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NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1980)
Directed by James C. Wasson
VCII Home Video VHS
Reviewed 02.23.06
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
At 2 AM, I stared at the mirror,
telling myself in a calm and collected
manner that yes, everything would
probably be fine in the morning.
Damn you, James C. Wasson. Thine
mind is truly wicked.
You are familiar with the Yeti aka
Bigfoot aka Sasquatch on film. Now,
picture this: You have just consumed
a four course meal, following it
up with several pounds of your favorite
desert. You notice a tiny bit of
excess left over from the main dish,
cold and alone on the sullied plate.
You cannot resist. It tastes awful.
You've gone too far. Meet Night
Of The Demon, the diarrhea
nightcap to an evening of excess.
Night Of The Demon is the
Pink Flamingos of trash-gore
films. Filtering the plot and intent
of the earlier Shriek
Of The Mutilated through
a funnel of Nathan
Schiff destruction and gross-out
situations, it's very clear that
Mr. Sasquatch has more than a few
skeletons in his closet. Director
James C. Wasson and writer Mike
Williams were determined men. So
much so, that they never made another
film, leaving the world with a singular
expression of stoic wisdom. Men:
protect your privates. Women: get
on the pill. As you'll soon find
out, "Bigfoot's not playing
games anymore."
Professor Nugent (we'll call him
"The Nuge") has had a
rough couple of days. Speaking from
his hospital bed, the "horribly
mutilated" intellectual tells
his story. The story of Bigfoot.
Accompanied by the strains of AM
Gold flutes, The Nuge embarks on
a trip to the woods with five of
his most doltish students. They
will find Bigfoot. The plot thickens!
Who is "Crazy Wanda" and
what secrets lie within her dirty
shack? Beginning with a Super 8
snuff film before the trip and continuing
with a series of unbelievable flashback
Yeti encounters, we find out. What
do child abuse, strange religious
visuals, Bigfoot rape, a torn off
wiener, mutilated Girl Scouts, and
extreme gore have in common? Bingo!
They all appear in this fucked up
film.
It's a mystery as to why certain
films ended up on the UK's DPP 39
Video Nasties list in 1985 (Unhinged,
anyone?). Not so with Night
Of The Demon. Over the top
is an understatement. Director Wasson
delivers a mix of gutter skank and
wallowing brutality that never picks
sides. You'll laugh (a Yeti footprint
that spans maybe eight inches),
flinch (Bigfoot chops up a lumberjack
with his own axe), and squirm (the
extended "birth" sequence,
Bigfoot raping a fifteen year old
girl, the relentless ending; take
your pick!). In essence, this is
a stitched together, disjointed
mess of button-pushing shocks-for-shock
sake. No brains and little flair.
Instead of unnerving in an effective
way, ala I
Drink Your Blood, Night
Of The Demon is like a giggling
sixth grader that just scored a
stash of old Playboys. They don't
know when to stop.
With some discretion, this could've
been an all time trash classic.
The bad acting, strange gore, dirt
floor atmosphere...Unfortunately,
it's mostly just garbage. There
is a difference. Meet me downtown
tonight and we'll discuss it over
a four course meal.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
Ouch. Bigfoot might have used this
tape ribbon as toilet paper, then
spooled it back into the case. He's
nuts! I love that gag!
EXTRAS
VCII, you know how to please 'em.
Preceding the feature, we get 14
minutes of of VCII previews and
trailers. Wedding lounge music breezes
through while a heavily accented
woman introduces VCII's newest technology:
the VCX cassette. Yes, you can now
own copies of films like Racquet
("Whack it!"), Gun
In The House, and the very
frightening shot on video talk show,
Talk Of The Town, with
this wonderful revolution in home
video entertainment. The "X"
stands for Xcellent.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Night Of The Demon is fully
deserving of its nasty reputation,
but not always in the best of ways.
You'll probably want to see it once
for kicks, then file away the experience.
Professor Nugent insists.
Thanks to Dan Budnik for providing
a copy of this film! |
Nuge, we salute you
B.F. P.O.V.
Pee break
Bonjour monsieur!
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