NIGHT
OF THE DEMON/CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957)Director: Jacques Tourneur
Columbia TriStar
NIGHT
OF THE DEMON/CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957)"One who, having looked around walks on, and turns no more his head because he knows a frightful field Doth close behind him tread ..." -- The Ancient Mariner
Columbia Pictures has just released onto DVD one of the finest examples of satanic cinema in the history of the horror film. They not only gave us the uncut British release with its original titles and credits but the truncated American version we all came to know as CURSE OF THE DEMON.
Always discussed as perhaps the last of the Lewton-influenced films from the RKO years and one of director Jacques Tourneur's greatest achievements, it is that and more. Filmed under the title THE HAUNTED, the film stands as a textbook example of how to make an intelligent, suspenseful, character-driven shocker without resorting to violence and gore for its own sake.
Adapted from M. R. James' short
story "Casting the Runes," scriptwriter Charles Bennett surpassed
himself in padding the author's economical little tale of a necromancer who
used mystic symbols to exert his will upon others. The only sequence from the
short story that would have been welcomed into the fabric of the film would
have been Karswell's little slideshow for the village children whose only purpose
was to scare the daylights out of them thus assuring they would trespass no
longer on his estate. Otherwise Bennett, who scripted Hitchcock's British output
(most notably THE 39 STEPS) did a superlative job in fleshing out James' little
conceit into a masterpiece of the macabre. 
The British version opens with the Stonehenge sequence intact and enlarged upon slightly with a bit more narration. The credits now restore the title to NIGHT OF THE DEMON and give star billing to both Peggy Cummins and Niall Mac Ginnis. The version we Americans grew up with is the same. The restored sequences are mainly Holden's (Dana Andrews) visit to the Hobart farm where he discovers that the whole clan is in league with Karswell's devil cult. Karswell's mother (played to perfection by veteran stage actress Athene Seyler) is given more motivation by showing her growing concern over her son's practices and giving one a better understanding of why she tries to help Holden and Miss Harrington (Peggy Cummins) in the first place.
Watching
the British version was such a rewarding experience that this writer can't imagine
bothering with the American version except for comparisons. This practice of
placing alternate versions on the same disc is welcomed. Yet examples like LEGEND
OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES and its poor cousin, THE SEVEN BROTHERS MEET DRACULA
or more recently, Bava's LISA AND THE DEVIL coupled with HOUSE OF EXORCISM offer
more for your money yet will you ever really watch them?
Much has been debated in recent
years about the insertion of the demon into the proceedings against the director's
wishes. This writer was privileged to discuss this film with star Dana Andrews
during the PBS special "The Horror of It All" in 1983. Andrews recalled,
"Jacques and I were mortified to see this puppet as well as a man in a
demon suit inserted into our film. It was just ludicrous considering the work
Charles Bennett, the writer and Jacques had gone to. The film stood on its own
without the demon." At that point, Andrews got up from his chair and extended
his arms and did a pretty good impression of the fire demon for my benefit.
This writer has always liked the demon and considering it looks so much like the woodcuts shown in the film it seems to fit rather well. I listened respectfully to what Mr. Andrews had to say and kept my opinions to my self. The poster art makes the demon look far more cartoonish than it appears in the picture and I really can't imagine NIGHT OF THE DEMON without his presence.
One of the main reasons NIGHT
OF THE DEMON works so well is the presence in secondary roles of top-flight
British character actors like Athene Seyler who lived to the ripe old age of
101 and was awarded the title of Commander of the British Empire. She played
the classics on the stage as well as impressive guest appearances in episodes
of "The Avengers." Reginald Beckwith, who portrays the medium Mr.
Meek, was a staple in British cinema, giving the film a welcome bit of humor
in his séance impersonations. Even small roles like the chemist who examines
Holden's visiting card is played by Charles Lloyd Pack, who appeared in everything
from TERROR OF THE TONGS 
(1962)
to VICTIM (1967). My personal favorite is Peter Elliott and his standout bit
as K. T. Kumar, the Indian doctor who believes wholeheartedly in demons. These
actors give this opus a richness seldom equaled in macabre cinema.
The real star of NIGHT OF THE
DEMON has to be Niall Mac Ginnis as Julian Karswell, an actor known primarily
for his work in the role of Martin Luther. Genre fans also remember him from
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (as Zeus). It is, however, in this production that he
performs the role of a lifetime. Mac Ginnis invests the role with pathos and
truly deserves the phrase "The loneliness of evil" which Christopher
Lee invokes to discuss the Dracula mystique. The British version illuminates
the mother-fixation of Karswell in so much as he allows her to interfere with
his life and plans yet does little to hold her bac
k.
The scenes between them allow us to see how trapped Karswell has become in his
own cult when he tells her "We get nothing for nothing this land how we
live." His mother wants him to stop and be happy yet it is to late.
Dana Andrews told this writer "Mac Ginnis told me how much he enjoyed making DEMON and felt there was something special about it at the time. I will always remember the filming as one of the great experiences of my life. Jacques was not only one of the great directors but one of my best friends. We are actually sitting in his house as I bought it from him a few years ago."
DEMON is presented in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio and includes bonus trailers, digitally mastered audio and Anamorphic video. Subtitles are offered in English, French and Japanese.
For anyone who admires macabre cinema or great filmmaking at all will have to own this disc. It is simply too special not to be among the titles in your collection. One of the most important releases of 2002! (David Del Valle)