PaladinNites   Posted at 2020-01-27 18:14:10(256Wks ago) Report Permalink URL | ||
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|  Good evening. Do take your customary seat in the balcony. Tonight we have a classic treat from 1957 called Night of the Demon. It's adapted from the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes" 1911. "Do I believe in witchcraft!...what kind of witchcraft? The legendary witch that rides on the imaginary broom. Or the hex that tortures the thoughts of the victim, or the pin stuck in the image that wastes away the mind and the body...But where does imagination end and reality begin? What is this twilight...this half world of the mind which you profess to know so much about. How can we differentiate between the powers of darkness and the powers of the mind?" There are some movies that genuinely know how to push your buttons — which means that they know: where to find your buttons when to push them how to push them This demonstrate that atmospherics, mood, and suggestion can be more effective than Jack-in-the-box special effects, and that the scariest monsters are those you can't see, at least not clearly. This movie is a prime example. Rural England: A scientist, Professor Herrington has initiated an investigation to disprove the alleged black magic doings of a witch cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell. As he digs into the cult, he has come to realize however that Karswell's group have uncovered demonological truths too terrible to dismiss. Harrington begs Karswell to "stop what has begun." But the scientist has recanted too late. The urbane and polite sorcerer reminds Harrington that "You said, 'Do your worst,' and that's precisely what I did." Not even Karswell can halt what is underway, and deep in the night-black woods Harrington perishes violently...his death occurring at a date and time predicted to the minute by Karswell. American psychologist and die-hard skeptic John Holden (Dana Andrews) arrives in rural England (not far from Stonehenge, which figures in the proceedings) for a psychic convention and to assist Dr. Harrington expose the cult. The summoning death warrant has to do with an ancient strip of parchment inscribed with occult runes. The runes can invoke a demon that kills any person possessing the parchment. And not just any bush-league demon either— we're talking a monstrous fire demon "whose legend has persisted through civilization after civilization.... Babylonian Baal, Egyptian Sethtyphon, Persian Asmodeus, Hebraich Moloch."  The curse can be broken only by stealthily passing the parchment to someone else. Karswell had passed this to Harrington. And after a confrontation with Dr. Holden, Karswell stealthly passes it to him in the library. [  Much of Demon's tension arises from our watching Holden pull the runes from his pocket, the paper fluttering as if alive. He refuses to recognize the terror stalking him. Holden is one of those that must be convinced of the dark forces on the loose. And as his ghostly encounters in dark hallways, alone in the woods, in a lonely farmhouse, and other scenes begs the question of not just[i] "Who's there?"...but what is there. Peggy Cummins stars as Harrington's attractive niece, kindergarten teacher Joanna. She occupies the middle ground between Holden's obstinate skepticism and Karswell's witchcraft beliefs. Joanna is as level-headed as any educated modern woman, but unlike Holden she's willing to acknowledge evidence that's before her eyes. Demon takes full advantage from this collision of realities: stiff-necked modern matter-of-factness vs. ancient supernatural magicks. Karswell understands these dueling dogmas far better than Holden could ever hope to. The cold light of reason, Holden is told, casts very deep shadows. It's a rare pleasure to find a good villain, and Demon sports a terrific one in Niall MacGinnis' scene-stealing performance as Karswell. A character templated perhaps on that infamous Satanist, Aleister Crowley. Here's an antagonist far removed from the cackling stereotypes of Satanic high priests in starched Ming of Mongo collars. Against Dana Andrews' self-consciously flat and steadfastly boorish unbeliever, MacGinnis' Karswell is simultaneously several contradictory things: A dangerously powerful occult religious leader A charming trickster who hosts children's Halloween parties at his remote country mansion A sympathetic bloke just securing a living in his chosen field And a genuinely frightening master of platinum-card witchcraft. Even Holden, whose skepticism comes as rigid as a Stonehenge megalith, can't ultimately deny the potentially lethal presence of a supernatural force associated with Karswell. Once Holden is told that he is marked for death next Tuesday at 10 p.m. sharp, the forces appear to be approaching closer and closer and.... Well as Joanna said sometimes "it's better not to know" Trailer Best Paladin  Last edited by PaladinNites on 2020-03-16 15:04:42 | |
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Post liked by - kentk9      , RedBaron58 | ||
| PaladinNitesPosted at 2020-02-07 20:20:09(254Wks ago) Report Permalink URL | ||
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| You mean this...  Paladin | |
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| Post liked by - kentk9 | ||
| sherbPosted at 2020-02-07 20:37:26(254Wks ago) Report Permalink URL | ||
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| I've had this movie in my collection for years, lost it when my last HDD died, but thankfully I found it somewhere (can't remember where). A most excellent oldie :) | |
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| Post liked by - GodAndUlster, kentk9, PaladinNites | ||
| PaladinNitesPosted at 2020-02-07 23:29:24(254Wks ago) Report Permalink URL | ||
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| Had me own troubles with HDD's Sherb, so I know how you feel. I'll be posting more classic/oldies. Cheers Mate! Paladin | |
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| Post liked by - sherb | ||