Night of the Demon (1957)

Dir: JACQUES TOURNEUR
Country: UNITED KINGDOM

aka:
Curse of the Demon

The chilling ghost stories of English academic and scholar M. R. James have almost totally been ignored by cinema. When one considers some of the garbage that has been produced in the name of Stephen King, H. P. Lovecraft, or Edgar Allan Poe this ignorance becomes perplexing. The horror in the stories of James’ is of the nuanced and subtle variety, horror that would require a modicum of intellect to replicate on screen, this goes some way to explaining his omission from the world of film. To date Night of the Demon remains the only occasion James has been adapted for cinema screens. The screenplay by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester was based upon his short story Casting the Runes, and despite a number of alterations maintains the spirit of the original text. It should be noted that James has fared a lot better on British television. A number of his stories were chosen for the anthology series Mystery and Imagination (1966-68), and his tales provided the backbone for the BBC’s annual Ghost Story at Christmas throughout the 1970’s. It is certainly true that the short story is more suited to the anthology format, but Night of the Demon proves that James’ stories could make the transition to feature film with some measure of creative success.



Night of the Demon has slowly but surely risen to a level of prominence and importance in any history of British horror. This has been aided by a visual presentation that opposed the lurid excesses of the gothic horror popular in the late 1950’s. Furthermore it has a greater interest in the characters, and prefers to leave a number of its effective set pieces to the imagination. The film opens with a series of eerie establishing shots of Stonehenge; the mythical qualities of Salisbury plain instantly conveying the centrality of pagan beliefs, runic symbols, and cult worship. Throughout the film the Hertfordshire countryside lies in direct opposition to the modernity of the city - Karswell’s rambling estate and mansion contrasted to the non-descript and historically vacuous hotel room where Dr. Holden resides. An early sequence contrasts transatlantic flight to a primal fight for survival in the English countryside between man and demon. This a pattern that is repeated throughout and it takes further shape in Holden’s blunt scepticism. Holden is a psychologist and he is also an American, and these aspects of his character build into him a rationality created from modern educational practices and a lack of consideration for history and ancient religion. His predecessor Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham) gets sucked into Karswell’s satanic whirlpool, in the end he believes and pays for his belief with his life. But this isn’t going to happen to Holden, because he’s American and any belief’s he had of the supernatural were systematically erased by his education.



The result of Holden’s stringent beliefs in the world around him and his faith in logic and rationality is that he becomes a less engaging character. In fact he becomes a major irritation, in large part due to Dana Andrews’ arrogant and stiff performance. The heartbeat of the film is the much more fascinating figure of Julian Karswell - the enigmatic leader of the cult that Holden is in England to debunk. Karswell lives in a rambling mansion with his mother, and his lavish lifestyle is supported by his followers (though we only glimpse a few, and they don’t look as though they have two shillings to rub together). Karswell is benevolent (he does magic shows for the local kids), urbane, witty, charming and just happens to have deciphered an ancient text that enables him to conjure demons. He is everything that Holden isn’t and the film lights up when actor Nial McGinnis comes into shot. The battle between Karswell and Holden ends ironically (because it costs him his life) with a victory for Karswell. Holden is unable to debunk Karswell’s powers because in the excellent finale he comes to believe in them.



It would be remiss of me not to mention the most controversial element of Night of the Demon; the demon itself. Our first sighting of the creature when it confronts Professor Harrington is not successful in my view. Its appearance comes far too early in the film, however its second appearance at the railway station is very impressive and works well in large part due to the tense and suspenseful events leading up to it. The director Jacques Tourneur who had previous experience of this brand of horror when working under the auspices of Val Lewton wanted just a few quick shots of the demon, either way I don’t think it is a major detraction from what is essentially a film about a battle of wills and alternative viewpoints. Far more impressive is a sequence in which Karswell creates a cyclone in his garden; the leaves whipping at the characters as they escape into the house, and a late night flee through the woods in which Holden briefly glimpses the hellish fires from which the demon springs. Night of the Demon’s position within horror history is totally justified and it remains a towering example of how less can be more in the horror genre.

© Shaun Anderson 2010