The Demon (1979/I)

User Rating:

3.3/10   

Director:

Percival Rubens

Writer:

Percival Rubens (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery

Tagline:

The screams you hear may be your own!

Plot:

Random people are terrorized by a malevolent man who brings their worst fears to life.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Stalking | Violence | Detective | Slasher

Cast

Jennifer Holmes	...	Mary
Cameron Mitchell	...	Col. Bill Carson
Craig Gardner	...	Dean Turner
Zoli Marki	...	Jo (as Zoli Markey)
Peter J. Elliott	...	Mr. Parker
Moira Winslow	...	Joan Parker
Mark Tanous	...	Bobby
Diane Burmeister
George Korelin	...	Doctor Stuart
Vera Blacker	...	Mrs. Stuart
Ashleigh Sendin	...	Emily Parker
John Parsonson	...	The Truck Driver
Graham Kennard
April Galetti
Jannie Wienand

Also Known As:

Midnight Caller (USA) (reissue title)
The Unholy (working title)

Runtime:

USA:94 min

Country:

South Africa | Netherlands

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Germany:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, South Africa

Company:

Gold Key Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: Throughout the entire movie, the killer's mask appears and disappears between shots.

Quotes:

Joan Parker: Did your extrasensory perception prepare you for this?
[shoots Carson in the head]

Movie Connections:

References The Amityville Horror (1979)

Soundtrack:

Rapper's Delight

A poor man's Halloween

The Demon really doesn't have much going for it. The lighting is awful, dialogue is ridiculous in some spots, and some things in it just make no sense (you've got to love the random shots of waves crashing onto rocks).

At least at the beginning there's something slightly different going on. The killer kidnaps a family's daughter and so they enlist the help of a psychic gifted with ESP (Cameron Mitchell). Now, I'd like to think that Mitchell is a good actor but it's really hard to judge when he's given ridiculous things to do and say ("I get feelings sometimes. Vibes, as the kids might say.")

Sure, it's not very good at all, but the least they could have done was not abandon this part of the story. Cameron and the kidnapping plot end up almost being dropped completely, leading us to the story that takes over the rest of the film.

Ever hear the one about the guy in the white mask who stalks some girls?

Yeah, that happens here too. To be fair, this portion isn't as bad despite being a blatant ripoff. The girls are decent at acting and serve the dual purpose of being easy on the eyes. There's a few suspenseful scenes and the climax isn't all that bad despite being completely wacky.

That doesn't make up for everything else, though. In the end, The Demon mostly just provides moments of boredom and stupidity.