I can't in good conscience sit here and give director Kevin Tenney's 1988 opus "Night of the Demons" great praise or my highest recommendation. I can't tell you it's a must-see film or that it's an expertly crafted thrill-ride. Nor can I say it was well-acted and breathlessly paced. Because the honest truth is... it's a complete mess. It's dumber than a box or rocks, trashier than an episode of "Maury," and the execution is patchy and sub-standard at best.
But you know what? Those are the reasons why I love it!
Yes, the one thing I can say is that if you're a fan of B-movie schlock and sleazy exploitation like I am, you're definitely going to get your money's worth here. Its faults are also the source of its charm, and it's chock-full of everything you'd want out of a dumb 80's horror flick. There are bared-breasts aplenty, and enough gooey gore to keep you glued to the screen. It's stupid... oh, it's stupid. But it's stupid in the right kinds of ways.
It's Halloween night and a group of teens have decided to hold a party at the infamous Hull House- an abandoned mortuary with a troubled past. Among them are the adorkable Judy (Cathy Podewell) and the wild social outcast Angela. (Amelia Kinkade) However, things take a dark turn when the party-goers decide to hold a séance... unwittingly unleashing demonic spirits that begin to possess and pick-off the teenagers one-by-one! Now, Judy and the others must fight for their lives as they try to survive the night of the demons!
To the film's credit, I will say that there are some pretty good things going for it. As silly as it can be, I found the bulk of the visual effects to be really well-executed. Particularly of note was a hilariously insane sequence involving a woman's nipple and a tube of lipstick that was wonderfully disgusting. And the demons were all suitably frightening. I also really enjoyed the bulk of the cast, even if they weren't the strongest actors. Podewell makes for an enjoyable and likeable protagonist, and Kinkade is a ton of fun as the weird, gothy Angela, who is quickly possessed by the demons and becomes the main adversary. She's just a blast in the role. And of course, we have a great turn from scream queen Linnea Quigley in a small part... Quigley is one of those actors that's not very good... but she's always really entertaining to watch as she chews the scenery.
Where the film falls flat is in its execution. While I'm not too familiar with his work, director Tenney seems over-his-head with the material. Many shots and sequences feel oddly paced, and some of the choices in camera angles and compositions are really wonky. The editing can also feel patchy and inconsistent, with the earlier scenes in particular dragging. And then there's the script by Joe Augustyn. And it's... not great. It feels really trashy at times, the dialogue is laughably on-the-nose and the general tone is all over the place. Quite frankly, it's just plain stupid.
But like I said... that's kind of the fun of the film. It's not a very good movie. But I don't think it's trying to be. It's just trying to be dumb fun. And in that respect, it succeeds. I can go alone with the silly plot and the badly written characters because they exist to get us to good stuff- the boobs and blood! And I can live with the poor editing and direction because that's not really the point. The movie exists to entertain. And entertain it does. At least provided you like this sort of silly movie. And it gives a lot of the films faults a certain perverted charm.
This is one of those cases where it's hard to give the film any sort-of numerical score. If I were to judge it based on its actual quality, this is at best a 3 out of 10. As a movie, it just isn't very good. But if I were to judge it by its entertainment value, it's easily a very solid 7, because it has enough nifty effects and bouncing bosoms to make it a fun watch. You know what? I think I'll go ahead and just average those out, bringing us to a sloppy but very watchable 5 out of 10. If you like a good-bad horror movie, you'll almost certainly get a kick out of "Night of the Demons."
But you know what? Those are the reasons why I love it!
Yes, the one thing I can say is that if you're a fan of B-movie schlock and sleazy exploitation like I am, you're definitely going to get your money's worth here. Its faults are also the source of its charm, and it's chock-full of everything you'd want out of a dumb 80's horror flick. There are bared-breasts aplenty, and enough gooey gore to keep you glued to the screen. It's stupid... oh, it's stupid. But it's stupid in the right kinds of ways.
It's Halloween night and a group of teens have decided to hold a party at the infamous Hull House- an abandoned mortuary with a troubled past. Among them are the adorkable Judy (Cathy Podewell) and the wild social outcast Angela. (Amelia Kinkade) However, things take a dark turn when the party-goers decide to hold a séance... unwittingly unleashing demonic spirits that begin to possess and pick-off the teenagers one-by-one! Now, Judy and the others must fight for their lives as they try to survive the night of the demons!
To the film's credit, I will say that there are some pretty good things going for it. As silly as it can be, I found the bulk of the visual effects to be really well-executed. Particularly of note was a hilariously insane sequence involving a woman's nipple and a tube of lipstick that was wonderfully disgusting. And the demons were all suitably frightening. I also really enjoyed the bulk of the cast, even if they weren't the strongest actors. Podewell makes for an enjoyable and likeable protagonist, and Kinkade is a ton of fun as the weird, gothy Angela, who is quickly possessed by the demons and becomes the main adversary. She's just a blast in the role. And of course, we have a great turn from scream queen Linnea Quigley in a small part... Quigley is one of those actors that's not very good... but she's always really entertaining to watch as she chews the scenery.
Where the film falls flat is in its execution. While I'm not too familiar with his work, director Tenney seems over-his-head with the material. Many shots and sequences feel oddly paced, and some of the choices in camera angles and compositions are really wonky. The editing can also feel patchy and inconsistent, with the earlier scenes in particular dragging. And then there's the script by Joe Augustyn. And it's... not great. It feels really trashy at times, the dialogue is laughably on-the-nose and the general tone is all over the place. Quite frankly, it's just plain stupid.
But like I said... that's kind of the fun of the film. It's not a very good movie. But I don't think it's trying to be. It's just trying to be dumb fun. And in that respect, it succeeds. I can go alone with the silly plot and the badly written characters because they exist to get us to good stuff- the boobs and blood! And I can live with the poor editing and direction because that's not really the point. The movie exists to entertain. And entertain it does. At least provided you like this sort of silly movie. And it gives a lot of the films faults a certain perverted charm.
This is one of those cases where it's hard to give the film any sort-of numerical score. If I were to judge it based on its actual quality, this is at best a 3 out of 10. As a movie, it just isn't very good. But if I were to judge it by its entertainment value, it's easily a very solid 7, because it has enough nifty effects and bouncing bosoms to make it a fun watch. You know what? I think I'll go ahead and just average those out, bringing us to a sloppy but very watchable 5 out of 10. If you like a good-bad horror movie, you'll almost certainly get a kick out of "Night of the Demons."