Night of the Demon

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For the 1980 film, see Night of the Demon (1980 film).
Night of the Demon
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Produced by Hal E. Chester
Written by M.R. James (story)
Charles Bennett
Hal E. Chester
Starring Dana Andrews
Peggy Cummins
Niall MacGinnis
Athene Seyler
Music by Clifton Parker
Distributed by Columbia
Release date(s) 1957
Running time 95 m
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Night of the Demon is a black-and-white horror film from 1957, based on the story "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James. The film was produced in Britain by American actor-producer Hal E. Chester. The screenplay was by Charles Bennett, and the film was directed by Jacques Tourneur.

The film was cut slightly for its U.S. release under the title Curse of the Demon, with a shorter 83-minute running time, and was distributed as the lower half of a double-bill with Hammer's The Revenge of Frankenstein. Night of the Demon now enjoys the greater reputation of the two.

It was eventually released on TV and video in the U.S. in the 1980s in its British form, but still under the Curse of the Demon title.

A "making of" book titled Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon, written by Tony Earnshaw, was published in 2005.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Sceptical American scientist John Holden arrives in England to take part in a conference on the supernatural and to investigate the activities of devil-cult leader Julian Karswell. He is contacted by the niece of Professor Harrington—instigator of the investigation, who died just prior to Holden's arrival, apparently killed by an unknown animal—and by Karswell himself, who warns him off. Holden dismisses Karswell as a crank, but gradually comes to realise that Karswell may have more than natural powers and a sinister disposition. In fact, Karswell has placed a curse on him using runic inscriptions on a piece of parchment, just as he did to Harrington, who in fact was killed by a demon. Holden finally realizes that he too will be killed by a demon unless he can first turn the curse back on the one who gave him the parchment—Karswell.

The curse can only be transferred by passing the parchment to the recipient without the recipient knowing it at that moment. After several failed attempts, Holden finally succeeds in passing the parchment to Karswell, who discovers it immediately afterwards. The wind then carries it out of his hand and onto a train track, where it burns spontaneously. The terrified Karswell can see the gigantic demon (invisible to everyone else) coming after him, and is powerless to stop it and unable to run away from it. Karswell meets a gruesome end, as the demon picks him up and claws him to death.

[edit] Cast

[edit] References in other media

Night of the Demon has been referenced in at least two songs:

  • Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love", from her 1985 album of the same name, borrows the words "It's in the trees! It's coming!" from the film. Although commonly thought to be a sample, Bush in fact rerecorded the line after deciding that the soundtrack quality was not suitable for sampling.[1]
  • The film is also referenced in the opening song from The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the line "Dana Andrews said prunes gave him the runes, but passing them used lots of skill".

[edit] DVD releases

Night of the Demon was released on a Region 1 DVD which also contains the shorter Curse of the Demon. A Region 2 "50th Anniversary Special" DVD was due to be released by DD Home Entertainment on September 17, 2007 but due to financial problems with the parent company this is now 'on hold' awaiting a new release date. A television adaptation of "Casting the Runes" was released in August by Network DVD.'.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Tony Earnshaw (2005). Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon: p.70
  2. ^ Mondo Esoterica

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Jacques Tourneur
Tout Ça Ne Vaut Pas L'Amour (1931) • Pour Etre Aime (1933) • Les Filles De La Concierge (1934) • The Man in the Barn (1937) • They All Come Out (1939) • Nick Carter, Master Detective (1939) • Phantom Raiders (1940) • Doctors Don't Tell (1941) • Cat People (1942) • I Walked with a Zombie (1943) • The Leopard Man (1943) • Days of Glory (1944) • Experiment Perilous (1945) • Canyon Passage (1946) • Out of the Past (1947) • Berlin Express (1948) • Easy Living (1949) • The Flame and the Arrow (1950) • Stars in My Crown (1950) • Circle of Danger (1951) • Anne of the Indies (1951) • Way of a Gaucho (1952) • Appointment in Honduras (1953) • Stranger on Horseback (1955) • Wichita (1955) • Great Day in the Morning (1956) • Nightfall (1957) • Night of the Demon (1957) • The Fearmakers (1958) • The Giant of Marathon (1959) • Timbuktu (1959) • The Comedy of Terrors (1964) • War-Gods of the Deep (1965)
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