Rendez-vous avec la peur

Dana Andrews as an American psychologist, newly-arrived in England to attend a convention, who ends up investigating the death of a colleague which may stem from witchcraft. Delectably sinister and crafty UK occult entry from director Jacques Tourneur, who creates a shimmering and eerie mood from Hal Chester and Charles Bennett's screenplay. The two writers, adapting Montague R. James' book "Casting the Runes", reportedly quarreled over the occult elements in the script--with Bennett's attempts at a more subtle approach going unrealized (arguably, we get too many close-ups of the titular demon, but he's a scene-stealer nevertheless!). Tourneur weaves this Hitchcockian tale with a great deal of hypnotic style, and gets fine performances from Peggy Cummins as the daughter of the deceased as well as the always-reliable Andrews (one might say the actor seems a bit stolid here but, since his character is a born skeptic, he should look tense and uncomfortable). Niall MacGinnis is nothing short of amazing as Dr. Julian Karswell, sort of a mama's boy/devil cult leader and one of the very best villains in 1950s cinema. Supporting performances are all first-rate, the picture looks fantastic in chilly black-and-white as photographed by Ted Scaife, and the satisfying finale leaves one both smiling and hungry for more. Initially released in the US as "Curse of the Demon", missing 15 minutes from its original running time of 95 minutes. ***1/2 from ****

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.

This piece has stuck with me since I saw it as a child in about 1960. Our family enjoyed horror films, and we always thought that this one was memorable. Seeing it again recently, I haven't changed my mind. Given the effects available at the time and the creepiness factor, I've always though this was one of the better of the older horror movies around.

It is quaint, British, and builds slowly after the initial shock. Some comments say it was boring, shouldn't have shown the creature, Dana Andrews was drunk and sucked, etc. It isn't perfect, but like "The Haunting" and a few others made around that time, it succeeds well in creating an unsettling and generally engaging mood, including some humor, on a very small budget. I still think that the creature F/X was excellent for its time. I can imagine the film without seeing the creature, and maybe that would have been even more effective, again like "The Haunting".

I give it "A-" for effort and execution, and for avid horror buffs, it's definitely worth a watch or two. I've tested this one out with some younger folks, and they seem to really like it. Even a jaded younger horror fan used to blatant gore and in your face monsters said, "That creeped me out." FYI, the "Night" vs. "Curse" versions are different by several minutes of extra footage, which I recall was the séance scene and some connective dialog.

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

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.