Night of the Demon - Curse of the Demon

UK 1957

One of the finest thrillers made in England during the '50s, despite the fact that the final cut was tampered with against the director's wishes. Tourneur had used MR James's short story Casting the Runes as the basis for a marvellous cinematic dialogue between belief and scepticism, fantasy and reality. His intrepid rational hero (Andrews) is a modern scientist who is gradually persuaded that his life is threatened by a black magician. The director employed a number of e normously skilful devices to ensure that the audience experiences the hero's transition from confident scepticism to panic, and the process is observed with such subtlety that, in the original version at least, the interpretation of the plot was left open (i.e. the hero may simply be the victim of a conspiracy and/or his own imagination). The producer decided that the film lacked substance (in fact it was far more terrifying than most horror films), and added special effects of the 'demon' very near the beginning, which of course missed the whole point of what Tourneur had been attempting. Even so, the rest is so good that the film remains immensely gripping, with certain sequences (like the one where Andrews is chased through the wood) reaching poetic dimensions.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

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Theatrical Release: February 28th, 1958

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DVD Review: Columbia Tri-Star - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Columbia Tri-Star Pictures - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:35:39 and 1:21:36
Video	1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.5 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Subtitles	English, Japanese, French, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Columbia Tri-Star Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.66:1 Edition Details: • Trailers for Fright Night and The Bride DVD Release Date: August 13th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters: 28

Comments:

Columbia's dual-layered, progressive DVD offers both the longer unseen shorter U.S. cut (Curse of the Demon) and the extended British cut of the film (under its original title, Night of the Demon).

Columbia Tri-star's early DVD work was usually competent - bordering on stellar - and this fits the former category quite nicely. There are some damage marks but the problematic 1.66 aspect ratio has been maintained. This is a good presentation with no extras save a couple of trailers. It is coded for regions 1 thru 4 in the NTSC standard. English, Japanese and French optional subtitles are offered.

These atmospheric film(s) were not an initial favorite of mine until the past couple of years, where my appreciation for Tourneur's oeuvre has subsequently grown in leaps and bounds. It is the type of subtle eye-catching cinema that I could find poignant and narrative-supporting screen captures of all day long. Strongly recommended!

Gary W. Tooze

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