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Summary: One of the Best Ever!
Review: I own this movie in VHS and finally I received it in DVD with the uncut original British Version! I think it is a great movie also if you are not a fan of horror/mystery, very atmospheric, a must see for everybody. Great DVD quality for both versions.
Not to be missed!
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Summary: British version not all it's "cut up" to be
Review: For years, I had enjoyed CURSE OF THE DEMON and had heard that the original British cut did not show the demon, leaving its appearance up to the imagination. I thought this was a wise move, especially given the fact that the depiction of the demon in the "American cut" was silly enough to harm the film's overall effect. When the dvd of the British cut came out, I figured it would be demonless. I was misled. The ridiculous, stuffed demon appears in this cut as well, and most of the other changes seem centered on a reordering of some of the scenes in the middle. Is there another cut out there, or was I just mistaken all these years? No matter! The film still stands with THE WICKER MAN as one of England's best horror films.
Rating: 
Summary: DVD Buyers Beware...
Review: A quick note for movie fans: BOTH versions on this DVD contain the "monster footage"... the cheesy close-ups of the demon that were so brilliantly omitted from the original British release have been re-inserted here, so there is no way to appreciate the "power of suggestion" model that made the British superior to the American version in the first place! Quite a disappointment. I wish I'd known before I purchased this DVD.
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Summary: Devil of a Good Time
Review: This is a slick cat-and-mouse-game movie. Dana Andrews, perhaps best known for the beautifully filmed murder classic Laura, plays American pscycholigist John Holden, who journey's to England in order to debunk a so-called Satan-worshipping cult-leader. Instead, he finds himself pitted in a pscychological and spiritual war against a real-life head of a devil cult. At stake is his soul.I've heard Dana Andrews described as "the aging leading man" when refering to this role, but he looks and performs in top shape. The entire supporting British cast is wonderful, led by Niall McGinnis, who plays the part of cult leader Karswell as a genteel, likable middle-aged man, even fearful at times, but determined in his evil beliefs and acts. The movie begins with the "accidental death/murder" of a fellow pscychologist of Holden, which leads to his staunt investigation into the cult and its leader. As he nears the truth, his owned cursed life begins to take on a distorted, frightening twist. He is on a countdown to his own murder(litterally predicted hour and second by his nemisis), by a horrific fire-demon that will tear his soul from his body and carry him to the depths of hell. The movie really picks up pace in the last act, where Dr. Holden and his investiative team interviews an ex-cultist accused of murder while under hypnosys. The horror coming out in the man's testimony, and the following panicked-mad flight into death, leads Holden on his own near-panick flight, to do a final battle of wits with Karswell. This DVD includes both the shortened American version, "Curse of the Demon", and the longer (better) British version, "Night of the Demon." Both are presented in widescreen. The source print shows little wear or damage, for being such an old film. This is a wonderful, bump-in-the-night thriller. And if the appearance of the demon is dated by todays special effects standards, it is still amazingly well done, and at times frighteningly believable.
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Summary: On Disk at Last!
Review: Curse of the Demon is one of my all-time favorites. While the special effects are often far from special (the string is clearly visible when the parchment is escaping it's victim), the rest of the film more than makes up for it. The monster is seen too often and too soon, but I suppose that's why I liked the movie as a kid. This is without a doubt one of the best horror films of all time. Since not that many people are familiar with the movie I was pleasantly suprised to see it released on DVD.
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Summary: Finally on DVD!!! ...almost perfect
Review: An underrated classic finally on DVD!! This is a truly great horror film based on the short story "Casting The Runes" by M.R. James. The movie mainly uses concepts from the story and isn't a direct adaptation of the story - kinda like Roger Corman's Poe movies. The names Karswell and Harrington are the only ones that appear in both James' story and the movie. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur whose Cat People (1941) is probably more well known. Unfortunately, the studio mettled a bit and forced Tourneur to show the demon way too early in the movie. Dr. Holden arrives in England only to discover that his colleague, Professor Harrington, has died under mysterious circumstances. During Dr. Holden's research into what happened, a curse that involves the use of Runic symbols is discovered. Karswell is the leader of a local religious cult. This DVD contains both Night of the Demon (UK version) and Curse of the Demon (US version - 13 minutes hacked out). Both movies are letterboxed. The image quality is great. There were a few points where it seemed the audio might be slighted distorted, but I'm not sure if it would be noticeable to the average viewer. It's not distracting. Something you'd have to be listening for. The close-ups of the Demon are great considering that this movie was made in 1957. The wide shots are not as impressive. The version of Curse of the Demon on this DVD is not as complete as the version that has been on AMC. The version AMC aired was closer to the UK version - with only a few minutes missing and the "Curse" titles at the beginning. I do prefer the UK version and would recommend skipping Curse of the Demon unless you just want to compare how the versions were edited. Just select Night of the Demon to see the complete, unedited version. I wouldn't call it a Director's Cut since he would want to cut all shots of the Demon from most of the film. I did find one little quirk with this DVD. Once you select a version, you're locked into it until you stop the DVD. Each movie has its own menu. Once you select a movie from the first menu, you are stuck on that movie's menu with no way to back out to that first menu. If your DVD player remembers where you left off when you hit Stop like mine does, you'll have to clear that memory to switch movies. With my player, I just hit Stop an additional time, and that makes the player go back to the beginning of the DVD when I hit Play. The two trailers are for Fright Night and The Bride. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys older horror movies and/or movies based on the supernatural. This is a personal favorite.
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Summary: Tourneur's best.
Review: This is my favorite Tourneur film. The film is so gripping it has to be seen to be believed. There is little I can add to the just praises on this page, except to say that too big a deal has been made about the creature's appearance in the opening scene. Not only is it scary, but as the critics Silver and Ursini have asserted, its appearance sets the groundwork for the rest of the film so that the threat of the demon is a very palpable presence. I think the film is damn near perfect just the way it is. An attack by an imagined cat is handled awkardly, and maybe could have used Val Lewton's guidance. Other than that, this film is a treasure.
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Summary: Could be from H.P. Lovecraft
Review: My father told me for years that this was one of the scariest movies he had seen as a boy. Getting tired of years of ridicule, he found it for rent as a Laser Disc and brought it home. I loved every minute of it, and plan on buying this DVD as soon as it it released. Even though it has nothing to do with H.P. Lovecraft, Curse of the Demon managed to capture the feel of his stories better than any adaptation I've seen. Re-Animator? It's fun, sure, but nothing like the story. Unnameable? A bad, two-hour adaptation of a decent two-page story. The Dunwich Horror? I despised the Dean Stockwell version where the horror of the Outer Gods was reduced to acid tripping hippies. Curse of the Demon? Near perfect. I understand the audiences' need to see the monster at least once, but if Lovecraft had written it, we would have heard the screaming, seen the shadows, and mentally dwelt on the dreadful claw marks on the corpse--listening to them declare the victim hit by a train, while knowing that a train could never do that to a person. I also thought this was much better than the same director's Cat People (which was wonderful).
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Summary: Anybody Besides Me Rooting For Dana To Die?
Review: I've always had a soft spot for 50s/60s Brit shockers that didn't come from Hammer: this is among the best of 'em. As fog-haunted and spectrally lit as the bulk of DEMON is, its most unnerving scare comes in broad daylight: Karswell's garden party being interrupted by a momentary tornado. When a horror movie can rattle you in natural light, somebody's doing something right!
Another good omen is a film where the villain is hands-down the most engaging and interesting character. I don't mean to invoke creaky truisms about the Appeal Of Evil with that remark, either: Niall McGinnis hardly seems villainous at all here - he's cautious and canny, of course (as anyone who can conjure up fifty-foot demons must of necessity be) but otherwise a jovial, good-natured and charming fellow one wouldn't mind playing a game of chess with (no side-bets, though!). And compared to dour dipso Dana Andrews - the stone-faced 'hero' - he looks that much better besides. Andrews by this point was well on his way to pissing away his career via alcoholism. The sad thing is you can clearly see it in his late 50s/60s performances. (At least here, he mostly seems hung over...which works to the role's advantage. Check out WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS from 56 when he was REALLY in his cups. He damn near staggers through that entire picture!)
Given his decided lack of charm & warmth as Holden [and compounded by the character being written as a skeptic so uberskeptical he seems at first simply boorish, and by the film's climax, a complete knucklehead] I do think DEMON could have been a lot more satisfying had the Andrews character learned too late the truth of the situation by being torn limb from limb by the titular beastie. It would've added a satisfying closing-the-circle frisson to the tale while essentially sending the same message to the audience: mess with the Devil and you get the horns. The payoff Tourneur does give you is a bit of a cheat, as Karswell gets 'lawyered' into his demise, so to speak, whereas Andrews' Holden emerges from his near-fatal ordeal having learned nothing from the experience - not even the literal truth of Leo Durocer's maxim that God watches over fools, drunks and third basemen. His last line, "Maybe it's better not to know", kinda says it all.
Oh, and for the record, I'm not as aesthetically offended by the visualization of the demon as some other Amazon scribes are, having seen that spiky-headed, big-nostrilled bad boy on a FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND cover as a lad & thinking surely this was the coolest monster ever. Could've done without some of the sound effects, though - particularly the sound of wheels squeaking throughout the Demon's two scenes. Most likely these were unintentional, but I keep 'seeing' two crewmembers lugging him forward on a dolly every time I hear it.
Rating:
Summary: From the man who gave you the original Cat People
Review: Jacques Tourneur also directed the original 1942 _Cat People_ starring Simone Simon as well as _I Walked With A Zombie_. Tourneur makes wonderful use of the shadows and anything hidden. He knows how to move the story along without too much fluff to distract you. All of the cast give wonderful performances especially Niall MacGinnis who plays Dr. Karswell. Dr. Holden is heading to a convention in the UK to discuss the supernatural - which he doesn't believe in. When he arrives, he discovers that a colleague had died. The colleague was going to expose Dr. Karswell's religious group. However, Karswell doesn't like the idea of he and his followers being exposed to the public. The séance scene is the only part I didn't care for. It seemed a little too merry at first for this type of movie. It seemed like the psychic involved was being indirectly made fun of. That may not have been the intention. In a way, the scene might have been used to break the tension a little except for when the last spirit spoke which was the serious moment and primary reason for the scene. The director originally had the demon hidden in the first few scenes, but the studio forced him to reveal it immediately. ...according to comments from AMC's airing of the movie. Once again you can blame a studio for meddling in a director's work. _Curse of the Demon_ is very loosely based on the short story "Casting the Runes" by M.R. James. Mainly just a few concepts and names were used. The entire process of using the runes appears to be the same in both the movie and the original story. Karswell and Harrington are the only names in both so you can imagine how much was changed. The story was written in 1911 so things were updated for the movie. _Curse of the Demon_ is still a wonderful movie and needs to be on DVD.
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