Night of the Demon (1957) | 2018’s best Blu-ray box-set release is out now!

Based on MR James’ classic tale of terror Casting the Runes and adapted for the screen by regular Hitchcock collaborator Charles Bennett, director Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon is considered to be one of the seminal horror films of 20th-century cinema.

Niall MacGinnis is the politely malevolent Dr Julian Karswell, an eminent British scientist who has been dabbling in black magic (while also hosting children’s parties dressed as a clown). When rival scientist Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham), threatens to expose his nefarious activities, Karswell invokes a demon which kills him.

Dana Andrews plays the sceptical psychologist Dr. John Holden who refuses to believe Harrington’s niece Joanna (Peggy Cummins) when she suspects something demonic is at work, but he soon has good cause to think she is telling the truth when Karswell passes him a piece of parchment at London’s British Museum which may bring about his death inside four days…

Although the titular demon appears at the beginning and the end, it’s the constant level of fear throughout that makes this classic British horror such a genuinely scary chiller and remains a bona fide classic of the genre.

It was also famously referred to in Science Fiction/Double Feature (the opening track in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Picture Show), with the witty line: ‘Dana Andrews says prunes gave him the runes…’

Released on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK from Powerhouse Films/Indicator, Night of the Demon is presented here in four different versions (including the BFI’s 2013 2K restoration of the 96-minute version), and is accompanied by a huge array of new and archival special features., plus a double-sided poster and 80-page book. Check them all out below and then order here: https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/night-of-the-demon-le

SPECIAL FEATURES:
• The BFI’s 2013 2K restoration of the 96-minute version
• High-definition remaster of the 82-minute cut
• Original mono audio
• Four presentations of the film: Night of the Demon – the original full-length pre-release version (96 mins), and the original UK theatrical cut (82 minutes); Curse of the Demon – the original US theatrical cut (82 mins), and the US re-issue version (96 mins)
• Audio commentary with film historian Tony Earnshaw
• Speak of the Devil: The Making of ‘Night of the Demon’ (2007): documentary featuring interviews with actor Peggy Cummins, production designer Ken Adam and historians Tony Earnshaw and Jonathan Rigby
• Dana Andrews rare audio interview
• The Devil’s in the Detail (2018): Christopher Frayling on Ken Adam
• Horrors Unseen (2018): biographer Chris Fujiwara on Jacques Tourneur
• Sinister Signs (2018): an analysis by critic/author Kim Newman
• Under the Spell (2018): horror writer Ramsey Campbell on MR James and Tourneur
• The Devil in Music (2018): a new appreciation of Clifton Parker’s score by author David Huckvale
• The Devil Gets His Due (2018): film historian Scott MacQueen on the film’s release history
• The Truth of Alchemy (2018) a discussion of MR James and ‘Casting the Runes’ by author Roger Clarke
• Cloven In Two (2018): a new video piece exploring the different versions of the film
• Escape: ‘Casting the Runes’ (1947): a radio play adaptation of James’ original story
• Super 8 version: original cut-down home cinema presentation
• Isolated music & effects track on the US theatrical cut
• Original US Curse of the Demon theatrical trailer
• Image gallery:  including rare production design sketches
• New and improved English subtitles
• Limited Edition book containing a new essay by Kat Ellinger, M R James on ghost stories, a history of the film’s production through the words of its principle creators, a profile of witchcraft consultant Margaret Murray, the film’s history with the BBFC, a look at the different versions of the film, contemporary critical responses, a look at Charles Bennett’s original scripted ending, and film credits

And here’s something from my own archives, the late Peggy Cummins (who left us aged 92 in 2017) introducing an outdoor screening of the BFI’s restoration print at the British Museum back in 2013.

Save

Save

Save

Save