Night of the Demons

APRIL 29, 2007

GENRE: COMEDIC, SUPERNATURAL
SOURCE: DVD (ONLINE RENTAL)

I didn't think Night Of The Demons would have anything in common with The Marsh, but oddly, both films feature a scene with door hinges coming out by themselves. Sadly, both films are not also 'good'.

Much like The Burning, I think I would have had to see this one "back in the day" to enjoy it as much as the people who told me to watch it do. Or gotten drunk first. Which is a shame, because I was a big fan of Kevin Tenney's Witchboard as a kid and when I revisited it a few years ago, I found I still liked it. But then again, Tenney wrote and directed that one, whereas Demons was written by another guy.

And, to be fair, the idea is great: stick the tongue right through the cheek and make a haunted house movie set on Halloween. Perfect! But the problem is, when nothing funny is happening, there is little concern with what is happening. By introducing the comedy (and taking half the film to get to the first appearance of the demon), the suspense is deflated.

The best part of the movie is the old man character who bookends the film. He plans to put razors in apples. And at the end, his wife makes him a pie with the apples, and he dies. Hahahah. Too bad there's a middle of the movie with very little to care about.

Sure, there's a line here and there that's worth the time you spend watching it (my favorite, when a young kid spying on his sister undressing exclaims "Bodacious boobs, sis!"), but otherwise this one bored me to tears. I should also note the 80s soundtrack is often quite delightful, with one song strangely bemoaning the troubles of computer dating (the one 80s song to be AHEAD of its time?).

Also, the film features the worst stunt double wig in history. Our final girl has dirty blond, messy hair, the stunt double has platinum blond, perfectly combed hair. Excellent work.

I should note that the only reason I watched this today is because Blockbuster sent me the god forsaken 2005 Boogeyman instead of the 1980 The Boogeyman that I asked for. Assholes.

What say you?

5 comments:

  1. I watched this last night coincidentally following "The Burning" which was exponentially better than this movie.

    The only good part was the old dude and the music. The acting was awful (especially toward the final part of the film...) and many of the lines they spouted out were completely cliche.

    The only reason I would watch it again was to get a laugh with my friends.

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  2. The final girls little brother(donnie jeffcoat) had a show on nick in the 1990's called wild and crazy kids, with cuba gooding jr's little brother omar gooding just a fun fact

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  3. The end with the old guy was easily the best part!

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  4. This one was a bit of a disappointment. I actually prefer the remake. Even the lipstick boob part is better.

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  5. completely agree w/ this review - this movie is just plain bad. it takes forever (and a day) for anything decent to happen. if you were like, 11 years old, and watching this movie in the 80s, then maybe, maybe, you might have found it scary. only the (numerous) topless girl scenes give this movie something to write about. 80s horror at its worst. Brian, after watching this movie, I have all the respect in the world for you, given that watching a horror movie a day means putting up w/ the (very) bad as well as the good.

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