Previous posters have rightly commented that this is a fine, A-level thriller on a B-level budget with generally good acting, tight direction, great cinematography, and a good script taken from a good story. Just a few comments about the two versions of this movie. "Night of the Demon" is the original version released in U.K. and is 135 minutes long. Re-edited and retitled for the American market as "Curse of the Demon," this version is about 14 minutes shorter. A number of scenes were cut from the original but as far as I can tell, no other scenes were added or changed. Luckily for me, the DVD had both versions. Thinking that "Curse" was the original and "Night" was a sequel, I watched Curse and found it greatly entertaining but a bit disconnected and confusing at points. Reading Maltin's review later, I learned that I had one movie in two different edits. WATCH THE LONG VERSION IF YOU CAN! The missing scenes go a long way in explaining Karswell's motivation (it's not just that he's opened Pandora's box and can't close it -- he's motivated as well by the money he makes as a cult leader), as well as the peculiar actions of Karswell's mother which don't make much sense without the missing two scenes that explain her motives. Also, the missing scenes make Karswell slightly less appealing than in the edited version. All in all, a really good movie. P.S. I think the monster was OK.

NIGHT OF THE DEMON

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

A skeptical American psychologist (Dana Andrews) travels to London to expose a sorcerer (Niall MacGinnis) who curses him to die at the hands of a fantastic demon...

Directed by Val Lewton's protegé Jacques Tourneur (CAT PEOPLE, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE), and written by frequent Hitchcock dramatist Charles Bennett (YOUNG AND INNOCENT, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT), NIGHT OF THE DEMON - based on the story 'Casting the Runes' by M.R. James - is an A-grade shocker (on a B-grade budget) which challenges unreasoning attitudes towards the supernatural by believers and skeptics alike. Andrews plays the blinkered American cynic - cast adrift in a foreign country - who refuses to believe the demonic threat made against his life, despite all evidence to the contrary, though Bennett's script makes it clear that the movie's central 'villain' (a powerful and charismatic performance by scene-stealer MacGinnis) is motivated by fear of the powers at his command.

Tourneur and Bennett were contemptuous of the alterations imposed during post-production by producer Hal E. Chester, who re-edited the picture for its 1958 US release (pointlessly retitled CURSE OF THE DEMON) and added a monstrous demon to all existing prints on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite the reservations of fans and filmmakers alike, this fearsome-looking creature - which makes a brief appearance at the beginning and end of the movie - generates an authentic jolt of cinematic horror in a film which otherwise prides itself on visual ambiguity. Bennett's script foregrounds the human drama, and Tourneur's first-rate cast - including Athene Seyler (THE QUEEN OF SPADES) as MacGinnis' frightened mother, and Reginald Beckwith (NIGHT OF THE EAGLE) as a dotty psychic - plays it completely straight throughout. There's at least half a dozen powerful set-pieces, including Maurice Denham's terrifying encounter with the eponymous beast in the opening scenes, Andrews' confrontation with MacGinnis during a children's birthday party, and an episode in which Andrews is followed through the deep, dark woods by an unearthly, invisible... THING (I'll say no more). Ted Scaife's atmospheric black and white cinematography makes a virtue of the bleak English landscape, and veteran technicians George Blackwell and Wally Veevers contribute some brief but memorable special effects. The final sequence - set within the claustrophobic confines of a late night train, as the hour of Andrews' death approaches - is a small masterpiece of nail-biting suspense.

Being a fan of classic horror, I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this was my first viewing of Night of the Demon as it is very nearly the perfect horror film. It's got everything I could ask for. Instead of going into detail on everything that works, I'll give the laundry list of highlights: an interesting premise, an intelligently written script, good acting, atmosphere you can cut with a knife, nail-biting suspense, beautiful cinematography, and touches of humor that add to rather than take away from the film. There is nothing that I would change about the movie. And that includes director Jacques Tourneur being forced to show the demon. I think the demon scenes are nicely done and do not take anything away from Night of the Demon. Contrary to a couple of reviews I've read, they're not "cheesy" in the least. In fact, the demon is downright frightening. While I admit that the film might have been even better had the demon's image been left to the imagination, it's there. Just enjoy it for what it is.