Night Of The Demon (1957)



Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon) is a 1957 British horror film, produced by Hal E. Chester and Frank Bevis, directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. It is adapted from the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes" (1911).

The film's storyline concerns an American psychologist who travels to England to investigate a satanic cult suspected in more than one death.

Plot
n England, Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham) begs his rival, Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), to rescind the curse he inflicted on Harrington; in return, Harrington will cease his investigation into Karswell's Satanic cult. After learning that a parchment he gave Harrington has been destroyed, Karswell ushers him out and promises to do what he can. As Harrington arrives home, he perceives a gigantic demon materializing in the trees. Harrington tries to escape in his car but crashes into power lines. The authorities declare electrocution as the cause of death.

Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) arrives in Britain to attend a convention at which Harrington had intended to expose Karswell's cult. He is informed that the only link between Harrington's death and Karswell's cult is a man suspected of murder, Rand Hobart (Brian Wilde), who has fallen into a catatonic stupor. While Harrington's collaborators consider the possibility of supernatural forces, Holden rejects the idea as superstition.

Holden meets Karswell at the Reading Room of the British Museum. When a rare book that Holden requests goes missing, Karswell offers to show Holden his own copy at his mansion. At Harrington's funeral, Holden meets the dead man's niece, Joanna (Peggy Cummins). She gives him Harrington's diary which details Harrington's increasing fear of Karswell's power. Holden remains sceptical, but goes with Joanna to Karswell's mansion the next day. When a very strong windstorm abruptly starts, Karswell claims to have created it with a spell. When Holden mocks him, Karswell grows angry and predicts that Holden will die in three days.

Holden and his colleagues discuss Karswell and make plans to further examine Rand Hobart. Then Holden goes to dinner with Joanna and she shows him her uncle's diary. Harrington's diary mentions a parchment with runic writing on it that was passed to him by Karswell, and Holden finds a similar parchment that Karswell secretly passed to him at the library. A powerful wind comes through the window, blowing the parchment from his fingers towards the fireplace, only to be stopped by the fire guard. Holden then recovers and pockets it.

Holden begins to feel more uneasy after a visit to Hobart's family to seek permission to hypnotise Hobart and find out about the death he is suspected of. The mother gives her consent but says that the family are 'believers'. As Holden leaves, the parchment is blown from his hand again. Hobart's family become fearful and declare Holden to be "chosen". Later, Holden compares the parchment's runes to ones inscribed on the nearby stone circle at Stonehenge.

Joanna takes Holden to a séance at the invitation of Karswell's mother (Athene Seyler). The male medium claims to channel Harrington, who tells them that Karswell has the key to reading the runes in his copy of the rare book, but Holden abruptly exits, saying it is all nonsense. After they leave, Joanna says she intends to search for the book's key and they drive to Karswell's mansion. There, Holden insists he will break into the house while she waits outside. Entering through an open window, he is attacked by a cat which seems to morph into a panther. Holden is rescued by Karswell entering and switching on the light, saying he knew Holden would come. Against Karwell's warning, Holden leaves through the woods, as he had arrived, and believes he is chased by a mysterious cloud of smoke and fire before escaping. He and Joanna report the events to the police, but he feels embarrassed by their scepticism and leaves.

Under hypnosis, the suspect Hobart reveals to Holden that he was "chosen" to die by having a runic parchment passed to him, but avoided death by passing it back to the person who had given it to him. When Holden shows Hobart the parchment he had received from Karswell, Hobart thinks he is trying to give it to him and goes berserk and jumps out of a window to his death.

Holden learns Karswell is taking a train to Southampton, and on the train discovers that he has kidnapped and hypnotised Joanna. As the time for Holden's predicted death draws near, Karswell becomes agitated, and when the train stops at the next station, he tries to leave. Holden manages to sneak the parchment into his coat pocket, but when Karswell retrieves it, it flies from his hand. He chases it down the tracks, but as he reaches it the parchment combusts. As an oncoming train approaches, the demon manifests and violently attacks Karswell. When his corpse is found by the tracks, the police believe that he was struck and dragged by the train. Holden is shaken and, instead of going to inspect the body, accepts Joanna's advice that "it's better not to know", and they leave together.