Night of the Demon

"Curse of the Demon" aka "Night of the Demon" is a wonderful set-piece study of the macabre, skillfully acted by Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and the delightfully malevolent Niall MacGinnis, and masterfully directed by Jacques Tournier, a director who can turn even the warmest smile into something sinister. Andrews plays a psychiatrist determined to debunk the world of the occult, but instead nearly falls victim to a monstrous demon summoned by MacGinnis. At one point in the film MacGinnis, dressed in a clown suit, takes on an aura of pure demonic power under Tournier's direction, and it's a joy to watch. The effects, including the demon itself, are simple but surprisingly effective, and serve to highlight, rather than overpower, the actors and the storyline. Based on the story "Casting the Runes", this mostly-forgotten film is a masterpiece of scripting, editing, acting, and direction, and shouldn't be missed. We thoroughly recommend it for anyone who likes a nice, quiet little horror story played with an almost Hitchcockian subtlety that's rare nowadays.

Filmed in England, this 1958 film was originally released with a running time of 95 minutes under the title NIGHT OF THE DEMON; when it reached the United States it had a running time of 83 minutes and the title CURSE OF THE DEMON. Both versions are contained on this DVD, with the English version the better for those twelve minutes, but in truth there is little significant difference between the two, and if you are a connoisseur of 1950s horror films you will find both equally fascinating.

Based on the short story "Casting the Runes" by M.R. James, DEMON offers the tale of American psychologist John Holden (Dana Andrews) who travels to a conference in England, planning to debunk a devil worshiping cult led by Karswell (Niall MacGinnis.) Unfortunately for the professionally skeptical Holden, Karswell's powers are genuine: he has successfully translated an ancient text and, through runes written on parchment, casts a curse first against Holden's colleague and then against Holden himself.

DEMON was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who worked with producer Val Lewton to create a series of memorable and distinctly noir-ish horror films at RKO in the 1940s: CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, and THE LEOPARD MAN. All three films created a sense of unease and scream-aloud fear by implication and suggestion, and although DEMON is much more explicit in its effects, Tourneur brings the same sensibility to bear on DEMON, endowing it with remarkable authority and power in spite of several distinct flaws.

Chief among these flaws is the script, which can best be described as somewhat abrupt in terms of dialog, and leading man Dana Andrews, whose performance is remarkably unsubtle even in a decade noted for a lack of cinematic restraint. Film lore also has it that Tourneur lobbied against showing the demon on screen, and given the fact that the visual is hardly inspired this clearly would have been the better choice. None the less, DEMON has jolts and jars aplenty, not the least of which is Karswell: Niall MacGinnis' performance, with its mixture of the commonplace and the flatly evil, is remarkably fine. The film also sports a host of memorable set pieces: the storm, the flying parchment, Dr. Holden's exploration of Karswell's mansion, Dr. Holden's run through the night forest, and the final train sequence, to name but a few.

Although it is not well known today, like Tourneur's films with Lewton, DEMON has cast a very long shadow in terms of influence, and it is very difficult to imagine such films as ROSEMARY'S BABY and THE CHANGELING without both this film and those that proceeded it. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Dana Andrews plays the New World skeptic to the point of irritation - but not beyond, but the honours go to Nial MacGinnis whose warlock oozes malevolence, yet you still wouldn't mind enjoying afternoon tea with him. The scene where he waits in the car, opens the door and orders 'come along mother', after the tension of the seance is the icing on the cake. The black and white cinematography only adds to the 'darkness' of the tale. The opening sequence of the story with Denholm Elliot franticly driving through the lonely English countryside builds the tension wonderfully (you peer with a growing sense of foreboding as the headlamps try to beat a path home). I wonder if Hollywood could ever remake this. I doubt it. Throw millions of dollars at it, an A-list leading man and shed-loads of computer wizardry and you wouldn't even come close to the original.

This film comes with two quality labels: it stars Peggy Cummins (best known for 'Deadly Is The Female' a.k.a. 'Gun Crazy') and is directed by Jacques Tourneur who had already shown his talent for suspenseful films with the RKO classics Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie. So you know what to expect: suspense and quality.

By now of course, technology changed a lot of how films look and it is the "show less - scare a lot" attitude of Cat People and I Walked With A Zombie that made them into the classics that they are. 'Night of the Demon' (a far better title than the American 'Curse of the Demon' - and if you see the film, you'll know why) has one nasty side effect: you see the demon and it's a film demon from the 50s. No matter how scary the film makes the demon, he looks like the thing you see on the cover of the movie box. It could be scarier. But now comes the best part... it doesn't matter! Because the suspense comes from something else in the movie and that is what makes this film so great. Dana Andrews is coming to England to prove that a so-called satanic cult is nothing more than a bunch of fakers and illusionists. The cult leader, however, puts a spell on him and warns Andrews that he will die in a few days. Other 50s film that depend more on the monsters and demons do have that problem: e.g. Roger Corman made some movies that could've been a lot better and scarier if the monster had either been more convincing or given less screen time.

Like in the other two films by Tourneur I mentioned, you always sense something scary could happen. That is what makes films work. In 'Night of the Demon Tourneur' succeeds in scarying you on some occasions when you least expect it. Combine that with cleverly built-up suspense and you know why you should watch this classic. Even if you don't like horror films in general.

Psychologist Dana Andrews is on his way from America to attend a convention in London and in answer to a friend's cry for help. In fact we see that friend, Maurice Denham when the film opens up. He's at the house of another scientist Niall McGinniss who's been experimenting big time in the occult. Denham is scared and begging for his life, begging for McGinniss to call off some kind of evil force that is pursuing him.

The evil force gets him of course and when Andrews touches down in the UK he learns from Denham's daughter Peggy Cummins about what has happened to her father. That only arouses Andrews's curiosity.

But the message of Night of the Demon is that there are some things that nature means we should not disturb. Andrews learns that almost too late.

As was typical back in the day, the British film industry to get a wider distribution of their product sometimes imported an American star for their films. In this case Dana Andrews is with an all British supporting cast.

But as another viewer pointed out the film really belongs to Niall McGinniss the scientist who summons up evil forces from another plane of existence he can't control. His comfortable way of living for himself and his mother Athene Sayler comes at a price. McGinniss is charming and deadly at the same time.

Jacques Tourneur learned well at the feet of Val Lewton, the master of such films as these. After over 50 years the film still holds up well. Viewers today will be as scared as they were in 1957.