Night of the Demon

Night of the Demon
Original UK quad poster
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Produced by Frank Bevis[1]
Screenplay by
Starring
Music by Clifton Parker[1]
Cinematography Ted Scaife[1]
Edited by Michael Gordon[1]
Production
companies
Sabre[1]
Distributed by Columbia[1]
Release date
  • 17 December 1957 (1957-12-17)
Running time
 95 minutes
Country United Kingdom[1]
Language English

Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. It is adapted from the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes" (1911). The plot revolves around an American psychologist investigating a satanic cult suspected of more than one murder.

The film's production was turbulent due to artistic differences between producer Hal E. Chester on one side and Tourneur and writer Charles Bennett on the other. Although the original plan was not to show a literal demon, producer Chester inserted a monster over the objections of the writer, the director, and lead actor Dana Andrews. To accelerate the pace, the film was trimmed down to 83 minutes (and retitled Curse of the Demon) in the US, where it played the second half of a double bill variously with The True Story of Lynn Stuart and The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958).

Plot

In England, Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham) begs his rival, Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), to rescind the curse he inflicted on Harrington; in return, Harrington will cease his investigation into Karswell's Satanic cult. After learning that a parchment he gave Harrington has been destroyed, Karswell ushers him out and promises to do what he can. As Harrington arrives home relieved, a gigantic demon materializes. Harrington tries to escape it in his car but crashes into powerlines. The authorities declare electrocution as cause of death despite the dismemberment of the body.

Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) arrives in Britain to attend a convention at which Harrington had intended to expose Karswell's cult. He is informed that the only link between Harrington's death and Karswell's cult is an accused murderer, Rand Hobart (Brian Wilde), who has fallen into a catatonic stupor. While Harrington's collaborators consider the possibility of supernatural forces, Holden rejects the idea as superstition.

Holden meets Karswell at the Reading Room of the British Museum. When a rare book that Holden requests turns up missing, Karswell offers to show Holden his own copy at his mansion. At Harrington's funeral, Holden meets the dead man's niece, Joanna (Peggy Cummins). She gives him Harrington's diary which details Harrington's increasing fear of Karswell's power. Holden remains sceptical, but goes with Joanna to Karswell's mansion the next day. When a very strong windstorm abruptly starts, Karswell claims to have created it with a spell. When Holden mocks him, Karswell grows angry and predicts that Holden will die in three days.

Holden and his colleagues discuss Karswell and make plans to further examine Rand Hobart. Harrington's diary mentions the parchment passed to him by Karswell; Holden finds a parchment with runic inscriptions that Karswell secretly passed to him at the library. Powerful winds come through the window, blowing the parchment from his fingers. It nearly burns in the fireplace, but is stopped by a fire guard before Holden, at Joanna's frantic urging, reluctantly rescues and pockets it.

Holden begins to feel more uneasy after a visit to Hobart's family who are all obviously involved in the cult. As Holden leaves, the parchment flies from his hand again. Hobart's family become fearful and declare Holden to be "chosen". Holden compares the parchment's runes to ones inscribed on the nearby stone circle at Stonehenge.

Joanna takes Holden to a seance attended by Karswell's mother (Athene Seyler). The medium channels Harrington, who tells them that Karswell has the key to reading the runes in his copy of the rare book. That night, Holden breaks into Karswell's mansion to examine the book. He is caught by Karswell, but is permitted to leave. Against Karwell's warning, Holden leaves through the woods and is chased by a ball of smoke and fire. He reports the event to the police, but feels embarrassed.

Under hypnosis, Hobart reveals to Holden that he was "chosen" to die by having a runic parchment passed to him, but avoided death by passing it back to his own brother, who had originally passed it to Hobart under orders. Holden realises that he must return the parchment to the one who gave it to him. When Holden shows Hobart the parchment he received from Karswell, Hobart goes berserk and commits suicide out of fear that the parchment will be passed to him.

Holden tracks Karswell to a train to Southampton, and discovers that he has kidnaped and hypnotised Joanna. As the time for the Holden's predicted death draws near, Karswell becomes more agitated. When the train stops at the next station, he tries to leave, but Holden manages to sneak the parchment into his coat pocket. When Karswell finds the parchment, it flies from his hands. As he chases it down the tracks, the deadline expires and the parchment combusts. As an oncoming train approaches, the demon manifests and tears Karswell to pieces. The station crew find Karswell's mangled, steaming corpse and believe that he was struck and dragged by the train, owing to the mutilation of the body. Holden—frightened, but still obstinate—and Joanna refuse to look because "it's better not to know".

Cast

Production

Screenwriter Charles Bennett owned the rights to the original story "Casting the Runes" and wrote a script loosely based on it, using the title The Haunted. He sold the script to independent producer and former child actor Hal E. Chester shortly before going to America. Bennett regretted selling the script, because on arrival in America he was approached by RKO who wanted to purchase his script and allow him to direct the film. Actors Robert Taylor and Dick Powell had been in line for the leading roles if this production had taken place.[2][3][4]

Jacques Tourneur was brought in by Chester on the recommendation of Ted Richmond, the producer of Tourneur's previous film, Nightfall (1957).[3] However, Tourneur and Chester had serious disagreements during filming. One argument was about the wind scene; Tourneur tried to convince Chester to replace two electric fans with two aeroplane engines. When Chester hesitated, star Dana Andrews threatened to leave the picture if Chester did not let "the director direct the picture".[3] Locations for the film include Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire (as Lufford Hall), Stonehenge, Bricket Wood railway station and the Reading Room of the British Museum.[5]

After completion of the principal shooting, producer Chester decided to show the demon at the beginning and end of the film. Tourneur later said that he was against the addition, stating "The scenes where you see the demon were shot without me...the audience should never have been completely certain of having seen the demon." Stop motion master Ray Harryhausen was requested by Columbia Pictures to create the demon for the production, but was already committed to The 7th Voyage of Sinbad with producer Charles H. Schneer. Author Tony Earnshaw's book Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon argues that showing the demon was planned early on in the production (despite Tourneur's protests to the contrary), in order to heighten the tension in the film by letting the audience know the demonic powers were real. Bennett, also angry at the script changes, said "If [Chester] walked up my driveway right now, I'd shoot him dead."[4]

Release

Cinema releases

The film was released in the United Kingdom for a theatrical run in December 1957;[6] running to its original 96-minute length, it was shown as a double bill with the American film 20 Million Miles to Earth.[6] In the United States, it was released as Curse of the Demon. According to Charles Bennett, the title was changed because the studio didn't want it confused with the similarly titled The Night of the Iguana.[6] Columbia cut the film down to 81 minutes for the US release. The scenes removed included a visit to the Hobart family farm, a trip to Stonehenge, and snippets of the séance scenes and conversations between Karswell and his mother.[7] Curse of the Demon toured drive-ins and theatres variously with The True Story of Lynn Stuart and The Revenge of Frankenstein.

Home video

In the United States, the film was released on VHS in 1986 by Columbia TriStar Home Video with a run time of 81 minutes.[8] A second VHS with a 96-minute running time was released by Goodtimes Home Video Corp in 1988.[8] In 1988, a Laserdisc of the film was released by Image Entertainment/Columbia Pictures with an 81-minute running time.[9] A version including both the UK version of Night of the Demon and the edited US version as Curse of the Demon was released on DVD in August 2002.[8] In the United Kingdom, Night of the Demon was released on VHS in 1995 by Encore Entertainment/Columbia TriStar Home Video.[8] The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom for the first time on 18 October 2010. This release also includes both the UK and US versions of the film. A Blu-ray edition from Powerhouse Films' Indicator label featuring four different cuts of the film is scheduled for a UK all-region release on 22 October 2018.[10]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 15 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 8.2/10.[11] In a contemporary review, the Monthly Film Bulletin commented that Tourneur's direction was "handled with much of the assurance the same director brought to Cat People" and that the film was "way above average".[1] The review commented on the image of the demon, stating whenever the demon takes on a visible form, "especially the ending", it seemed more like a product of "a child's nightmare than an adult's imagination".[1]

In the early 2010s, Time Out conducted a poll with several authors, directors, actors and critics who have worked within the horror genre to vote for their top horror films.[12] Night of the Demon placed at number 52 on their top 100 list.[13] Director Martin Scorsese placed Night of the Demon on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.[14]

The Kate Bush song "Hounds of Love" (1985) begins with a sample from the film, using the line "It's in the trees! It's coming!"[15]

See also

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Night of the Demon". Monthly Film Bulletin. London. 25 (288): 7. 1958. ISSN 0027-0407.
  2. ↑ Peary, 1989
  3. 1 2 3 Fujiwara 1998, pp. 242–246
  4. 1 2 Jeff Stafford. "Curse of the Demon (1958) Articles" tcm.com. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "Night of the Demon (Curse of the Demon) film locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 Earnshaw 2004, p. 65
  7. ↑ Bansak 1995, pp. 434–440
  8. 1 2 3 4 Earnshaw 2004, p. 118
  9. ↑ Earnshaw 2004, p. 119
  10. ↑ Powerhouse Films
  11. ↑ "Curse of the Demon (1958) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Flixer. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  12. ↑ "The 100 best horror films". Time Out. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  13. ↑ CC. "The 100 best horror films: the list". Time Out. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  14. ↑ Scorsese, Martin (28 October 2009). "11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "Kate Bush's Hounds of Love - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
Bibliography
  • Bansak, Edward G. Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career. McFarland, 1995. ISBN 0-7864-1709-9.
  • Earnshaw, Tony. Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon. Tomahawk Press, 2004. ISBN 0-9531926-1-X
  • Fujiwara, Chris. Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall. McFarland, 1998. ISBN 0-7864-0491-4.
  • Peary, Danny. Cult Movies 2: Fifty More of the Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful. Dell, 1989. ISBN 0-385-29753-X.
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