Where does imagination end and reality begin? (Night Of The Demon [1958] (DVD))

Name: hogsflesh

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Product:	Night Of The Demon [1958] (DVD)
Date:	01.12.06 (364 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Has some genuinely scary moments

Disadvantages: There are some bits that are rather old-fashioned

(This is a review of just the film. There are two films called Night of the Demon. The one I’m reviewing here is the classic British horror movie from 1957 rather than the entertaining video nasty where a homicidal Bigfoot tears off a man’s penis.)

This is a fantastic British horror. Based on the story ‘Casting the Runes’ by MR James, it’s still pretty damn suspenseful, despite its age. John Holden, an American scientist, comes to London to participate in a conference on the supernatural. He’s a non-believer, and is determined to expose an occultist named Karswell as a fraud. But the last scientist who tried to take on Karswell died in mysterious circumstances (if ‘being torn to pieces by a demon’ counts as mysterious). The dead man’s spunky niece Joanna falls for the rugged Holden, but will he be able to overcome his scepticism about the danger he’s in in time to save himself?

This is a smashing little film. The director, Jacques Tourneur, had previously made a series of horror movies in the 1940s (Cat People being the best known) that used suspense and cleverly contrived make-you-jump moments to cover up their low budgets. Night of the Demon is very much in that vein. After a great opening sequence in which the first scientist is hunted down and killed by the demon, the film unfolds at a leisurely pace. Holden starts experiencing small, odd things (writing that only he can see, sensations of cold when everyone else is warm) which slowly build the mood without finding it necessary to throw a big scare moment at us every ten minutes like a lot of horrors do nowadays. The pace accelerates towards the end, with some good scary bits. The film’s climax is very Hitchcockian, as Holden and Karswell play mind games with one another on a train while the demon closes in.

There are a few really creepy bits. A hypnotised satanic farmer (the worst kind!) gets to do some good, sinister exposition (he’s played by Foggy out of Last of the Summer Wine). There’s a séance which successfully mixes the silly and the uncanny to great effect. And there are plenty of good spooky noises that only Holden can hear, chases through woods etc. The demon itself is very impressive in long shot, actually looking appropriately medieval, although it’s woefully unconvincing when you see it close up. But for its time the film’s special effects are pretty good, and it benefits from some good, no-nonsense black and white photography.

It is quite dated in other respects. It has very old fashioned melodramatic horror music, which seems out of date even when compared to Hammer’s music (Hammer were making some of their first horrors when this was released). The idea that the press would pay any attention at all to a visiting American psychology professor seems terribly quaint. There’s a pompous, Stonehenge related voiceover at the beginning. At no point is Karswell described as a Satanist, instead being called a witch – similarly, Holden’s refusal to believe in the supernatural is never extended to out and out atheism. This reluctance to even mention religion definitely wouldn’t apply now. And, rather worryingly, there’s an appallingly stereotyped Indian character, played by a white man in make-up with a dreadful line in goodness gracious me style dialogue.

Apart from the Indian, whose accent is all over the place, the acting is generally good. Dana Andrews plays Holden pretty well (although I’m not sure Dana is a man’s name. Imagine Sean Connery in his late 30s playing an American Richard Dawkins; that’s what Dana Andrews is like in this film). Peggy Cummins, from the classic Gun Crazy, is good as Joanna, although her romance with Holden is terribly old fashioned, and her frustration at his disbelief in demons is sometimes a bit too comical given how serious the situation is supposed to be. The best performance by far is given by Niall MacGinnis as the villainous Karswell. Apart from a ridiculous comedy beard, he is excellent, coming across as a slightly podgier George Sanders. He’s suave, sinister, slightly desperate (he’s almost as afraid of the forces he unleashes as his victims are) and has the good grace to look abashed when introduced to the niece of his first victim.

It’s 90 minutes long, but it never feels too long, even though it takes its time to get going. (The version released in American, known as Curse of the Demon, was ten minutes shorter, suggesting that dumbing down isn’t a modern phenomenon.) This kind of film died out shortly after Night of the Demon was released, as Hammer and their imitators brought in garish colours, gore and lots of cleavage. But it’s one of the best of its kind.

This doesn’t seem to be available in the UK on DVD at the moment, but it’s the kind of film that turns up on TV a lot, usually late at night. It has scary bits, but there’s no gore or nudity or bad language, and it’s probably reasonably child-safe. They don’t make them like this any more, and if they did they wouldn’t make any money. But Night of the Demon is well worth checking out if it turns up on BBC2 at midnight sometime soon. If you can get past the rather old-fashioned pacing, it’ll probably send an enjoyable shiver up your spine.

Summary: A nicely scary old horror movie