Michael Draine's Twisted Vista
Curse of the Demon/Night of the Demon
(Columbia/TriStar)
DVD $24.95
Few films capture the power of supernatural with
such power, conviction, and subtlety as Night
of the Demon (1957), released in the U.S. in
truncated form as Curse of the Demon.
While director Jacques Tourneur (Cat
People, Leopard Man, I Walked With A
Zombie) worked in nearly every genre, his
finest moments occur in his horror films.
Producer Hal Chester’s decision to over-
ride Tourneur’s Val Lewton-derived aesthetic
by disclosing the monster in the first reel has
been decried both by Tourneur fans and the
director himself. Nonetheless, I favor Chester’s
judgment; the colossal, slavering fire demon,
swathed in smoke and flame, creates the sense of
impending danger that propels through the film
through to its infernal crescendo.
As the devil-worshiper Dr. Julian Karswell,
Niall MacGinnis (Jason and the Argonauts)
radiates corruption born of absolute power--
an evil so profound that his genteel façade
something of a personal amusement. The
repartee of skeptic Dr. Holden (Dana Andrews)
and the more credulous Joanna Harrington
(Welsh-born Peggy Cummins, who set the
screen afire in Gun Crazy) fails to generate
the spark of Ned and Nora Charles, but the
supporting cast is impeccable: Athene
Seyler as Julian Karswell’s dotty mother;
Irish actor Reginald Beckwith as the con-
vulsive psychic Mr. Meek; Brian Wilde’s
jolting performance as the hypnotic interro-
gation subject.
Screenwriter Charles Bennett was one of
Alfred Hitchcock’s primary British collabo-
rators on The Man Who Knew Too
Much (1934), The 39 Steps, Sabotage,
Young and Innocent, and Foreign
Correspondent. (Producer Hal Chester’s
shared writing credit is said to have been
a maneuver to prevent Bennett from
having his own name removed from the film,
Bennett--like Touneur--being opposed to
explicit depiction of the demon.) Bennett both
expands and tightens M.R. James story,
“Casting the Runes,” providing dialogue laced
with dark humor and rich with philosophical
resonance. Here, magic is a kind of alternative
science, bound in its own inalterable laws. “You
get nothing for nothing,” Karswell admonishes
his mother on the price of magic. Repeated
viewings reveal layer upon layer of encoded
imagery: the firelight flickering on Karswell’s
face alludes to his connection to the fire
demon; the torn jacket Karswell wears whilst
performing as a stage magician foreshadows
his grisly fate; the foreboding lion-rampant
sculpture that guards Karswell’s estate; art
deco griffins on the lamp in Holden’s hotel
room; the tessellated floor pattern of
Karswell’s foyer makes the characters
seem like pawns, manipulated by unseen
powers.
The 16:9-enhanced, 1.66:1 transfer is sharp,
richly textured, and free of digital artifacts.
White flecking on the opening reel is highly
obtrusive, given Tourneur’s extensive use of
deep shadow. Both the 95 min. UK cut and
the 82 min. American version have been
allocated 28 chapters. As the two versions are
encoded on separate layers, shuttling between		Music Review Index
them is impossible. Optional yellow subtitles in
English, French and Japanese help clarify
British colloquialisms.
Published in Scarlet Street #48 July 2003		Twisted Cinema
www.sonypictures.com