NIGHT
OF THE DEMON ($25) is a minor classic amongst horror movies and a
personal favorite. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, NIGHT OF THE DEMON
is a fairly subtle horror offering that depends upon atmosphere and suspense
to create its sense of dread. As the director of the Val Lewton classics,
CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, Tourneur was fully
experienced with using shadows and the darkness to frighten an audience.
However, unlike his earlier work that relied upon making an audience think
they've seen something, when they hadn't- NIGHT OF THE DEMON actually
shows the title creature. However, even with the film's demon making a
few on screen appearances for shock value, Tourneur's ability to generate
genuine fear in the audience with subtle techniques remains undiminished.
NIGHT OF THE DEMON was released in the United States under the
title CURSE OF THE DEMON; which also truncated the British made
film by approximately fourteen minutes.
Based
upon the story Casting The Runes by Montague R. James, NIGHT
OF THE DEMON tells the story of American psychologist Dr. John Holden,
who journeys to Britain to participate in a symposium on the paranormal.
Upon his arrival, Holden discover that his colleague, Professor Harrington
(Maurice Denham), died horribly, and under rather suspicious circumstance.
There is much concern that Harrington's death may be related to Dr. Julian
Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), whose endeavors into black magic were to be
debunked at the symposium. After encountering Karswell, who claims that
he summoned a demon to eliminate Harrington, odd occurrences have Holden
questioning the validity of black magic and fearful that he may suffer
the same fate as his colleague. The cast of NIGHT OF THE DEMON
also includes Peggy Cummins, Athene Seyler, Liam Redmond, Reginald Beckwith,
Ewan Roberts, Peter Elliott, Rosamund Greenwood, Brian Wilde and Richard
Leech.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made both NIGHT OF THE DEMON and
CURSE OF THE DEMON available on DVD in 1.66:1 wide screen presentations
that have been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. The black and white
transfers of both versions are very similar in terms of quality, providing
very crisp and well-defined images. There is plenty of detail in fabrics
and every contour in the actors' skin is clearly visible. A slight grain
structure is noticeable throughout the course of the movie, and while
it is never distracting, it does render NIGHT OF THE DEMON with
a very film like quality. Blacks have a deep velvety quality that threatens
to envelope the actors during the film's more atmospheric moments. Whites
are very cleanly rendered, plus the image has an excellent grayscale.
The film's cinematography has a noir-ish quality that sometimes makes
use of very stark contrast. Overall, the picture has fairly impressive
depth and good shadow detail, even though there are sequences in the film
that are murky by design. The film elements used for the transfers are
in very good shape, displaying only minor blemishes and bits of dust.
Digital compression artifacts are well concealed on both versions of the
movie, with each having more than enough breathing room on a single layer
of the one sided disc.
Both
soundtracks are presented in Dolby Digital monaural and sound as if they
have been digitally cleaned to remove noticeable traces of background
hiss and surface noise. While the fidelity is limited on this 1957 production,
I found that Clifton Parker's atmospheric music still managed to sound
rather good and is worthy of amplification. Dialogue is very clean sounding
and is completely understandable. There are no other soundtrack options
on the DVD, although subtitles have been provided in English, French and
Japanese.
The
basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a choice of which version of the film
one wishes to watch. Personally, I recommend that one start with NIGHT
OF THE DEMON and then go back and check out CURSE OF THE DEMON
to see the truncated American version plays. Theatrical trailers for FRIGHT
NIGHT and THE BRIDE are the only supplement provided on the
DVD.
NIGHT
OF THE DEMON is a minor genre classic
that belongs in the collection of every fan of classic horror movies.
Movie buffs will also find NIGHT OF THE DEMON to be a treat, and
well worth checking out on DVD. Columbia TriStar has done a great job
with this release, by offering both versions of the film, as well as presenting
them in excellent looking 16:9 enhanced presentations.
NIGHT
OF THE DEMON ($25) is a minor classic amongst horror movies and a
personal favorite. Directed by Jacques Tourneur, NIGHT OF THE DEMON
is a fairly subtle horror offering that depends upon atmosphere and suspense
to create its sense of dread. As the director of the Val Lewton classics,
CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, Tourneur was fully
experienced with using shadows and the darkness to frighten an audience.
However, unlike his earlier work that relied upon making an audience think
they've seen something, when they hadn't- NIGHT OF THE DEMON actually
shows the title creature. However, even with the film's demon making a
few on screen appearances for shock value, Tourneur's ability to generate
genuine fear in the audience with subtle techniques remains undiminished.
NIGHT OF THE DEMON was released in the United States under the
title CURSE OF THE DEMON; which also truncated the British made
film by approximately fourteen minutes.
Based
upon the story Casting The Runes by Montague R. James, NIGHT
OF THE DEMON tells the story of American psychologist Dr. John Holden,
who journeys to Britain to participate in a symposium on the paranormal.
Upon his arrival, Holden discover that his colleague, Professor Harrington
(Maurice Denham), died horribly, and under rather suspicious circumstance.
There is much concern that Harrington's death may be related to Dr. Julian
Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), whose endeavors into black magic were to be
debunked at the symposium. After encountering Karswell, who claims that
he summoned a demon to eliminate Harrington, odd occurrences have Holden
questioning the validity of black magic and fearful that he may suffer
the same fate as his colleague. The cast of NIGHT OF THE DEMON
also includes Peggy Cummins, Athene Seyler, Liam Redmond, Reginald Beckwith,
Ewan Roberts, Peter Elliott, Rosamund Greenwood, Brian Wilde and Richard
Leech.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made both NIGHT OF THE DEMON and
CURSE OF THE DEMON available on DVD in 1.66:1 wide screen presentations
that have been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays. The black and white
transfers of both versions are very similar in terms of quality, providing
very crisp and well-defined images. There is plenty of detail in fabrics
and every contour in the actors' skin is clearly visible. A slight grain
structure is noticeable throughout the course of the movie, and while
it is never distracting, it does render NIGHT OF THE DEMON with
a very film like quality. Blacks have a deep velvety quality that threatens
to envelope the actors during the film's more atmospheric moments. Whites
are very cleanly rendered, plus the image has an excellent grayscale.
The film's cinematography has a noir-ish quality that sometimes makes
use of very stark contrast. Overall, the picture has fairly impressive
depth and good shadow detail, even though there are sequences in the film
that are murky by design. The film elements used for the transfers are
in very good shape, displaying only minor blemishes and bits of dust.
Digital compression artifacts are well concealed on both versions of the
movie, with each having more than enough breathing room on a single layer
of the one sided disc.
Both
soundtracks are presented in Dolby Digital monaural and sound as if they
have been digitally cleaned to remove noticeable traces of background
hiss and surface noise. While the fidelity is limited on this 1957 production,
I found that Clifton Parker's atmospheric music still managed to sound
rather good and is worthy of amplification. Dialogue is very clean sounding
and is completely understandable. There are no other soundtrack options
on the DVD, although subtitles have been provided in English, French and
Japanese.
The
basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a choice of which version of the film
one wishes to watch. Personally, I recommend that one start with NIGHT
OF THE DEMON and then go back and check out CURSE OF THE DEMON
to see the truncated American version plays. Theatrical trailers for FRIGHT
NIGHT and THE BRIDE are the only supplement provided on the
DVD.
NIGHT
OF THE DEMON is a minor genre classic
that belongs in the collection of every fan of classic horror movies.
Movie buffs will also find NIGHT OF THE DEMON to be a treat, and
well worth checking out on DVD. Columbia TriStar has done a great job
with this release, by offering both versions of the film, as well as presenting
them in excellent looking 16:9 enhanced presentations.
