Neither have I until I saw The Demon. The Demon is an interesting picture and a poor picture. It has a script which just does not not make much sense. We have a story about some guy that goes around brutally killing young women and others and as a much smaller story - a psychic that is red-hot on his tail. Redhot? Cameron Mitchell plays the psychic and his presence is sorely needed for the film's credibility, yet he is barely in the picture. And yet, even though his character and dialog were quite ridiculous - especially what happens to him and the one-liner that follows - I thought he was the best thing in the picture. The demon is never explained at all in terms of why he is killing, why he is a "demon" if indeed he/it really is, or what any motivation is. He just likes killing with brutal coldness. Fortunately, the movie, filmed in England and with largely a British cast, is competently conceived in several ways. The acting rises above poor and is decent. The director - Percival Rubens who also wrote this nonsense - has some talent in creating some suspenseful scenes and a sense of tension. The scenes with the girl being chased in the house were fairly effective, despite the needless nudity. After awhile we got the point. But the script is just so awful and threadbare as to limit the film to anything other than garbled, ludicrous nonsense. At the very least, the film is watchable and will/should have you arching your eye brows trying to figure out what in the heck is going on. And listen closely to Mitchell's dialog - he and it are a real hoot!
Review of The Demon
