Night of the Demon (1957)

Director:

Jacques Tourneur

Writers:

M.R. James (story)
Charles Bennett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

July 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

Who will be the next in line to defy the curse?

Plot:

Dr. John Holden ventures to London to attend a paranormal psychology symposium with the intention to expose devil cult leader...

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Wind Storm | Prediction | Magic Act | Mother Son Relationship

Cast

Dana Andrews	...	Dr. John Holden
Peggy Cummins	...	Joanna Harrington
Niall MacGinnis	...	Dr. Julian Karswell
Maurice Denham	...	Professor Henry Harrington
Athene Seyler	...	Mrs. Karswell
Liam Redmond	...	Professor Mark O'Brien
Reginald Beckwith	...	Mr. Meek
Ewan Roberts	...	Lloyd Williamson
Peter Elliott	...	Professor K.T. Kumar
Rosamund Greenwood	...	Mrs. Meek
Brian Wilde	...	Rand Hobart
Richard Leech	...	Inspector Mottrarn
Lloyd Lamble	...	Detective Simmons
Peter Hobbes	...	Superintendent
Charles Lloyd Pack	...	Chemist (as Charles Lloyd-Pack)

Also Known As:

Curse of the Demon (USA) (recut version)
Haunted

Runtime:

95 min | USA:83 min (cut)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | UK:PG | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #18459)

Filming Locations:

Associated British Picture Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Sabre Film Production

Trivia:

Jacques Tourneur originally planned to shoot the movie without directly showing the monster, but the studio pressured him to add it for commercial reasons towards the end of filming.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The stones at Stonehenge do not have any runes on them!

Quotes:

Dr. Julian Karswell: Do I believe in witchcraft? What kind of witchcraft? The legendary witch that rides on the imaginary broom? The hex that tortures the thoughts of the victim? The pin stuck in the image that wastes away the mind and the body?
Dr. John Holden: Also imaginary.
Dr. Julian Karswell: But where does imagination end and reality begin? What is this twilight, this half world of the mind that you profess to know so much about? How can we differentiate between the powers of darkness and the powers of the mind?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ken Adam: Designing Bond (2000) (V)

Tourneur strikes again

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.