‘Hell on Earth! Scenes of terror never before imagined!’
Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by French-born Jacques Tourneur (Cat People; The Leopard Man; I Walked with a Zombie), starring Dana Andrews (The Frozen Dead), Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis and Maurice Denham. The bombastic soundtrack score was composed by Clifton Parker.
An adaptation of the M. R. James’ 1911 story Casting the Runes, the plot revolves around an American psychologist investigating a satanic cult suspected of more than one murder. The original script was written by Charles Bennett as The Bewitched and he is co-credited on the film with American executive producer Hal E. Chester (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms). However, it was fellow American Cy Endfield (who had been blacklisted in Hollywood in the McCarthy trials) who co-wrote the final version as an unnamed script doctor. Director Jacques Tourneur also apparently undertook some rewrites during pr-production.
The Sabre Film production was turbulent due to clashing ideas between aforementioned executive producer Hal E. Chester, British producer Frank Bevis and director Jacques Tourneur. But as writer Tony Earnshaw notes in his seminal book Beating the Devil: The Making of Night of the Demon (2005):
“It has become fashionable to decry Chester’s involvement in the film – that he was the shallow money man who ruined a piece of cinematic art. In truth Chester probably (and perhaps unconsciously) steered Night of the Demon to the position occupies today as a master work of the horror genre.”
“ …certain elements that have been endlessly debated in the final movie – notably the deaths of Harrington and Karswell, and the highly visible figure of the fire demon itself – were already firmly in place before a foot of film was shot. As assistant director Basil Keys observed: “It was always in the script.”
Furthermore, production designer Ken Adam had been asked to sketch designs for the demon before filming and that Tourneur was informed that a model based on Adam’s designs was being constructed at Elstree Studios.
Earnshaw contents that “What Chester and Bevis unwittingly did by including the demon at such an early stage is nail their colours to the mast of the supernatural; they may have been searching for box office bucks, but they also provided Night of the Demon with perhaps its strongest plot element: Karswell’s powers, the runes, the leopard, the thunderstorm and the demon itself are all frighteningly real.
As the power of suggestion goes out of the window on the grounds of commercialism, so the fundamental truth of light of the demon is thrust to the fore. It genuinely is a battle between good and evil, even if the bullheaded Holden doesn’t realise it until the very last moment.”
To further complicate matters, star Dana Andrews suffered from alcoholism and was foisted onto the production by the Columbia executives who bankrolled it against Chester’s wishes. The latter claimed that he tried to make a deal with Andrews to lay off booze until after filming had been completed. However, the headstrong star apparently went on benders throughout and was nearly arrested for punching a stripper in a London nightclub until studio representatives paid her off.
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Reviews:
“Night of the Demon is filled to overflowing with solid British character actors, who bring credibility to even the tiniest roles. The film boasts some wonderful set pieces, such as the opening sequence, with Professor Harrington tracked through the night by something; and, most notably, Karswell’s demonstration of his powers in the conjuring of a storm.” And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
“The intensely rhythmic opening sequences, intended to set the tone of impending doom, were ruined by the distributor’s insistence on the need for early shock affects, but the rest of the movie is an object lesson in atmospheric horror.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“Classic supernatural thriller, put together with intelligence and style and containing several genuinely frightening sequences. Required viewing.” Howard Maxford, The A – Z of Horror Films
“You have been warned – watched in the right mood, Night of the Demon could be the scariest film you’ve ever seen. But whatever way you look at it, it’s a fantastic vindication of your love of old Brit horror.” British Horror Films
“Far more impressive is a sequence in which Karswell creates a cyclone in his garden; the leaves whipping at the characters as they escape into the house, and a late night flee through the woods in which Holden briefly glimpses the hellish fires from which the demon springs. Night of the Demon’s position within horror history is totally justified and it remains a towering example of how less can be more in the horror genre.” The Celluloid Highway
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“ …perhaps the classiest and most intellectual horror picture of its decade. There is much controversy over whether we should see the demon so quickly. I think we shouldn’t see it. Yet because we know it is real, we also know that our hero will get his comeuppance one way or another. It is exciting to watch his episodic investigations.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers
“Alongside its unusual characterisations, Night of the Demon has so many memorable features it’s hard to innumerate them all. Athene Seyler as Karswell’s mother, absurdly trilling ‘Cherry Ripe” in a hilarious seance scene; Holden’s creepy visit to the rustic Hobart clan; the subsequent window-smashing death of one of their number (excellently played by Brian Wilde); the fluttering efforts of Karswell’s parchment to escape into the fire and, best of all, Holden’s pursuit through the woods by a sentient, whirling fireball of demonic energy.” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic: A Century of Horrors Cinema, Reynolds and Hearn, 2004
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” …the child in me loves to see the monster and is very satisfied with this one, as it does manage to be quite scary. However, whether the movie needs to show the monster is another question, and in my opinion, it doesn’t; this movie works because the buildup of tension throughout is so well-done that the ending would have been just as satisfying without the monster, and it would have added an extra dollop of Lewton-like ambiguity to the proceedings.” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
“A film that survives even its most unsubtle special effects to earn its place as not only one of the great films of British vintage cinema but also a classic supernatural thriller.” Film4
“Jacques Tourneur’s direction here is on par with his best work. Night of the Demon creates a mesmerizing, disquieting world, in which every shot seems designed to constrict your breathing. You can spot a lesser horror film by the way the movie deflates in between shock moments as if the director doesn’t know what to do when there’s no big scary thing to shake in your face. Here though, Tourneur never loosens his grip.” The Girl with the White Parasol
“Superbly atmospheric chiller, easily Tourneur’s best work since his days at RKO with Val Lewton. One of the most scary black-and-white horror films made, spoiled at the climax by the littoral realisation of the devil which kills Dr Karswell.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook
“A story of the occult which is distinctly better than average. Several scenes, such as the calling up of the store, a highly effective – the devil, however, when he becomes visible, is less so. Unseen demons are best.” Ivan Butler, Horror in the Cinema, Zwemmer, Barnes, 1970
“ …Night of the Demon abounds in prosaic situations turning implacably into nightmares. Every flourish is a touch not underlined but understated, ellipsed and just suggested. Unfortunately, the film’s producers could not see that this was enough: against Tourneur’s wishes, they inserted some atrocious shots of a demon at the very outset of the picture. It is a tribute to the director’s skill that this movie survive such a monumental blunder.” Carlos Clarens, An Illustrated History of Horror and Science-Fiction Films, Putnam, 1967
“The film works perfectly well with the demon – its emergence out of the boiling cloud is genuinely eerie and its appearance on the front of the train is a truly unworldly image. It would certainly be a strange film without the demon, but not as ambiguously Lewtonian as the less-is-more proponents seem to champion the film as being – the argument in favour of the supernatural explanation is so heavily weighed against Dana Andrews that a purely materialistic, sceptical interpretation of the events would be a difficult one to make indeed.” Moria
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“Night of the Demon, which is a highly effective black magic thriller packed with atmosphere, is now rightly regarded as a horror classic […] In the last edition of Heritage I defended the effects against the innumerable critics like Carlos Clarens who have called them atrocious. But I suggested they might seem out of place in an adaptation of an M.R. James story. I am not sure they need any defence at all. Who would really want to film without them?” David Pirie, A New Heritage of Horror, I.B. Taurus, 2008
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“MacGinnis is great in his role as the sinister Karswell, certainly better than Andrews whose performance comes across as a bit dull. It was also nice to see some nice female roles here. I enjoyed Peggy Cummins part as Joanna Harrington, and I also thought Athene Seyler was great as Mrs Karswell. The plot is simple enough but I liked that there were quite a few red herrings and some effective sequences.” The Rotting Zombie
“Very well made, and exceptionally paced, Curse of the Demon benefits from a strong, believable performance from sci fi regular Dana Andrews.” The Terror Trap
“I have always believed, and probably always will believe, that a horror movie needs to show the audience something at some point — sooner or later, you’ve got to turn the card in the hole face up. And this demon, which apparently was not supposed to have been in the movie at all, is easily one of the five coolest monsters of the entire decade…” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
Contemporary reviews:
“At last – the monster shocker grows up. Sounds impossible, but here’s a crude-creature story tailored into an adult, glossy thriller.” Picturegoer
For YouTube reviews, the trailer, the Curse of the Demon US version online free, choice dialogue, cast and characters and censorship info please visit page 2
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