Night of the Demons (1988)

Directed by Kevin Tenney [Other horror films: Witchboard (1986), The Cellar (1988), Witchtrap (1989), Witchboard 2: The Devil’s Doorway (1993), Pinocchio’s Revenge (1996), The Second Arrival (1998), Endangered Species (2002), Brain Dead (2007)]

Night of the Demons has never been a favorite of mine, but it can be a reasonably fun Halloween fair. It’s a bit silly for me at times, especially once the demons start making their presence known, but it has an engaging enough story and fun characters, so it’s not a bad watch.

I always loved the opening here – an animated look into the house featured in the film, with ghosts as curtains and monsters creeping up the stairs. It’s a fun little opening, getting you in the mood for the Halloween season, and I’ve always appreciated it.

Most of the cast are decent in the roles they’re supposed to play. I personally didn’t care much about Billy Gallo (Sal) or Lance Fenton (Jay), but others, such as the lead Cathy Podewell and the lucky Alvin Alexis, were sympathetic. Hal Havins (Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama) was quite quotable, with lines such as “Shut up and drive, bitch!” and “Eat a bowl of fuck!” along with the fascinating exclamation “festering fuckwads!” Certainly a memorable character.

Speaking of memorable, Linnea Quigley’s first scene here is a doozy. It’s a scene that, believe it or not, has stuck with me since I first saw the film, and it’s always fun to watch. Quigley (Return of the Living Dead, Silent Night, Deadly Night, Graduation Day, Nightmare Sisters) isn’t really an actress that I care that much for, but she does have her moments, and I think this movie is one of her stronger roles.

The special effects here are all reasonably impressive. Night of the Demons isn’t a gory movie, generally, though there are some solid scenes, the best one being someone’s eyes having an unfortunate meeting with someone else’s thumbs. There’s also the somewhat bizarre ending, but it’s all in the spirit of Halloween.

And I think that’s perhaps the best thing about Night of the Demons – the Halloween spirit. Early in the film, we see a rather dark cartoon (The Cobweb Hotel from 1936) playing on TV, we have the animated opening, we see some pumpkins, we have costumes. This film has a solid Halloween vibe, and while it’s nowhere near as good as movies like Trick ‘r Treat or, well, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, it’s still not shabby.

Night of the Demons has never been a favorite, and for as much as it can get right, some of the humor toward the latter half of the film doesn’t do it for me. It’s just a bit goofy at times. It’s never overwhelming, but it’s there, and because of that, with as many times as I’ve seen this, I find the movie just around average. Worth watching for the Halloween vibe, though.

7/10