Curse of the Demon / Night of the Demon

Rating:
Summary: Still gives you chills, but Same Movie twice ?? 3.5 Stars
Review: I first saw this movie on TV as a youngster, and remember having nightmares, and watching it again recently made me realize it's still a great movie. I will say at this point that there's more than a bit of shameless repacking going on here though:
The DVD boasts 2 Movies !!
Night of the Demon - UK release 95 Mins
Curse of the Demon - US release 83 Mins
Same movie??? why would anyone want to watch the shorter theatrical truncated version???
Anyway - Dana Andrews plays a very rational psychologist who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery, hints of witchcraft, ancient runes and so on. Of course, out hero is much to sensible to subscribe to this nonsensical mumbo jumbo, but as he becomes more involved, he begins to realize he may have been mistaken. The genuine angst, and fear of the characters is almost tangible in places, and a tight script, more than ably directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I walked with a Zombie etc) keeps you glued. Ok, the demon looks a little silly, but this WAS 1957 folks, give them a break! The main point is that there is a good story, that still gives you some chills. The ever present human fear of, "it couldn't be? .......could it?" that had audiences squirming in their seats back in 1957, is what makes the movie work. If you haven't seen this, treat yourself, just don't believe you're getting 2 movies for the price of one!!! - Enjoy

Rating:
Summary: Witty horror film.
Review: Masterfully directed and well acted - with an oddly sympathetic and yet ridiculous villain, in a performance that is as good as Jack Nicolson in "Batman", without the bombast. The odd thing about the DVD is that the British version, though actually several minutes longer, seems identical to the US version, and I know this film from childhood's "Terror in the Night" broadcasts. In other words, this may be the unique case where the US distributor cut the film without actually losing anything. The producer's intrusion - inserting the demon in the beginning sequence - is easily dealt with : just close your eyes at the obvious moment. Too bad they couldn't cut it in one of the versions to fit the original intentions. This film has the rare quality of cinema wit, which is to say it's not really in the dialogue, but the actor's facial reactions and actions and even editing; very rare for this genre. And that is in spite of Dana Andrews' rather hungover-looking performance. Tourneur is an underrated director; check out his "Cat People" films - particularly the subtle and superior 'sequel' 'Curse of...', and his late work on several episodes of the original "Twilight Zone". As for the monster (maligned elsewhere on this page), he's quite effective, particularly the sounds he generates - and the way he does his work at the end is horrifyingly hilarious. No computer-generated beast has yet managed anything like it.