Night Of The Demon

Year: 1957

Grade: B

Country: UK

Director: Tourneur

Review

i hadn’t even heard of this film until i checked peggy cummins’ (gun crazy) filmography. gun crazy and night of the demon were her best known pictures according to imdb.com so i figured i’d check this one out. the film is also directed by jacques tourneur who did “out of the past,” which i watched recently, and co-stars dana andrews who was in “laura,” which i also watched recently. so this picture seemed like a good choice. i was expecting the kind of cheesy horror film that might come at the end of a person’s career, but was pleasantly surprised by this picture. tourneur’s direction in “out of the past” is good, but i wasn’t blown away by it. his direction in this film, however, yielded more impressive shots and sequences, the sum of which make for a well done picture. i don’t think that the picture itself was better than “out of the past,” but i do think that tourneur’s direction was more impressive. there were some truly artistic shots, great lighting, and very effecting (read: scary) scenes. that said, some of the story was a little underdeveloped and the acting didn’t trump that seen in “out of the past.” nevertheless, despite the appearance of the cover art, it’s a solid horror flick with plenty to sink your teeth into. p.s. the film is also known as “curse of the demon.” there is a second cut of the film that is 13 minutes shorter, this review is for the longer version.