Night Of The Demons (Original Version)

Directed by Kevin S. Tenney
1988
Rated R (Unrated on DVD)
87 minutes (DVD is 90 minutes Uncut)

Summary from Netflix: Director Kevin Tenney's tale centers on a group of hormonal teeny-boppers who turn a creepy old house into party central and unknowingly unleash an ancient demon who chooses very bloody Marys as his drink of choice. All the old reliable stereotypes are represented in this ghoulish blood-fest: the arrogant ex-boyfriend, the hero, the jerky new love interest. Alas, most of them become fodder for the demon. It's his night, after all.

My rating: ★★★ out of 5

"Blessed be the sinners, for the day of atonement is at hand!"

There have been many films that earned the name of cult status but Night Of The Demons earned that right because of becoming a Halloween viewing favorite. It was made with a fairly medium sized budget and a cast of only 10 people and many of them playing both their regular characters and their possessed forms as well. The controversy with the film came from the extreme level of gore and nudity that it contained as well as demonic possession which made it hard to find a company willing to release the film intact. Thankfully International Film Marketing and an European film company picked it up for limited release in theaters and drive-ins but it had to be trimmed down to an R rating for that to be possible.

The story the film tells is quite simple: Angela and Suzanne, the town's resident bad girls, have decided to have a hell of a party in the old Hull House which used to be the largest mortuary around before one member of the family went crazy and killed everyone inside the mansion. A handful of teens, with nothing better to do that night, show up for the party and decide that holding a séance might liven things up a bit more. Little did they know that locked away inside the crematorium is several demons that have been lying dormant for many decades and their little party game just awakened them. Suzanne is possessed first and then passes on some of her demonic energy to Angela with a kiss that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the occasion. As the couples pair off to explore the mansion further and find their own private locations to make out they find themselves being hunted down by the demons as the mansion slowly changes to keep them from escaping.

I originally watched this film on VHS when it first was released and found it to be quite scary in it's own way but hardly the genre stand out that I imagined it to be (of course I was jaded by Evil Dead and The Exorcist by this point). The biggest highlights of the film are the actresses who play the bad girls Suzanne (Linnea Quigley) and Angela (Amelia Kinkade). Both of them totally play up both their bad girl roles as well as their demonic possessed forms that it becomes far more enjoyable to watch them stealing their scenes then root for the actual survivors to escape. Quigley completely plays up her sluttier side for the role of Suzanne and the scene with her character distracting the quickie market employees when Angela gets supplies for the party pretty much leaves most of the viewers in the same drooling state (Don't believe me? Try showing this movie at your Halloween party and look around the room during this scene).

This film has become popular enough in cult status that it has inspired two sequels which also brought back Amelia Kinkade both times as Angela for further parties at the Hull House with more gue.. victims. Night Of The Demons 2 even managed to become even more graphic in it's carnage that it was banned from Australia for 10 years and took being reedited just for a special edition DVD in 2007 for anyone there to finally see it legally. It shouldn't take a reviewer like me to tell you that picking up Night Of The Demons 1 & 2 for a Halloween double feature would be an awesome idea. What are you still sitting there for? Go rent them or buy them.