Night of the Demon (1957) stars Dana Andrews as John Holden, a psychologist who debunks the supernatural who learns that a colleague died believing that he was murdered by witchcraft by an Aleister Crowley-like figure named Karswell (Niall MacGinnis) that he was trying to expose as a fraud. Now Holden, setting out to continue his dead colleagues work finds that he, too, has been targeted by Karswell and that his firm skepticism may not be enough to save him.
This movie is a masterpiece of supernatural and psychological horror directed by Jacques Tourneur, who returns to the subtle psychological horrors that made him famous in the 1940s such as Cat People (1942), The Leopard Man (1943) and I Walked With a Zombie (1943). The cast and script are excellent, and the story moves at a brisk pace from opening to finish, with beautiful cinematography throughout. This is one of my all time favorite horror movies.
This is a movie that should not be missed and would make a good double bill with Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (2009)
2 comments:
I've heard about this film, but now will make an effort to track it down and see it. Thanks!
I love this movie too! It was also part of my October movie viewing this year. I stumbled on "Curse of the Demon" by accident at Blockbuster back in the mid-90s. Had never even heard of it before, but thoroughly enjoyed and have watched it many times since. I have the DVD that features both versions of the film (the American "Curse of the Demon" I'm familiar with, and the original British version "Night of the Demon"). I will now have to watch "Drag Me to Hell". Thanks for the recommendation. Somehow I've managed to not see it yet.
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