User reviews

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

"Curse of the Demon" (aka "Night of the Demon") is one of those weird little lost films that everyone agrees is wonderful and yet very few people seem to have actually seen. This is one of those rare British movies that is set, not in the city, but rather in the chilly, fog-choked countryside where little seems to have changed since Stonehenge was built. Niall McGinnis holds sway here as the impish leader of a Satanic cult, who swiftly dispatches of his critics by summoning a huge, horrific demon to rip them to shreds.

Into this isolated world walks psychologist John Holden, played by yet another seriously underrated actor, Dana Andrews. Andrews, who made a name for himself playing tough guys in films like "Laura" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" is wonderful here as the skeptical, even slightly smarmy, American who absolutely refuses to believe in demons, even when strange, unexplainable things begin to happen to him. Peggy Cummins is his love interest, the open minded schoolteacher whose uncle may have been a victim of the Demon. Niall McGinnis is disturbingly likable as the head of the Demon Cult, chucking aside a chance to play Aleister Crowley and opting for Benny Hill instead. He is very disarming as the films central villain, and Andrews confusion mirrors our own as the movie stalks relentlessly through a seance, a stormy Halloween party and a frightening hypnosis session to its surprisingly violent conclusion.

This movie is, by turns, sarcastically funny, suffocatingly tense and shockingly scary. The demon looks a little corny nowadays, and was revealed much too quickly with no suspenseful build-up, but the movie is so smart, so moody, so creepy and well done with an excellent cast to boot, that one can easily forgive the demon, which looks a lot like a slightly deformed bear with a pig nose and goat horns.

This is an excellent adaption of the short story "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James and still has the power to scare even 50 years later. Highly recommended!

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.

"Night of the Demon" is, hands down, one of the most superb horror/occult thriller films ever made, and that's particularly remarkable because the original concept got pampered with a lot of additional ideas and effects the director didn't agree on. Jacques Tourneur ("Cat People", "the Leopard Man") initially wanted to put the emphasis purely on the psychological aspects, but the money-suppliers didn't like this and insisted on bringing an actual demonic monster into the movie. It would be enormously interesting to see the non-existing version like Tourneur imagined it, as then you'd constantly be wondering whether the occurring events are real…or all just going on inside the characters' heads. This creative and innovating (for 1957, at least) impact is naturally ruined by explicitly showing the hideous demon early in the film, so it's extra praiseworthy that the whole finished product is still extremely suspenseful. The plot revolves on a headstrong and overly rational scientist who travels from the States to England, exclusively to prove that the supposed blackly magical powers of a certain Dr. Julian Karswell are all just a swindle. Even the mysterious circumstances surrounding his overseas partner's death as well as multiple warnings from close friends and colleagues can't convince Dr. John Holden to abort his mission to expose Karswell as a fraud. The latter eagerly accepts this challenge and places a curse on Dr. Holden that gradually becomes eerier and pretty much inescapable… the curse of the demon! This is a marvelously atmospheric and genuinely unsettling horror masterpiece! The dialogues and acting performances of the entire cast are downright impeccable and the script (adapted from a story by M.R. James) is so intense & persuasive that you almost begin to believe in the supernatural yourself! Ever encountered a film that has such an impact on you? "Night of the Demon" is very likely to become the first. Several sequences showing our good Dr. Holden pursued by evil forces are truly haunting, while the stylish black & white photography and the beautiful set pieces only increase this effect. You can honestly trust the high IMDb-rating and the praising reviews on this one; "Night of the Demon" is one of those rare films that every self-respecting horror fan simply HAS TO see for him/herself.

On arriving in England to debunk the leader of a demonic cult, an American professor finds his host has died in mysterious circumstances and the cult leader has the same plan for him ...

No spoiler to say the demon is revealed in all its cheesy glory very early in the movie, which was a mistake. The trouble with MR James stories is that they're all about a rising mood of unease created by subtle sensation and weird effects that are only glimpsed, and so they lack the visuals most film makers demand. The real effect of the demon (added over the objection of the director, apparently) also causes a problem because the story ends on a vague note, without deciding the clash between imagination and reality. It's unclear the sceptical professor has been swayed, and the actor certainly doesn't go through a change, yet the concrete demon means it was all real.

The pace is fine, and picks up toward the end with a few elisions. Plenty of good scenes, especially the cat attack and the hypnosis tragedy, and the cherry song is utterly weird. And there are a few touches of non-conformist fanaticism to deepen the dread.

The lead actor plays an unsympathetic character, rude and irritating, and I think he should have had a break down after the window death to add depth to the story - instead he's brusque and efficient. Best performances are from the cult leader and his mother.

Nothing special in the photography, which is disappointing. Music is typical 1950s melodrama, laid on with a trowel.

Overall: mixed bag, but it captures the essence of the story.

ps. the song is Cherry Ripe.

"Curse of the Demon" might just be the best horror film I've ever seen. When I saw it for the first time as a teenager in the mid-sixties on television one night, it really frightened me. And even now, at my age, it still gives me goosebumps.

Dana Andrews plays the skeptical American psychologist investigating a devil worship cult in England led by Dr. Karswell, played by Niall MacGinnis. The acting is pretty weak once you get past the two main characters, but it's the craftsmanship of the director that really matters.

Jacques Tourneur manipulates light and shadow to create fear of the unknown in this tale of modern science colliding with ancient sorcery. The monster is pretty tame as far as it goes, but that's not the point. It's not what you see, it's what you imagine that gets to you.

Long, dark corridors ..... dancing shadows ..... strange sounds contrasted with eerie silences ..... the impending sense of doom and apprehension. This film touches our primal fears, like a child waking up during a thunder storm. Is nature an ordered world or can it be manipulated by evil forces?

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.

"Night of the Demon", altered slightly and released in the US as "Curse of the Demon", I find to be a fascinating and influential horror work for any number of reasons. The central character, Dr, Holden, is a man who has devoted his life to disproving supernatural claims, and also of ignoring them. He arrives in England for a conference at which he and a colleague, Dr. Harrington, are to expose one Julian Carswell. But Harrington is killed, under mysterious circumstances, the night before Holden's plane--carrying him and the dead man's niece, Joanna, even lands. The remainder of this tense and well-paced film I find to be a drawn out contest of wills, rhetoric, actions and claims between Holden and Carswell, and also between Holden and everyone else he meets--who, to a man, are believers in supernatural powers, particularly demons in this case. The powerful plot therefore pits Holden--as a man sentenced to die on Oct. 28th by Carswell--as a defender of rationalism against everyone else (with the exception of some police officers introduced late) who are superstitionists. But in this case--though his purpose is categorically right--for as he says, life would be insupportable if he weren't--he is specifically wrong. We have seen the demon murder Professor Harrington; and we know he too will die as predicted if he cannot bring himself to believe that he has been marked for death. Holden is well-played as usual by Dana Andrews, whose arguments with Joanne as played by Peggy Cummins I find to be acerbic, tinged with hints of mutual attraction and memorable. Some have found Holden to have been undercut as an "Establishment' type by the plot device of making this a horror film with a real horror; but since the believers in the piece are doctors, teachers, a medium, farmers and locals, there cannot have been any such intention by the author on a "class level". The film was written by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester from a story by Montague R. James. The production was directed with fluid skill and considerable tension by Jacques Tourneur. Ken Adam's production design in B/W is spare, in some places, rich in others. Use is also made of atmospheric music composed by Clifton Parker, good special effects and such design elements as cars driving at night around curves through wooded areas, curved elements in sets and set pieces, special effects, eerie clown makeup, masks, major locales and rich rooms and also bland rooms to achieve a surprisingly unified effect composed of shadows, emptinesses and elements of darkness, strong architectural features and swift movements that create effective contexted fright. The production design by Ken Adam deserves praise as much for what it avoids as what it utilizes; and the cinematography by Ted Scaife is also noteworthy, I suggest, in its sinister feel. A piece of this sort also must depend for its believability predominantly on the actors. With solid work by fine actor Andrews and Cummins' attractive liveliness as his basis, the director here has added a professional villain in Niall MacGinnis, an interesting mother of a villain in Athene Seyler, believable professors in Liam Redmond, Maurice Denham and Peter Elliott. Reginald Beckwith and Rosamund Greenwood score effectively as a medium and his wife, the Meeks, with others in the cast including Lynn Tracy, Ewan Roberts, Brian Wilde, John Salew, Charles Lloyd-Pack, Janet Barrow and more contributing to the piece's believability. Frank Bevis and Hal E. Chester produced this fine effort. The linkage of Stonehenge, runic symbols, the calling up of demonic powers, cultists, death sentences, flying demons and more tend to overload the supernatural side of the argument between Holden and Carswell. The practical solution to save his life devised by Holden aside, this is as good a horror film perhaps as one can make, with its arguments set counter to its content of super-metaphysical mayhem. The monster is more eerie as a pursuing cloud, one later used on several TV sci-fi shows, and when it is causing Holden to feel cold, than when it takes the form of a flaming demonic gargoyle. Whatever Tourneur's personal beliefs, one can say that by clever understatement, intelligent pacing, and a daring use of traditional, classic and symbolic shapes, elements, juxtapositions and shocking surprises, the director has brought out of this simple plot of demonic threat and deadline about all he or anyone could.

A skeptical American psychologist comes to England to investigate and disprove the concept of the supernatural. But before long he finds himself cursed by the leader of a witch cult and disbelief becomes terrifying reality.

Some superbly brooding shots of Stonehenge accompanied by a haunting speech about runic powers start what is without doubt one of the darkest and most solemnly atmospheric films ever made. The cult leader Dr Karswell is brilliantly portrayed and the film is filled with memorable dialogue, well-realized characters and powerful horrific/psychological imagery, all accompanied by a grippingly sinister soundtrack. Whether you're a horror fan or not, this is unmissable.

Professor Harrington pledges to stop his investigation into Karswell's Satanic cult but he gets killed by a giant demon anyways. Dr. John Holden flies to London to a scientific conference debunking Karswell. He is shocked by Harrington's death and approached by Karswell. Harrington's niece Joanna assists him by Harrington's diary.

The demon is amazing. It's old fashion in-camera effects. I love the creature design. It's old but it's beautiful. Every time it shows up, I get a jolt of excitement. The other parts of the movie are more flat. Director Jacques Tourneur is laying down B-horror material but I can still see its influence on modern horror. The acting, the pacing, and the camera style are all pretty stiff. On the other hand, I love that monster so much.

Dana Andrews plays the New World skeptic to the point of irritation - but not beyond, but the honours go to Nial MacGinnis whose warlock oozes malevolence, yet you still wouldn't mind enjoying afternoon tea with him. The scene where he waits in the car, opens the door and orders 'come along mother', after the tension of the seance is the icing on the cake. The black and white cinematography only adds to the 'darkness' of the tale. The opening sequence of the story with Denholm Elliot franticly driving through the lonely English countryside builds the tension wonderfully (you peer with a growing sense of foreboding as the headlamps try to beat a path home). I wonder if Hollywood could ever remake this. I doubt it. Throw millions of dollars at it, an A-list leading man and shed-loads of computer wizardry and you wouldn't even come close to the original.

Listen. Get yourself the biggest screen possible (preferably with a good front projection TV), turn out the lights, sit back with your popcorn and soda, and get ready for an evening of unrelenting suspense. Directed by Jacques Tournear, whose other classics include "The Leopard Man," Robert Mitchum's "Out of the Past," and "Cat People," one viewing of this film will readily illustrate to you why Hollywood's audiences are dwindling. This movie is what good movie making is all about; this movie knows what it's intention is and executes it beautifully. When you see this film, you will think to yourself, "Why can't they make them like this anymore?" If you thought "The Others" was a good movie (which I did) then you will like this one. "The Others," by the way, is one of the few exceptions to my negative criticism above.

I'm not going to reveal any of the plot. Watch it without knowing anything about the plot; let the story unfold on you as it does to Dana Andrews. You'll be glad you did.

The film is available on DVD in the USA and longer English versions. The only difference I saw in the two versions is that the USA version cuts out a few unnecessary words that add nothing to the story.

Anyway, give this movie a viewing. You'll be glad you did.

I saw this on the silver screen as either The Night or the Curse of the Demon. It's a shame that the monster is shown on the illustration of the DVD, as I had no idea what I was in for in 1958. In those days, the screen was so large that even a black and white scary movie was, well, scary. I was 8 at-the-time. It's a British "B" movie with a pedigree. Written by the accomplished man who wrote 6 classics for Hitchcock. Directed by the French Director of "The Cat People". The dragon-like demon appears only twice in the film and holds it's victim in it's claw while belching fire. No one else ever sees it. Many other "spooky" things in the film to keep it interesting. A sudden windstorm, a seance, a cat that momentarily transforms into a panther, moving footprints in the woods with a fiery cloud. Shortened, no doubt, for excessive dialog by American standards but worth seeing (somewhat) restored. Probably too slow and tame for modern viewers today but otherwise a lot of fun and truly scary without being gory.

Quite effective horror film done in a very classic and classy style. Dana Andrews plays a skeptic investigating a "devil cult" that might be responsible for a murder or two. He meets the head of the cult who conjures up a windstorm to convince him. Pffff! That doesn't work on a hardened skeptic like Andrews. The atmosphere of this film is wonderful, with beautiful black and white cinematography with lots and lots of shadows and angles to coddle the viewer. The script is very intelligent as well with very little dumb motivational material. It's quite believable, too. Sure, they show the monster early on but it doesn't hurt the movie that much. The final shot of the demon is quite well done for the time period. Only one quibble...I couldn't find any difference between "Night of the Demon" and "Curse of the Demon." I'd mistakenly thought that "Curse..." was a remake but it's really just an edited version of "Night..." but I really didn't see what was different about it. Still...fine film. Fine film. Say it with me...fine film.

Dana Andrews plays John Holden, an American scientist who's travelled to Britian to attend a symposium. His main mission will be to debunk the idea of the "devil cult" and to expose a leader of one such group, Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), as a fraud. What he finds is that Karswells' power is all too believable, even for a hard-headed skeptic such as Holden. Karswell appears to place some sort of death curse on Holden by passing a parchment to him, and while he scoffs at first, Holden eventually must figure out how to remove this curse.

Those genre fans that desire subtlety will find a solid story here, scripted by Charles Bennett and executive producer Hal E. Chester from the story "Casting the Runes" by M.R. James. In truth, there's not a lot in the film that would qualify as horror, as much of the running time is taken up by dialogue. We do get to see the demon of the title, and while there may be people who would have preferred that we never see a thing (such as director Jacques Tourneur), the beast is decently designed and the special effects not too bad. (It actually gets a reveal much sooner in the film than one might think.) There are some pretty good set pieces, such as the windstorm, Holdens' night time search through Karswells' mansion, and the final flight of one particular character from certain doom.

Andrews is fine in the lead, and receives fine support from the very pretty Peggy Cummins as the niece to the demons' first on-screen victim, Athene Seyler as Karswells' meddling mother, Liam Redmond as Holdens' associate Mark O'Brien, and Reginald Beckwith as the medium Mr. Meek. But the film truly belongs to MacGinnis, who delivers a performance of low key charisma and evil. When he's speaking, one does want to pay attention. As played by Andrews, Holden is a mostly unflappable type who chides himself later when overcome by nervousness.

Absorbing entertainment, with a satisfying conclusion, "Night of the Demon" remains a somewhat lesser known and undervalued 1950s production.

Also available in an 82 minute American version titled "Curse of the Demon".

Seven out of 10.

GOOD - Excellent film-noir-like photography with a lot of night scenes and great shadows and light, scenes on city streets, rural areas, forests and a couple of spooky houses. This is no surprise since the director was Jacques Tourneur, who worked many years with Val Lewton in the 1940s, producing many stylish horror films. To me, Tourney's direction and Ted Scaife's photography are the best things about this film.

It was interesting to see Peggy Cummins, whom I had only "known" through the 1949 classic "Gun Crazy" (a.k.a. "Deadly Is The Female). Of course, a decade and different hair and dress styles didn't make her "hot"anymore but she still had a beautiful face. Female viewers might have had the same reaction to Dana Andrews, who was far past his "Laura" days, looks-wise. Still, both can act and did fine in the lead roles.

BAD - Wow, was this pro-witchcraft message heavy-handed, the writers slapping you in the head numerous times to convince us that all that occult nonsense is 100 percent legit. They went overboard in their preaching and some of the dialog is just laughable.

GOOD & BAD TOGETHER - The story starts off pretty cool, then lags terribly until the second half when time starts running out for "Dr. John Holden" and he has some suspenseful scenes inside a house (with a cat!), outside of it (with the demon) and then in a railroad car. Most of the film, however, is a bit tedious, to be honest.

The special-effects are hokey in some parts, especially at the end with a paper-mache monster that looks like a fifth-grader put it together, but overall, for a film almost 50 years old, the FX aren't bad. Although some of the characters are stereotypical, all the actors do a good job.

To me, because of the photography and general downer-of-a-story, this had much more appeal as a film noir than a horror film.

Being a fan of classic horror, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this was my first viewing of Night of the Demon as it is very nearly the perfect horror film. It's got everything I could ask for. Instead of going into detail on everything that works, I'll give the laundry list of highlights: an interesting premise, an intelligently written script, good acting, atmosphere you can cut with a knife, nail-biting suspense, beautiful cinematography, and touches of humor that add to rather than take away from the film. There is nothing that I would change about the movie. And that includes director Jacques Tourneur being forced to show the demon. I think the demon scenes are nicely done and do not take anything away from Night of the Demon. Contrary to a couple of reviews I've read, they're not "cheesy" in the least. In fact, the demon is downright frightening. While I admit that the film might have been even better had the demon's image been left to the imagination, it's there. Just enjoy it for what it is.

This movie could have been cut down to 20 minutes and you wouldn't miss anything important. There are long periods of silence followed by extremely loud screaming that will have you adjusting the volume several times. And just like every bad movie that takes place in England, almost no one has a British accent. The demon looked cool but he was on screen for about 20 seconds. I'd recommend this to anyone who has problems falling asleep.