- AKA “Curse of the Demon”
- Directed by Jacques Tourneur
- Written by Charles Bennett, Hal E. Chester, M.R. James
- Stars Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rwfiJpyFrI
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This is well made with good acting and realistic dialogue. But it’s awfully slow-moving. The ending is satisfying, but it took too long to get there.
Synopsis
We start with a scene and voiceover of Stonehenge discussing ancient runic symbols and the powers of darkness: “The demons of Hell.”
It was a dark and foggy night as a man drives down the lonely, deserted road. It’s a long, creepy drive through the country, but he soon arrives at the big house. Professor Harrington demands to see Dr. Karswell immediately. Harrington insists that Karswell call a halt to what he’s started. Karswell insists on privacy for himself and his followers.
Harrington then goes back outside and drives home. As soon as he gets out of his car, a giant demon comes out of the darkness. Harrington backs his car into the power lines and is electrocuted as the beast reaches for him.
John Holden, a prominent psychologist, is flying to London to attend the scientists’ conference. Lloyd Wilson is Harrington’s man and picks him up at the airport. Holden tells the press that he doesn’t believe in any supernatural things. Lloyd explains that Professor Harrington was found dead this morning. Harrington was trying to disprove the cult that Karswell runs. Holden plans to do an “expose” on Karswell’s cult.
Dr. Kumar from India comes in, and he says he believes in devils and demons. Karswell calls on the phone and threatens Holden. Holden goes to the library and is told that the 400-year-old book he wants has gone missing.
Karswell has a copy of the book and offers to let Holden read it. Holden goes to Harrington’s funeral and meets Joanna, Harrington’s niece, who sat behind him on the plane. She thinks he’s in danger; her uncle was killed because of his investigation into Karswell’s cult.
The next morning, the two of them drive to Karswell’s mansion. Karswell’s doing a magic show for a bunch of children. Karswell explains that he used to be a professional clown and introduces his mother to them. Holden asks to see the missing book, and Karswell says that he’s spent his life trying to decipher its contents. Karswell makes the weather get dark and windy, which puts an end to his children’s party.
Karswell then predicts that Holden will die at ten o’clock on the 28th—in three days’ time. He then asks them both to leave. Later, Holden goes back to his hotel room and hears footsteps coming down the exceptionally-long hallway. He still says all the supernatural is simply mass hysteria. He opens his calendar and finds that all the pages after the 28th are torn out. Joanna says the same thing happened with her father’s calendar. They find that Karswell has given Holden cursed magic runes.
Holden goes to see Mrs. Hobart, the mother of a man supposedly driven criminally insane by Karswell’s magic. She gives permission to Holden to hypnotize her son to find out what really happened. When they see his paper with runes, they all know he’s doomed.
Karswell’s mother wants Holden to meet Mr. and Mrs. Meeks. They’re doing a séance. Holden still thinks it’s all phony. Meeks starts the séance and does a bunch of voices, including old, dead, Professor Harrington. He “replays” Harrington’s final moments. Holden insists that it’s all fake.
Holden sneaks into Karswell’s house that night; he wants to see that book. A housecat turns into a leopard and attacks him. Then, Karswell comes in and everything’s fine. Karswell tells Holden not to walk through the woods back to his car, but Holden doesn’t listen.
Holden watches as the demon appears above him in the trees—or maybe it was just a cloud of smoke. Holden and Joanna go to the police, but they think it’s all ridiculous. Karswell’s mother calls Joanna to warn her about her evil son.
Mr. Hobart finally arrives from the asylum, and Holden hypnotizes the man on stage before an audience. Hobart describes being chased by a demon just like Holden was. He also says his “time allowed” to prepare for his death is almost up. When the rune-filled parchment is passed to you, you die. Holden shows him his own parchment. The only way to survive is to pass the parchment back to the man who gave it in the first place. Then Hobart jumps out the hospital window, many floors up.
Holden runs to the train station. It’s 9:45, so he only has fifteen minutes left. He pulls out his runes but has to find Karswell. He joins Karswell in his train car; he’s got Joanna there, under hypnosis. Holden offers Karswell a letter stating he believes everything and that Karswell was right all along. Karswell isn’t stupid, refusing every item that Holden offers him. Holden knows that he has to pass the rune parchment back to Karswell. Holden hands Karswell’s coat to him with the paper in the pocket with only two minutes to go. Karswell runs after the runes and gets run over by a train in the fog—or was it a demon?
Definitely a demon.
“Maybe it’s better not to know,” Holden admits.
Commentary
It’s a story about a skeptic who comes into contact with what’s supposed to be the “true” occult. Which side will be proven correct? Well, considering we saw the demon in the opening shot, it’s not terribly suspenseful. The director didn’t want a demon to appear at all, but the studio insisted and put that in the film during post-production. It might have been more interesting without seeing the demon.
It’s considered a classic, and it has really nice visuals and dialogue, but it’s also very slow-paced; as Holden was putting Hobart into hypnosis, it was all I could do to not to nod off as well. The climax is good, but it took an awfully long time to get there.