Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Night of the Demons Blu-ray Movie Review

Trick or treat.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 3, 2014

Autumn brings us a holiday often associated with ghouls and other evil entities, and so it’s perhaps appropriate to quote notorious occultist Aleister Crowley, once called “the wickedest man in the world”, and one who famously opined that “spelling is defunct” in his supposedly prophetic treatise The Book of the Law. That may be one reason so many people spell the October festal day Halloween, rather than Hallowe’en, as (with so many ancient days of celebration and/or remembrance), the vestigial remnants of what the days actually mean fall away and we are left with modern day counterfeits, whether that be nonstop advertising and consumerism or, in this particular case, rampant dressing up and candy consumption. (I joke about Crowley, of course, as that sentiment quoted above is widely thought to refer more to magical—or magickal—pronouncements than to actual colloquially understood spelling.) That “e’en” is all important, however, to understanding some of the roots of the holiday, for the really important thing, at least for Christians, is actually the next day, All Saints’ Day, which actually leads on to a second observation called All Souls’ Day. Much as the ancient rites of the solstice and Saturnalia have become subsumed by the subsequent Christian celebrations surrounding Jesus’ birth (which even the orneriest bible scholar will probably admit almost certainly didn’t take place in the winter), our current Halloween festivities have little relation to their atavistic roots. But that doesn’t stop horror films from exploiting some of the primal fears that still lurk menacingly just beneath the trick or treating, dressing up and even occasional egg throwing. Night of the Demons was initially supposed to be titled Halloween Party, until the makers of the Halloween films threatened legal action for supposedly infringing on their franchise (a lawsuit I personally think would have ultimately gone nowhere, but I digress). The team behind Night of the Demons didn’t want a conflict, since they were already operating on a fairly paltry budget, and so a somewhat less specific—and yet oddly more accurate—title was selected for this film, which has gone on to become something of a cult item, spawning not just a drove of imitators but also a sequel (as well as another sequel not available on Blu-ray) and a remake.

Kevin Tenney made a relatively auspicious debut with Witchboard, and though according to the in-depth featurette included on this Blu-ray as a supplement he wasn’t the first choice to be this film’s director, once he came on board things fell into place rather quickly. However, there were some conflicts with writer and producer Joe Augustyn, who felt that Tenney’s previous association with co-producers Walter Josten and Jeff Geoffray might mean that Augustyn’s initial “vision” for the film might not be realized. Ironically, it seems that Tenney and Augustyn got along better than Augustyn and Geoffray, at least according to the same featurette, but this fact then begs the question of who is responsible for what is regularly cited as one of the strangest things about this supposed “horror” film: virtually half of the film’s hour and a half running time is spent in establishing the setup, with no real violence or ostensible scares to be found in the film’s first 45 minutes or so. What makes this such a salient question is that many critics found Tenney’s Witchboard (which Tenney also wrote) similarly slow out of the starting gate.

Unlike the 2009 remake of Night of the Demons, the original film doesn’t really waste much time setting up the backstory of a haunted mansion, and instead merely starts to assemble the various characters who have decided to spend Halloween at an abandoned mortuary called Hull House, after having been invited by a weird girl named Angela (Mimi Kinkaid, who later slightly changed her name to Amelia Kinkaid). Among the kids who decide to attend the festivities is Judy (Cathy Podewell), who dresses up as Alice in Wonderland. (There’s some interesting background about this choice in the making of featurette on the Blu-ray.) Judy is actually not all that thrilled to be going, but her boyfriend Jay (Lance Fenton), who actually received an official invitation, urges her to join him and she ultimately gives in.

It’s only once Jay and Judy arrive at Hull House with a gaggle of other kids that one of them recounts a brief history of the place (which is decidedly different than that posited in the remake). Suffice it to say Hull House has a colorful history and is rumored to be possessed by evil spirits. Whether that has anything to do with a number of weird anomalies that almost instantly crop up—candles not staying lit, a radio suddenly dying—is left to the increasingly worried imaginations of some of the party’s participants. At this point Angela, wanting to save the party from a similar death, decides to hold a séance, and that’s when all hell (or at least a part of it) breaks loose.

As relatively restrained as the first half or so of Night of the Demons is, it’s more than matched by the bat guano hysteria that makes up the second half of the film. It’s actually pointless to go into much detail on the various characters, for first of all, they exist mostly as stereotypes anyway (aside from the film’s laudable inclusion of minorities, which Tenney discusses as having lessened their SAG salary requirements), and more importantly, they don’t exist very long once the mayhem starts breaking out. The film delights in a series of incredibly gruesome deaths as a malevolent spirit infects more and more of the participants. The film either intentionally or unintentionally tips its hat to zombie films in a way, for the victims of the violence here turn into shambling ghouls themselves, with the goal to simply take out the remaining humans.

The commentary tracks and making of featurette want to make a case here for how innovative Night of the Demons is, but less personally involved folks may differ with that assessment. The film does part ways from its eighties slasher kin in not getting into the blood and guts from the first moment, but the basic setup of a bunch of crazy teens in a haunted house can hardly be called fresh. The good news here is that the film has a sense of humor—albeit an awfully gooey one—and Tenney stages the various deaths with a fair degree of relish (and/or ketchup). The film may be just another example of how deep rooted religious expressions of yore have devolved into mere terror, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a fair amount of fun to be had.

Night of the Demons Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Night of the Demons is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Scream Factory (an imprint of Shout! Factory) with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The film is inordinately dark for the bulk of its running time, and therefore good contrast is essential, and for the most part that's offered here, allowing at least acceptable (and often more than merely acceptable) amounts of shadow detail to penetrate through the dankness. Colors are nicely saturated and accurate looking, though the Blu-ray seems to my eyes slightly darker looking than the (pretty shoddy looking) Anchor Bay DVD. One thing that caught me slightly by surprise was how fine the grain field is, even in the darkest sequences. I don't think this necessarily points to denoising, however, for there's still good fine detail, though that said, the film being so dark to begin with means there really isn't that much opportunity to exploit fine detail. When we get the few brightly lit scenes, fine detail increases measurably.

Night of the Demons Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Night of the Demons features three audio mixes, the original (and frankly pretty anemic sounding) mix in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, a revised DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix which is considerably more aggressive and with better amplitude than the original, and a good if not overly immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The biggest beneficiary of the 5.1 mix is the film's score (by Tenney's brother Dennis), which is awash in synths and low end, as well as a glut of source cues. Otherwise, things are rather solidly anchored in the front (and occasionally side) channels, with the rear channels only being utilized for occasional discrete foley effects. Fidelity here is excellent on the revised 2.0 and 5.1 tracks.

Night of the Demons Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Kevin Tenney, Actors Cathy Podewell, Billy Gallo, Hal Havins and Special Make-Up Effects Creator Steve Johnson. Those this plays somewhat (and appropriately) like a kind of high school reunion, there's quite a bit of fun information imparted, and things are remarkably well mannered, in terms of people not talking over each other. Probably the most interesting information here is on the film's astounding make-up effects.


• Audio Commentary with Director Kevin Tenney, Producer Jeff Geoffrey (sic), and Executive Producer Walter Josten. This is a bit more "business" influenced, getting into things like the decision to use the animated opening (against Tenney's initial wishes), and scouting locations and the like. Very enjoyable and quite informative.


• "You're Invited": The Making of Night of the Demons (1080p; 1:11:31) is a surprisingly enjoyable piece, filled with great interviews and some great background on the film. Writer Joe Augustyn looks like he may be starring in a horror movie himself.


• Interview with Amelia Kinkade (1080p; 22:31) proves Kinkade has a fantastic sense of humor about the franchise. And she looks mah-velous.


• Alison Barron's Demon Memories (1080p; 3:56) has Barron (Helen) sharing some of her personal photos from the film.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:28)


• Video Trailer (1080p; 1:55)


• TV Spots (1080p; 1:16)


• Radio Spot (00:35)


• Promo Reel (1080p; 4:11)


• Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080p; 9:22)


• Special Effects and Makeup (1080p; 8:42) is another photo gallery.


• Photo Gallery (1080p; 8:37)


• Posters and Storyboards (1080p; 1:27)

Night of the Demons Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even more than in Witchboard, Kevin Tenney and writer Joe Augustyn take their good, sweet time in finally getting to the "good stuff" (at least for horror fans). That means that those wanting a slash and dash outing from the first frame of any given film are bound to be tested by Night of the Demons. This is a film that takes a certain amount of patience, at least for those who are there only for the mayhem. The film remains a good deal of fun all these years later even if it's slow out of the gate and never especially surprising, and Scream Factory has delivered a great package here with solid technical merits and excellent supplements. Recommended.