unleashing further horror when the severed hand shoots a nurse and brutally rips the sergeant’s face apart, killing him. The hand then possesses [Dr. Julian Rivkin], who is driven to cut his own hand off on train tracks, continuing the grisly chain of possession. The relentless force pursues Jennifer to a motel, but Father Cunningham intervenes, and together they manage to escape toward the church, convinced that the danger remains close behind them.
As the hand makes its way toward the church, it cuts the power and phone lines and stalks the fleeing duo. It succeeds in briefly possessing Father Cunningham, turning him against Jennifer with a knife. Yet Cunningham’s will proves strong enough to reclaim control, and he stabs his own hand to break the possession. Jennifer then helps him burn the severed hand with a blowtorch, scattering its ashes into the harbor in a final, symbolic attempt to end the menace.
Even after these desperate measures, the terror is not fully laid to rest. Back at a home of relative safety, Jennifer discovers that the hand somehow survived its cremation and returns to attack and kill her, leaving an ominous sense of dread that the darkness may not be easily quelled. The story follows a bleak, relentless march through possession and despair, where a single severed hand proves to be a conduit for an ancient evil that refuses to be laid to rest.
Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 14:51
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Stories where ancient, unstoppable evil forces push characters to a desperate brink.Discover movies like Demonoid, where characters grapple with ancient curses and demonic forces in a desperate, often futile, fight for survival. These films share a high-intensity, dark tone and a bleak outlook, perfect for fans of supernatural horror stories where evil feels unstoppable.
Narratives in this thread typically follow a linear descent into chaos, where a supernatural incursion triggers a chain reaction of violence and possession. Characters are often ordinary people thrust into an existential battle they cannot win, their journeys marked by loss, psychological terror, and the crushing realization of their own powerlessness against an eternal malevolence.
These movies are grouped by their shared commitment to a dark, high-intensity tone and a bleak philosophical conclusion: that some evils are omnipresent and undefeatable. They deliver a heavy emotional weight through themes of involuntary violence and the terror of losing control, creating a coherent experience of oppressive dread.
Tales where the human body is violently hijacked by an external, malicious force.If you liked the body horror and demonic hand possession in Demonoid, explore these films about losing bodily autonomy. These movies feature graphic body horror, disturbing themes of possession, and the psychological terror of being controlled by a malevolent force.
The narrative pattern revolves around a breach of bodily integrity. A character becomes a host to a malicious entity, leading to a physical and psychological unraveling. The story is often a straightforward, fast-paced escalation of the entity's influence, forcing the host to commit atrocities and creating a profound sense of claustrophobic terror from within one's own skin.
These films are united by their central theme of invasive body horror. They share a high level of intensity due to the visceral, graphic nature of the threat and a heavy emotional weight stemming from the trauma of losing self-control. The tone is consistently dark and anxious, focused on the violation of the self.
Don't stop at just watching — explore Demonoid in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Demonoid is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.
Track the full timeline of Demonoid with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.
Discover the characters, locations, and core themes that shape Demonoid. Get insights into symbolic elements, setting significance, and deeper narrative meaning — ideal for thematic analysis and movie breakdowns.
Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Demonoid that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.
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