Night of the Demon (1957)

Directed by Jacques Tourneur; produced by Frank Bevis and Hal E Chester

American professor John Holden (Dana Andrews) arrives in London to attend a conference on the paranormal and its relation to psychology. He is, to put it mildly, a disbeliever in ghosts, devils, telepathy and the like. But when confronted with the death of a colleague (Maurice Denham) and the strange behaviour of Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), the leader of a cult, he may be forced to change his mind.

Night of the Demon is an atmospheric, well-made film that has a number of advantages, and a couple of disadvantages. On the plus side is the direction. Tourneur was also behind the camera in the movie Cat People, considered a superior b-movie, and went on to direct Out of the Past, one of the most famous films noir. In his movies, lighting plays a great part in their success.

In Night of the Demon also, Tourneur plays with light and shadows, but with settings in general to create a sense of claustrophobia. This is especially effective in the opening scene, featuring a car driving in a dark night, through a sunken road, the trees on either side of which close up almost to make a tunnel. A similarly threatening scene takes place in a hotel corridor.

A decided benefit to Night of the Demon is the casting of MacGinnis as the villain. Karswell is rather charming, and in the disposal of his enemies, seemingly by magic, he appears almost reluctant, almost as though their destruction were something he wished to avoid on moral grounds. MacGinnis’s performance creates a smooth, believable villain.

The script is good, though the dialogue is rather bland. The climactic confrontation on a train is both entertaining and exciting. A scene depicting a séance is amusing and eerie, as those supporting the medium sing a Victorian song (“Cherry Ripe”) in order to facilitate the arrival of spirits; then we hear different voices issue from the medium, rather unnerving in their incongruity.

The problems are both minor and major. There is an attack by a leopard, which is clearly no more than the actor struggling with a stuffed animal. Tourneur should have borrowed a page from his techniques in Cat People, and worked with shadows and implication.

Then there is the demon itself. Its arrival is well-handled, a cloud of smoke seemingly opening a window to Hell. But then the demon is shown quite clearly to audiences; my statement here is hardly a spoiler, since the demon is seen in the movie’s opening sequence. Apparently, there was some discord in the production of the film over whether this should be added to the film. The demon is scary-looking but its presence is not. When observed materialising, half there and half not, it makes for a disturbing moment; when it interacts with the humans, it is little more than a big monster.

Still, Night of the Demon has the atmosphere and direction – and a fine performance – to recommend it: an entertaining if not entirely satisfying thriller.