Harry’s Trouble with the Chicago Critics’ 100 Scariest Films
In Broadcastellan, Harry Heuser (mildly) demonizes the Chicago Film Critics Association’s list of 100 scariest films:
"Inexplicably, though, my personal favorite did not make the bloody cut. It is Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon (1957), based on "Casting the Runes," a short story by the aforementioned ghost storyteller M. R. James. [Adapted by Charles Bennett and Hal E. Chester.] On US radio the story was dramatized under its original title on the literary thriller series Escape. When it was shown on BBC 2 TV here in Britain a few nights ago, I seized the opportunity to go once more into that not so gentle Night. Much to my relief, I had not yet become immune to its powers.
"Once again, I was startled by that hand on the banister; once again, my skin showed pimply evidence of the film’s workings upon my imagination."
I can’t remember any hands on a banister — perhaps I had my eyes closed at that point — but I do recall a mad doctor, a floating bright light that turns into something deadly, and former Fox leading man Dana Andrews looking puzzled at all the weird happenings. (In the above photo, Andrews discovers that seeing the light isn’t always such a good thing.)
And, of course, I do recall quite vividly that final monstrous apparition that totally freaked me out.
In sum, I fully agree with Harry that Night of the Demon is a first-rate, spooky-as-hell horror film. One that most of the Chicago film critics have probably never even heard of.
Also in the cast: Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Maurice Denham, and veteran Athene Seyler. Additional great work by cinematographer Ted Scaife and editor Michael Gordon.
Right: The face that launched a thousand nightmares. (I wish I were kidding.) In the US, the film was renamed Curse of the Demon.
Here’s the Chicago critics’ 100 Scariest Films list from last year.
And here’s a very detailed analysis of Night of the Demon and other Jacques Tourneur films, including the horror flicks Cat People (1942) and I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and the thriller The Fearmakers (1958).
WAR-GODS OF THE DEEP by Jacques Tourneur
THE EXORCIST: Great To Be Nominated
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Well, those lists are designed to get us talking, even if we choose to ignore the organizations that produce them in an attempt at self-promotion. I’m glad, but not surprised, that you agree on Demon.
As pragmatic as I try to be, I do get spooked by what no-nonsense guys like Dana Andrews’ Dr. Holden set out to explain or, failing, brush aside as conincidences. Last night, having just written a trifle about Dietrich’s promotional efforts on the radio, I popped in a random DVD from a bargain basement 100 Thrillers collection, a film called Jigsaw, and who flits by without saying a word but Dietrich (in an uncredited cameo). That dame wasn’t done with me yet.
Hey, Harry,
Ah, yes, those pesky “coincidences.” But then again, Marlene Dietrich is well known for never letting a guy go…