Night of the Demon (1958)

The making of 'Night of the Demon' was interesting because of the struggle between the director Jacques Tourneur and the producer Hal E. Chester. Tourneur had a long successful history directing movies of creating more suspense by delaying the appearance of the 'monster' and showing less when it is shown, to let the imagination take over. Don't show a close up of the monster. Instead, show a medium range shot of the monster, gradually approaching. It can't be seen to clearly because of the darkness, smoke and range. And let the viewer imagine what it would look like from close up, as the victim gazes upon it from a hundred feet away and knows it will soon be upon him.But Chester argued that bad directing is good and good bad. So, he insisted that the demon be seen in a close up. And insisted that it be shown in the first few minutes of the film, so that there is no suspense. And that it be shown on the movie posters so there wouldn't even by a minute of suspense in the movie. Tourneur and others tried to get Chester to see reason. But it is easier to stop a demon than a producer with his mind made up.As it turned out, Chester, not Tourneur, was the true visionary, at least judging by the movies that are produced today. It was Chester who had the visor of the future. However, despite Chester's meddling, 'Night of the Demon' is still a very good movie. One needs to see the movies of yesterday, the movies of Jacques Tourneur, to see really good horror movies.

I had not watched this film for many years until I watched it tonight on the Internet. A true horror GEM that probably gets overlooked! Dana Andrews and the rest of the mostly British cast are all great. Andrews is extremely stalwart, with a jaw that could probably knock a demon over with one thrust! I know this sounds like I'm making fun of the film or Andrews but I'm not: he was made to fit the part of the skeptical scientist and man of reason who sudden finds himself cursed and doomed to die in only 3 days at the hand of a demon.It's interesting watching his character slowly begin to realize that all his nay-saying of the "black arts" has totally been turned on its head. Lots of mood here, heightened by the decision to film in black and white and having much of the action happen at night.The special effects may seem dated to some but impressive for 1957, in a film whose major expense was probably paying Andrews to be in it.In the past few years, films like "The Conjuring" have, reputedly, brought some new "intelligent" films into the genre. I think this started with "Sinister" from a few years back.Hopefully, we'll see the end of the "Unstoppable Slasher" films that were churned out a decade or so back.I really like this film and it needs to be remade/updated! Perhaps with Anthony Hopkins as the villain, Of course, as has been seen before, a reboot doesn't necessarily mean greatness but... who knows?

This psychological horror remains a classic in the genre, due to the impressive plot, original story, and strong acting. The film presents the horror refreshingly straight-faced, with no pause for irritating comic relief which sometimes mars otherwise flawless films. Instead, it's nightmare all the way as the clock ticks towards the inevitable arrival of the demon. A lot of suspense is generated as the countdown continues. The film sustains a tense atmosphere as the deadline to Holden's death slowly ticks down, until the brilliant finale where the roles of pursued and pursuer are reversed, with Karswell trying to escape from Holden.Seen today, it's a memorable piece, similar to the atmospheric horrors served up in the 1940s by Val Lewton. Some of the special effects in the film are obviously pretty dated (that's where the fun lies, of course) but the demon, seen from a distance, looks pretty impressive if not quite as scary as was intended. A lot of work has gone into the fire-and-brimstone demon, and although everyone involved regrets the inclusion of the monster, I could never see why...it adds a lot to the film for me, and improves it, creating an image to stand in the mind. Perhaps it would have been spookier to leave the demon to your imagination, but the huge, articulated puppet is a good a representation as any.The acting is good all-round, with Andrews and Macginnis pitched against either other in a psychological battle. Macginnis is the real star of the film, with his goatee beard he looks like a kindly old man but with a slightly sinister touch, and it's probably his most prominent and best-remembered performance. Andrews may be a bit stuffy as the imported American hero, but he knows his job and puts in a fine, solid performance. It is interesting to see how Holden (a sceptic) manages to come up with rational explanations for all the strange events happening around him, even at the film's end. Based on the story Casting of the Runes by MR James (one of my very favourite authors - check him out) the story is very original and the film is well worth seeing. A minor masterpiece of the genre.

Fascinated with his magical abilities, a man's investigation into a performer's past leads to a world of the occult and the supernatural, eventually leading to the discovery that a strange monster is on the loose looking for him and his only chance to escape lies in the strange man he's investigating.This one was one of the better examples of the style around. What really makes for such a good time here is the actual build-up of mythical powers he displays, which are not only quite fun but also certainly worth of such a great powerful villain. The early build-up here comes along at its best with the confrontations in the library where the first threats are uncovered, the disclosure of the previous knowledge in the meetings between the two before the actual events began and the continual drops of knowledge here that he knows more than he lets on in the meeting at his house where he conjures the storm to fully expose his powers and interests quite clearly which are not only the really overt display of powers but also makes for a chilling setup for the enjoyably chilling story here. Not just being great scenes but furthering the death-curse enabled by the practitioner makes for an even better time here as there's a solid foundation of action scenes throughout here, from the opening scene here of the demon appearing from the smoke-screen and fire effects chasing after the guy through the woods, the demon-cat attack in his personal library and the absolutely startling attack at the end where the train-car scenes bring about the full extent of his new-found knowledge which is then turned around on the practitioner as he chases the parchment into the foggy night where the reappearing demon begins the big chase and eventual appearance that makes for a really grand and exciting scene which gives this some really exciting and fun sequences. The fact that there's a lot going on here gives this part of a lot of great parts within here as there's a ton to like here with that, and coupled with the effective and chilling monster creation which is truly haunting and chilling to be completely worthy of the fear it instills in others all gives this one a lot to overcome the few minor flaws on display. The biggest one here is the fact that the skeptical disbeliever angle employed here that has to undergo such an extreme amount of activity against him he cannot disprove rationally that at the end he has to believe in the story is such a tired cliché that really recycling it is such a cop-out rather than anything really interesting to the story as a whole. There's so much thrown in here that he should've been a believer long before, and some tension in how to defeat the curse with how much occult knowledge he has would've been quite fun here. The only other small flaw here is the unnecessarily long and pointless scenes in the conference where they go back-and-forth for several minutes with the hypnotized guest which just makes no sense at all by confusing what is already known and merely wasting time before leading to the grand climax. These here are all that's wrong here.Today's Rating/PG: Violence.