Steve-Calvert.co.uk
Steve-Calvert.co.uk
A Passion For Horror
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Night of the Demon 27" x 40" Movie Poster Print - Foreign - Style A
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Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon (1957)Directed by Jacques Tourneur
First of all I think I should explain that this DVD does not contain two films, but two different cuts of the same film. Night of the Demon is an extremely good British horror film from 1957. It was filmed at the Elstree Studios, is based on M R. James' short story Casting the Runes and has a runtime of 95 minutes. The film's length was cut to 83 minutes for the American market and re-named Curse of the Demon. It is, however, generally agreed that the original uncut version is the better of the two, but with both of them packaged together like this you will be able to make up your own mind about it. At the beginning of the film a rather distraught British Professor, Henry Harrington, is rushing to the home of a man called Julian Karswell. Karswell is the leader of an occult society and the professor has started a rather public investigation of both the society and Karswell himself. Karswell, not taking kindly to all the unwanted publicity, has unleashed a demon and sent it after the professor. By the time the professor bursts into Karswell's home he is a firm believer in the powers of darkness and is willing to do anything to save himself from the impending death that the demon offers him. Karswell hears the professor out, but informs him that some things are easier to start than they are to stop. He then enquires if the professor still has the slip of parchment that he gave him. The parchment had runic symbols written on it and Karswell used it to mark the professor as the demon's intended victim. The professor tells him that he no longer has the parchment because it flew into the fire. Seconds later the clock on the mantelpiece starts to strike out the hour of nine pm. Karswell glances at the clock and begins to look quite nervous. It is at this point that it becomes obvious that time is running out for the professor. Karswell assures Harrington that he will do what he can for him, but seems anxious to be rid of him, and who wouldn't be with a demon on the way? The professor seems much relived by the time he arrives home, but as soon as he gets out of his car he sees the demon coming for him, manifesting itself out of a cloud of billowing smoke and towering above him as tall as the treetops. The professor's time has run out and he dies a horrible death. Shortly after this an American Psychologist and all around sceptic John Holden arrives to take charge of the investigation that Professor Harrington started. Holden is quite surprised to hear about the professor's death, and when he goes to pay his last respects he bumps into the professor's niece, who warns him to stop the investigation. Joanna Harrington is an educated woman, but she is also an open minded woman who has read her Uncle's diary, believes in the forces of darkness, and does not want Holden to share the same fate as the professor. Holden remains, as ever, the constant sceptic, but he does seem to be more than a little impressed by Peggy's good looks and I don't blame him either. Now that Holden is the man in charge of the investigation Karswell contacts him and tries to get him to drop it. Holden refuses and Karswell passes the parchment to him without his knowing. Not that he would have cared much if he did, he is, let's not forget, the constant sceptic. Even when Karswell summons up a windstorm as a demonstration of his power, Holden refuses to accept it as proof, which is a pity because his time is running. Karswell has only given him three days and if he doesn't stop the investigation he will die at 10pm on the 28th of the month. As the demon gets closer though, even making an appearance in the woods, Holden starts to have doubts about his beliefs (or lack of them) and as the last hour approaches he finally accepts the truth and rushes to find Karswell so that he can attempt to pass the runes back to him and the curse along with them. I love this film. It's a great story and the actors do a wonderful job of bringing it to life on the screen. The special effects are pretty good too for a film that was made in 1957. The way that the demon materializes out of the cloud of smoke is very good and it is a rather scary-looking demon as well. The scene where Karswell causes the windstorm is also memorable as are the scenes where the slip of parchment tries to escape from Holden and into the fire. Night of the Demon is an old film, but it is a classic and they really don't come much better than this. For some reason though this is one of many great British films that seem to be more readily available in region 1 format, so if you live in the UK, and can't find a region 2 copy, you will need a multi-region player before you can watch the film. It's crazy I know, but that's just the way life is sometimes.
CAST Dana Andrews ... Dr. John
Holden Athene Seyler ... Mrs.
Karswell
DVD Information:
Aspect ratio 1.66:1 Language English Subtitles English, French, Japanese Runtime (combined) 178 minutes Format Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, DVD-video, Widescreen,
NTSC
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