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!
56 Reviews
Disjointed but occasionally effective Halloween clone
Red-Barracuda6 December 2010
The Demon is a South African Halloween clone about a motiveless serial killer who suffocates his victims with clear plastic bags. To be honest, it's a pretty shoddy effort in many ways but it's definitely not without merits either. In some respects one of this movie's chief problems is also inadvertently one of its strengths. The issue in question is how confusingly structured it all is. Characters are linked together only via the killer, and he is, to put it mildly, very vaguely defined himself. So the film has a very disjointed feel to it. While I can't see this as having been intentional, it does have a strange dream-like effect where we have this weird pale-faced amorphous figure appearing at various times with no fathomable reason. The Demon himself is a decent villain, as he has a good air of mystery about him, partly due to the fact that he is given absolutely no history or motivation. He is masked like Michael Myers in a white faceless mask although this mask does seem to appear and disappear between shots which must surely qualify as a pretty monumental goof. His killing method is bloodless but unusual enough for some credit. Although quite honestly even if there were buckets of the red stuff you would be doing well to even notice seeing as the lighting in this production is terrible. Too many scenes are played in almost total darkness, so you only have an impression of what's going on. Fortunately, we are able to make out the finale which is a lengthy scene involving the Demon chasing a topless girl around a house – it's clichéd but this sort of stuff never really gets old. The only name actor is Cameron Mitchell who plays a psychic colonel who is helping track down the killer. But he only ultimately has a bit part in the film and exits the picture in a very memorably sudden and unexpected way.
Despite it's shortcomings I did quite enjoy this one. It may have been poorly put together but it did have some tense scenes, and some interesting moments. It's worth a look if you enjoy trashy horror flicks.
Despite it's shortcomings I did quite enjoy this one. It may have been poorly put together but it did have some tense scenes, and some interesting moments. It's worth a look if you enjoy trashy horror flicks.
A poor man's Halloween
sb888 July 2008
The Demon really doesn't have much going for it. The lighting is awful, dialogue is ridiculous in some spots, and some things in it just make no sense (you've got to love the random shots of waves crashing onto rocks).
At least at the beginning there's something slightly different going on. The killer kidnaps a family's daughter and so they enlist the help of a psychic gifted with ESP (Cameron Mitchell). Now, I'd like to think that Mitchell is a good actor but it's really hard to judge when he's given ridiculous things to do and say ("I get feelings sometimes. Vibes, as the kids might say.")
Sure, it's not very good at all, but the least they could have done was not abandon this part of the story. Cameron and the kidnapping plot end up almost being dropped completely, leading us to the story that takes over the rest of the film.
Ever hear the one about the guy in the white mask who stalks some girls?
Yeah, that happens here too. To be fair, this portion isn't as bad despite being a blatant ripoff. The girls are decent at acting and serve the dual purpose of being easy on the eyes. There's a few suspenseful scenes and the climax isn't all that bad despite being completely wacky.
That doesn't make up for everything else, though. In the end, The Demon mostly just provides moments of boredom and stupidity.
At least at the beginning there's something slightly different going on. The killer kidnaps a family's daughter and so they enlist the help of a psychic gifted with ESP (Cameron Mitchell). Now, I'd like to think that Mitchell is a good actor but it's really hard to judge when he's given ridiculous things to do and say ("I get feelings sometimes. Vibes, as the kids might say.")
Sure, it's not very good at all, but the least they could have done was not abandon this part of the story. Cameron and the kidnapping plot end up almost being dropped completely, leading us to the story that takes over the rest of the film.
Ever hear the one about the guy in the white mask who stalks some girls?
Yeah, that happens here too. To be fair, this portion isn't as bad despite being a blatant ripoff. The girls are decent at acting and serve the dual purpose of being easy on the eyes. There's a few suspenseful scenes and the climax isn't all that bad despite being completely wacky.
That doesn't make up for everything else, though. In the end, The Demon mostly just provides moments of boredom and stupidity.
Pretty, half-naked school teachers do not exactly a great movie make....
BillyBC20 September 2002
(**1/2 out of *****) Very strange and disjointed film (though, I'll admit, I think I dozed once or twice during crucial scenes) about a sub-human serial killer who uses razor-tipped gloves and plastic bags to kill people. The soundtrack is very loud and erratic and people are always screaming, which makes sleeping straight through this often-dull movie pretty difficult. It ends rather abruptly and offers little to no explanation for the killer's identity or motivation. We never even get to see what his face looks like under his mask. But, even with these setbacks, the direction shows some flair and there are a few frightening demon-attack scenes, especially at the end. Cameron Mitchell plays a psychic detective on the case of a missing girl abducted by the demon, and Jennifer Holmes plays the pretty blonde schoolteacher who gets chased through her house in just her panties in the suspenseful climax (I was wide awake for that part.)
HIGHLIGHT: The pretty blonde schoolteacher gets chased through her house in just her panties (what else?)
HIGHLIGHT: The pretty blonde schoolteacher gets chased through her house in just her panties (what else?)
What the HELL?!?
Coventry5 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Percival Rubens' "The Demon" is one of them late 70's low-budget horror oddities of which you can't help wondering why the hell it was ever made. What director, in his right state of mind, comes up with a completely illogical story about a malicious killer with unexplained motives and a heroic copper who gets killed even long before he's face-to-face with his nemesis? And this describes just a small part of everything that is wrong with the film's screenplay. There's a sadistic killer on the loose in a small town. He wears gloves with claws attached to them, yet he exclusively kills his victims by choking them with a plastic bag. He always seems to walk in the shadow, has the size of a giant and never speaks a word. Is he really a demon
or just a frustrated outcast who never received any motherly love? He seems to be after the local kindergarten teacher and her gorgeous cousin but why is anyone's guess. On the other side, we have an ex-cop gifted with psychic powers looking for the killer. Cameron Mitchell ("Blood and Black Lace", "Nightmare in Wax") truly makes a fool out of himself here, pretending to be in contact with higher forces and sniffing a missing girl's pillow for clues. He's smart enough to predict his own death, yet he doesn't take any efforts to prevent it. As you can see, the plot is one giant MESS and there's absolutely nothing that makes the slightest bit of sense. The only positive point I can raise is that "The Demon" benefits from a neat morbid atmosphere and an occasional flash or sheer suspense. It's also quite sleazy! The two lead girls regularly strip all their clothes off but this doesn't seem to influence the madman in any way. On the contrary, he's more interested in tearing apart the dressing gowns than in naked female bodies. Like I said, it's a bad bad bad BAD film
but curiously intriguing at the same time.
What a disjointed, sloppy mess...
matoolz229 January 2001
I recently saw this movie in a video store, for sale, on DVD (for only $5.99). Thank God, I did`nt buy it. I ended up renting it, for a buck, a week later and wished I had`nt done that either.
The first part of the movie deals with a man, the "Demon", abducting a 14 year old girl and murdering her. When the parents can`t find her (dead or alive) they enlist the services of an ex-marine colonel with ESP no less (Cameron Mitchell).
Mitchell`s overacting aside the movie has some flow at this point but not for long. It quickly becomes a disjointed mess as it jumps completely away from it`s beginning plot.
I kept getting the sense that they started a movie and after getting so far into it they decided the plot was`nt working so they scrapped their original idea and went for something else but left in the footage they had already shot.
After breaking away from the Esp aspect (plot) the movie jumps from one plot to another until they decide to mercifully end the movie as well as the watchers misery.
The first part of the movie deals with a man, the "Demon", abducting a 14 year old girl and murdering her. When the parents can`t find her (dead or alive) they enlist the services of an ex-marine colonel with ESP no less (Cameron Mitchell).
Mitchell`s overacting aside the movie has some flow at this point but not for long. It quickly becomes a disjointed mess as it jumps completely away from it`s beginning plot.
I kept getting the sense that they started a movie and after getting so far into it they decided the plot was`nt working so they scrapped their original idea and went for something else but left in the footage they had already shot.
After breaking away from the Esp aspect (plot) the movie jumps from one plot to another until they decide to mercifully end the movie as well as the watchers misery.
More of the Same
Hitchcoc18 January 2007
Without getting into personalities, it's another film about a psychotic killer. These people are pretty much machines in these movies. The thing you need to do is pick vulnerable women, get to know them and their lives, and then thrown this guy in. He kills some, some he doesn't. There is also some superfluous nudity and titillation for the adolescents. But the film is just pretty dull. The copy I had was so full of dropouts and forced pauses that it just wears on. The real detractor is the darkness. Was the original print so dark. There are times when 20 seconds pass and we can't really see anything happening. There are things happening, but you get the point. This is so much like so many threat films that it offers little new to the viewer.
A mess.
johnbalance10 March 2016
So much about this film makes no sense.The juxtaposition of American and South African accents with no sense of where its supposed to be set.The killer is a complete blank,we never find out if hes a "demon" of the title or just some homicidal nut.Many of the murders make no sense whatsoever,he kidnaps women,kills people randomly and does this weird heavy breathing.Police are nowhere to be seen.And it feels like two different films merged into one,with the Cameron Mitchell psychic subplot being only connected via the killer with the two nubile young women whose scenes in a state of undress are the highlight.As mentioned by others the transfer to DVD is terrible,my copy also wrongly states the release year as 1971.
Watchable, but hardly inspired.
Hey_Sweden31 January 2021
In the opening minutes of this movie, a girl named Emily Parker (Ashleigh Sendin) is abducted by a hulking, heavy-breathing psycho. Her distraught parents (Peter J. Elliott, Moira Winslow) call in a character we presume to be some sort of private investigator. He is Colonel Bill Carson (Cameron Mitchell, the films' star attraction), a retired military officer with psychic abilities. Meanwhile, the villain continues to claim random victims. This perpetrator may be something less, or more, than just a "man".
Details as to the killers' true nature and reason for killing are never delineated in this script by producer / director Percival Rubens, presumably to keep things mysterious. He / it wears gloves tipped with razors on the fingers, yet tends to murder some people with the old "plastic bag over the head" routine. Overall, the film is watchable enough, but never has much in terms of scares and suspense, and it's so poorly filmed that it's hard sometimes to see what's going on, or understand what characters are saying. The picture, at least, does have some atmosphere, and there is nudity from leading lady Jennifer Holmes (as young schoolteacher Mary) and Zoli Marki as her cousin / housemate Jo. Unfortunately, too much time is wasted on uninteresting supporting characters. There's a lot of footage devoted to the budding relationship between Jo and nice rich guy Dean Turner (Craig Gardner); the film plods as a result. Gore hounds will be quite disappointed, although anyone looking for a routine "Halloween"-inspired knock-off may not be too mindful of "The Demon"s' lack of interesting features. Most unexpected was the final scene between Carson and Mrs. Parker.
Mitchell is once again professional enough to give "The Demon" some needed credibility, although in truth we don't really see a lot of the Carson character. He's NOT as major a player in the course of events as one would think. Holmes and Marki have some appeal, and while the cast is fairly nondescript, they're at least reasonably competent as actors.
"The Demon" is not a total waste of time, but it's still going to leave some viewers wanting more.
Filmed in South Africa.
Five out of 10.
Details as to the killers' true nature and reason for killing are never delineated in this script by producer / director Percival Rubens, presumably to keep things mysterious. He / it wears gloves tipped with razors on the fingers, yet tends to murder some people with the old "plastic bag over the head" routine. Overall, the film is watchable enough, but never has much in terms of scares and suspense, and it's so poorly filmed that it's hard sometimes to see what's going on, or understand what characters are saying. The picture, at least, does have some atmosphere, and there is nudity from leading lady Jennifer Holmes (as young schoolteacher Mary) and Zoli Marki as her cousin / housemate Jo. Unfortunately, too much time is wasted on uninteresting supporting characters. There's a lot of footage devoted to the budding relationship between Jo and nice rich guy Dean Turner (Craig Gardner); the film plods as a result. Gore hounds will be quite disappointed, although anyone looking for a routine "Halloween"-inspired knock-off may not be too mindful of "The Demon"s' lack of interesting features. Most unexpected was the final scene between Carson and Mrs. Parker.
Mitchell is once again professional enough to give "The Demon" some needed credibility, although in truth we don't really see a lot of the Carson character. He's NOT as major a player in the course of events as one would think. Holmes and Marki have some appeal, and while the cast is fairly nondescript, they're at least reasonably competent as actors.
"The Demon" is not a total waste of time, but it's still going to leave some viewers wanting more.
Filmed in South Africa.
Five out of 10.
Boobs Disco
BandSAboutMovies18 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Imagine a movie that starts with a fourteen year-old girl being killed by a faceless maniac wearing a black leather glove with razor-tipped fingers. If you're ready for that before the first credits roll, then you're ready for The Demon.
That very same killer then kills a trucker, steals all his money and gets a place in a sleazy hotel in Johannesburg. Emily's parents are frustrated by the police and turn to Bill Carson (Cameron Mitchell, the whole reason why I picked this movie), a psychic detective who was once a U.S. Marine. Of course.
Emily's mother just wants to know if her daughter is alive or dead. Her father, though, wants revenge. Carson replies that its best for the Parkers if they don't find the killer, telling them that he's pure evil. I mean, you should believe a dude who can tear up a bed like this.
The killer has moved on to an American schoolteacher named Mary (Jennifer Holmes, who was on TV's Newhart before being replaced by Julia Duffy). She first sees him outside her classroom window, as he can seemingly appear and disappear at will. And when she's not seeing killers, she's hanging out with her South African cousin who is dating Dean Turner, a rich American playboy that Mary hates.
Jo is out having fun and poor Mary is stuck at home, getting phone calls with heavy breathing and menacing knocks on her front door. Is it the killer? Or is he happy to be at home grunting, groaning, doing push-ups and shredding porno mags?
The Demon also likes to go out and try and pick up ladies. And where does he go? Boobs Disco! Yes, this was a real place. And yes, it was really called that.
We even get to hear some of Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown" in this scene, as the killer is stopped from raping a girl by two motorists, one of whom is slashed and the other gets his motorcycle blown up real good.
Meanwhile, Cameron Mitchell is getting the most out of his ten minutes of screen time. I guess that's all the producers could afford. He creates a faceless sketch of the killer and tells the Parkers where the man lives. He warns Mr. Parker one more time, but the guy just can't listen and gets his neck snapped pretty much immediately, then thrown off a balcony.
Children are playing in the woods when they find Emily's remains, which brings Carson back to Mrs. Parker, telling her that he's sorry, but the time of The Demon is drawing close. She accuses him of being behind all of this to keep his career going as a psychic and shoots him in the face. Well, that had really nothing to do with the other half of this film, which is becoming a riff on Halloween.
Mary and Jo go out on dates that night while The Demon gets ready for them. Mary tells Bobby, her man, that she's been getting stalked late at night. And she's right -- The Demon has, for reasons known only to him, broken in to kill Jo and rich guy Dean, then hide in the house.
You know, if I had a cool razor glove, I wouldn't suffocate people with a plastic bag like The Demon. But hey -- I'm just a writer on a web site.
It's time for this movie to go full Halloween, with The Demon chasing Mary all over the house -- up and down the stairs, through a closet, into the attic and finally through a hole in the roof. She finally makes it to the bathroom, where she builds a trap with scissors, the shower and shampoo. That's right -- The Demon is the first masked killer I've seen that is basically killed by slipping in the shower.
If you're watching this movie based on the description Mill Creek gives, you're going to be disappointed. Cameron Mitchell never gets to be the Australian Dr. Loomis, instead being felled by a housewife with a handgun. And I know that I give generous berth to the transfers on these, but even I was amazed by how long scratches would appear on the footage.
If you enjoy scenes that having nothing to do with the overall film being given the same importance as major facts, then let me recommend The Demon. Come for Cameron Mitchell, stay for Boobs Disco.
That very same killer then kills a trucker, steals all his money and gets a place in a sleazy hotel in Johannesburg. Emily's parents are frustrated by the police and turn to Bill Carson (Cameron Mitchell, the whole reason why I picked this movie), a psychic detective who was once a U.S. Marine. Of course.
Emily's mother just wants to know if her daughter is alive or dead. Her father, though, wants revenge. Carson replies that its best for the Parkers if they don't find the killer, telling them that he's pure evil. I mean, you should believe a dude who can tear up a bed like this.
The killer has moved on to an American schoolteacher named Mary (Jennifer Holmes, who was on TV's Newhart before being replaced by Julia Duffy). She first sees him outside her classroom window, as he can seemingly appear and disappear at will. And when she's not seeing killers, she's hanging out with her South African cousin who is dating Dean Turner, a rich American playboy that Mary hates.
Jo is out having fun and poor Mary is stuck at home, getting phone calls with heavy breathing and menacing knocks on her front door. Is it the killer? Or is he happy to be at home grunting, groaning, doing push-ups and shredding porno mags?
The Demon also likes to go out and try and pick up ladies. And where does he go? Boobs Disco! Yes, this was a real place. And yes, it was really called that.
We even get to hear some of Lipps Inc.'s "Funkytown" in this scene, as the killer is stopped from raping a girl by two motorists, one of whom is slashed and the other gets his motorcycle blown up real good.
Meanwhile, Cameron Mitchell is getting the most out of his ten minutes of screen time. I guess that's all the producers could afford. He creates a faceless sketch of the killer and tells the Parkers where the man lives. He warns Mr. Parker one more time, but the guy just can't listen and gets his neck snapped pretty much immediately, then thrown off a balcony.
Children are playing in the woods when they find Emily's remains, which brings Carson back to Mrs. Parker, telling her that he's sorry, but the time of The Demon is drawing close. She accuses him of being behind all of this to keep his career going as a psychic and shoots him in the face. Well, that had really nothing to do with the other half of this film, which is becoming a riff on Halloween.
Mary and Jo go out on dates that night while The Demon gets ready for them. Mary tells Bobby, her man, that she's been getting stalked late at night. And she's right -- The Demon has, for reasons known only to him, broken in to kill Jo and rich guy Dean, then hide in the house.
You know, if I had a cool razor glove, I wouldn't suffocate people with a plastic bag like The Demon. But hey -- I'm just a writer on a web site.
It's time for this movie to go full Halloween, with The Demon chasing Mary all over the house -- up and down the stairs, through a closet, into the attic and finally through a hole in the roof. She finally makes it to the bathroom, where she builds a trap with scissors, the shower and shampoo. That's right -- The Demon is the first masked killer I've seen that is basically killed by slipping in the shower.
If you're watching this movie based on the description Mill Creek gives, you're going to be disappointed. Cameron Mitchell never gets to be the Australian Dr. Loomis, instead being felled by a housewife with a handgun. And I know that I give generous berth to the transfers on these, but even I was amazed by how long scratches would appear on the footage.
If you enjoy scenes that having nothing to do with the overall film being given the same importance as major facts, then let me recommend The Demon. Come for Cameron Mitchell, stay for Boobs Disco.
What the hell is going on?
cpetr1323 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I bought this movie as part of a package deal, and I must say it reduces the value of the package immeasurably.
The "demon" is described by the wasted Cameron Mitchell as "less than a man and more than a man", which is a neat trick but is never explained. But then neither are the "demon's" motives, choice of victims, or identity.
The entire ending relies on the conceit that the to-be victim can't figure out how to get out of her OWN HOUSE. She tries to leave through one door and ends up holding the doorknob (and when the demon had time to play handyman isn't explained because that knob had to have been in place when she got home. And at one point, the woman runs into the kitchen and doesn't grab a knife or any other potential weapon...are people really this stupid? The camera work is hackneyed, scenes are shot so dark you can't see the action, and the plot evidently died with the first victim. But by all means, get this movie and see it for yourself. Why should I suffer alone?
The "demon" is described by the wasted Cameron Mitchell as "less than a man and more than a man", which is a neat trick but is never explained. But then neither are the "demon's" motives, choice of victims, or identity.
The entire ending relies on the conceit that the to-be victim can't figure out how to get out of her OWN HOUSE. She tries to leave through one door and ends up holding the doorknob (and when the demon had time to play handyman isn't explained because that knob had to have been in place when she got home. And at one point, the woman runs into the kitchen and doesn't grab a knife or any other potential weapon...are people really this stupid? The camera work is hackneyed, scenes are shot so dark you can't see the action, and the plot evidently died with the first victim. But by all means, get this movie and see it for yourself. Why should I suffer alone?
Great movie!
WritnGuy-25 September 1999
Warning: Spoilers
I rented "The Demon" expecting it to be sort of lame. (I know, you wonder, why would I rent it if I thought it was lame?) Well, I wanted to just give it a chance, anyhow. And I was quite surprised.
A man only known as the demon to the viewer stalks and kills various women. There are three real plots to this. One is the one that starts in the beginning. A family is attacked by the demon, leading to the mother attempted to be killed, and the teenage daughter captured. After that, the demon begins to stalk a young school teacher named Mary. She seems him various places, but at times, he disappears right before her eyes, and then is back again. She begins to get more agitated when she starts getting creepy phone calls, and the neighbor sees someone creeping around outside her home.
Meanwhile, an old Marine colonel with ESP (which I usually am not interested in, but liked) tries to find where the daughter is, and further more, where the killer may be. The only clue is perhaps the hotel the demon lives.
During that time, there are about two attack scenes that don't fit in. One is a pretty scary one with a woman in an alley, which is then added to by two motorcyclists that come by and happen to upset the demon. A really great scene. The other is at the hotel, and made even less sense. But let it slide.
Mary's cousin begins seeing a man, and another plot is formed. It worked well, because the characters actually had something to them, and they were more than cannon fodder. And the demon begins watching the cousin, too.
There is one murder you never expected. It's between the mother of the captured teenage girl and the colonel. A very good scene and great twist.
The end is an exciting and quite innovative climax. And then it all ends rather abruptly, but in a good way. The climax is long, but the end of it just seems to end it. Though, the end is one of the best. A reminder of the ending to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Eaten Alive" (Tobe Hooper), with constant screaming and terror.
A quite good movie. It probably takes an aquired taste to really like it. I'm sure many would find this bad. But I suggest giving it a good chance. You may be pleasantly surprised.
A man only known as the demon to the viewer stalks and kills various women. There are three real plots to this. One is the one that starts in the beginning. A family is attacked by the demon, leading to the mother attempted to be killed, and the teenage daughter captured. After that, the demon begins to stalk a young school teacher named Mary. She seems him various places, but at times, he disappears right before her eyes, and then is back again. She begins to get more agitated when she starts getting creepy phone calls, and the neighbor sees someone creeping around outside her home.
Meanwhile, an old Marine colonel with ESP (which I usually am not interested in, but liked) tries to find where the daughter is, and further more, where the killer may be. The only clue is perhaps the hotel the demon lives.
During that time, there are about two attack scenes that don't fit in. One is a pretty scary one with a woman in an alley, which is then added to by two motorcyclists that come by and happen to upset the demon. A really great scene. The other is at the hotel, and made even less sense. But let it slide.
Mary's cousin begins seeing a man, and another plot is formed. It worked well, because the characters actually had something to them, and they were more than cannon fodder. And the demon begins watching the cousin, too.
There is one murder you never expected. It's between the mother of the captured teenage girl and the colonel. A very good scene and great twist.
The end is an exciting and quite innovative climax. And then it all ends rather abruptly, but in a good way. The climax is long, but the end of it just seems to end it. Though, the end is one of the best. A reminder of the ending to "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "Eaten Alive" (Tobe Hooper), with constant screaming and terror.
A quite good movie. It probably takes an aquired taste to really like it. I'm sure many would find this bad. But I suggest giving it a good chance. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Terrible direction, lousy acting, grainy picture—and yet surprisingly fun.
BA_Harrison30 October 2011
While ex-marine turned psychic Bill Carson investigates the abduction and murder of a 14-year old girl, the hulking maniac responsible is busy stalking his next victims, gorgeous 18-year old brunette Jo (Zoli Markey) and her pretty blonde cousin, nursery teacher Mary (Jennifer Holmes).
I understand how this film has garnered so many negative reviews—it's cheap-looking, virtually gore-less, way too dark in places, way too slow in others, features far too many inexplicable shots of the ocean crashing over rocks, and stars Cameron Mitchell—not the sort of thing that would appeal to most sane viewers.
I, on the other hand, found it to be fun, partly because I've been watching a lot of cruddy horror this October and my tolerance for crap is probably at an all time high, and partly because I like the fact that the film is unpredictable and the true nature of the killer is kept a mystery (we never find out why he wears clawed gloves, yet kills using the old 'polythene bag on the head' trick).
Mostly though, I enjoyed the film because the killer's latest intended victims are a couple of hotties who have no qualms about showing some skin: Jo strips off and slips into stockings and suspenders to treat lucky boyfriend Dean (Craig Gardner), giving the viewer an eyeful as she does so, and, during the tense finale, Mary abandons her dressing gown to fool the 'demon' and makes a run for it wearing nothing but a silky pair of knickers.
Given the undeservedly poor ratings it's received so far, I'm going to be generous and award The Demon a probably-higher-than-it-really-deserves score of 6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for IMDb).
I understand how this film has garnered so many negative reviews—it's cheap-looking, virtually gore-less, way too dark in places, way too slow in others, features far too many inexplicable shots of the ocean crashing over rocks, and stars Cameron Mitchell—not the sort of thing that would appeal to most sane viewers.
I, on the other hand, found it to be fun, partly because I've been watching a lot of cruddy horror this October and my tolerance for crap is probably at an all time high, and partly because I like the fact that the film is unpredictable and the true nature of the killer is kept a mystery (we never find out why he wears clawed gloves, yet kills using the old 'polythene bag on the head' trick).
Mostly though, I enjoyed the film because the killer's latest intended victims are a couple of hotties who have no qualms about showing some skin: Jo strips off and slips into stockings and suspenders to treat lucky boyfriend Dean (Craig Gardner), giving the viewer an eyeful as she does so, and, during the tense finale, Mary abandons her dressing gown to fool the 'demon' and makes a run for it wearing nothing but a silky pair of knickers.
Given the undeservedly poor ratings it's received so far, I'm going to be generous and award The Demon a probably-higher-than-it-really-deserves score of 6.5 out of 10 (rounded up to 7 for IMDb).
Worst Horror Film Ever!
equalizer515013 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I used to think it was The Howling 3 or 4 (the one where they square dance throughout the movie) but now I have seen the worst EVER!!!!!!!!!! Terrible! The star dies right away, the movie shifts plots and then simply ends as though they ran out of money! If you ever want to play a trick on someone, recommend this movie. It's so bad, after it ends, you'll sit there deciding whether to laugh or be mad and want the last hour and 30 minutes of your life back. IMDb wants at least 10 lines about this movie? This will be putting more effort into the review than the directer did in the whole movie. The movie starts out interesting and quickly takes a downward spiral into an empty hole that leaves you scratching your head. Unless you are a collector of VERY bad movies, stay clear of this waste of time. Shame on the creators of this film! If it were released today, Full Moon Productions would turn it down! Awful...just plain awful!
"The time of the demon...our demon, is drawing near."
Backlash00725 March 2003
Warning: Spoilers
~Spoiler~
Horror legend Percival Rubens brings us...The Demon. Actually I've never heard of Percival Rubens but he has a great name. Say it with me: Percival Rubens. You know you love it. The Demon is your typical late seventies slasher flick/Halloween clone: bad lighting, ominous music, and all around poorly done. I just completely lost interest in the movie less than halfway through. The gist of the story, from what I could gather, is a guy in a blank white mask (that appears and disappears at will) who stalks and kills lovely young women. Did I mention that it's a Halloween clone? Cameron Mitchell (who looks strangely like William Shatner) even plays a Loomis-type character who has ESP and is tracking the Demon. My only question is if the guy has ESP, how come he didn't see his death coming? The box claims it's "Not to be watched alone! Contains graphic violence, nudity, and explicit language and blood, blood, and more blood." I'll give you the real low down on the disclaimer. You can't watch it alone because you will go insane. This is the type of film you have to watch in a group to at least get some Mystery Science Theater enjoyment out of it. The nudity the disclaimer prepares you for was added for American audiences. I found that hilarious. And as for the blood, WHAT blood? If there is any, the lighting is so terrible that I couldn't see it. Some other parts I found funny involve an exploding motorcycle that only bumped into a wall and a group of thugs attacking the Demon for no reason. He, of course, kills them all so I guess the Demon was a crime-fighter as well. Yeah, I'm lost too. You can stay away from The Demon.
Note for genre buffs: A marquis in the background of one scene shows The Amityville Horror is playing at the cinema.
Horror legend Percival Rubens brings us...The Demon. Actually I've never heard of Percival Rubens but he has a great name. Say it with me: Percival Rubens. You know you love it. The Demon is your typical late seventies slasher flick/Halloween clone: bad lighting, ominous music, and all around poorly done. I just completely lost interest in the movie less than halfway through. The gist of the story, from what I could gather, is a guy in a blank white mask (that appears and disappears at will) who stalks and kills lovely young women. Did I mention that it's a Halloween clone? Cameron Mitchell (who looks strangely like William Shatner) even plays a Loomis-type character who has ESP and is tracking the Demon. My only question is if the guy has ESP, how come he didn't see his death coming? The box claims it's "Not to be watched alone! Contains graphic violence, nudity, and explicit language and blood, blood, and more blood." I'll give you the real low down on the disclaimer. You can't watch it alone because you will go insane. This is the type of film you have to watch in a group to at least get some Mystery Science Theater enjoyment out of it. The nudity the disclaimer prepares you for was added for American audiences. I found that hilarious. And as for the blood, WHAT blood? If there is any, the lighting is so terrible that I couldn't see it. Some other parts I found funny involve an exploding motorcycle that only bumped into a wall and a group of thugs attacking the Demon for no reason. He, of course, kills them all so I guess the Demon was a crime-fighter as well. Yeah, I'm lost too. You can stay away from The Demon.
Note for genre buffs: A marquis in the background of one scene shows The Amityville Horror is playing at the cinema.
disjointed mess
kairingler6 July 2013
first off the only thing this movie has going for it , is the scantily clad half naked women... other than that, it's wretched,, it's seems to start off decent enough with a killer kidnapping a teen girl,, later on we find out she was killed,, fair enough,, a psychic was brought in to investigate and all of that.. but then suddenly out of left field,, comes a second plot, which heads nowhere some guy hiding behind shadows starts stalking the cute teacher,, and we don't know if it's the same guy who took the girl.. it goes from being a movie about a psychic trying to help to some other guy stalking a teacher,, this movie has so many plot holes it isn't funny ,, this is so very hard to watch when you have no idea in the world what is going on.
It's less then more and yet more then less!
sol-kay19 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
(There may be Spoilers) Looking as if it's two different movies, both ridicules, rolled into one "The Demon" is about as mindless of a film that you'll ever come across and so badly constructed that it wouldn't even make it on the Mystery Science 3000 bad movie TV show. Cameron Mitchell obviously needing a paycheck and a free vacation in sunny Capetown South Africa plays this psychic detective Col. Bill Carson hired to both find the kidnapped daughter, Emily, of Mr & Mrs Parker, Peter J. Elliot & Molra Winslow, and the person who kidnapped her. Having been abducted by this faceless psycho Emily is feared to have been killed and the killer is expected to come back to the Parker home to finish the job, murdering the entire family, that he at first started.
Carson showing up at the Parker house goes into some kind of mombo-jumbo act getting on all fours sniffing and licking, just like a bloodhound, objects as well as ripping up the sheets and pillow cases with his teeth in and around Emily's room. Carson comes up with this startling conclusion to who, he's sure that she's been murdered, Emily's killer is saying this about him as if he's in awe of the killer : "He's less then a man and at the same time more much more", whatever that means.
Mr. Parker figuring out just where he can find the killer, from a number of Carson's psychic drawings, goes it alone to this creepy hotel in downtown Capetown only to get himself killed by the killer who catches him by surprise. Later a boy playing solider in the woods finds the skeletal remains of Emily's body hidden up on a tree. Mrs Parker is so pi**ed off at Carson for him and his meddling getting her husband killed that when he comes over to pays his respects she shoots the startled psychic right between the eyes. After all that we never see her or anyone else involved with the Parkers and Carson again in the movie.
The same killer, or what seems to be him, is then seen stalking this kindergarten teacher Mary, Jennifer Holmes, and after a few minutes you get the impression that your watching a double-feature with Mary and the persons that she's associated with having nothing at all to do with Col. Carson and the Parkers! In fact Mary looks as if she's in another movie altogether! We never see her and the Parker's or Col. Carson together or even as much as even mention them!
Going first after Mary then her young cousin Jo, Zoli Markl, as well as her poor little rich boyfriend Dean, Craig Gardner, the unseen and unknown serial killer is given no reason, or attempt, to murder them other then kill them off to raise the body-count.
Eariler, after murdering Mr. Parker, the killer for some reason goes on a rampage in the Capetown night-club and red-light district attacking and possibly murdering a number of persons, workers and tourists, including a go-go dancer for no reason at all but what seems for him to keep in shape for the films climatic bloodbath!
Like in most slasher films the killer, wearing what looks like a transparent rubber mask, goes into action murdering almost everyone in the cast which are the people in the second half of the movie. Only the plucky and topless Mary, who after getting away from him, surprises the psycho in her bathroom sticking him in the throat with a pair of scissors and shoving him into the overflowing bathtub where he eventually drowns.
Were given the impression when the movie ends that the killer survived, together with his mask, and is soon going to be back to haunt and terrorize us yet again in a sequel! After some 25 years after "The Demon" was released we can all now be certain that isn't about to happen now or any time soon and we can all thank God for that!
Carson showing up at the Parker house goes into some kind of mombo-jumbo act getting on all fours sniffing and licking, just like a bloodhound, objects as well as ripping up the sheets and pillow cases with his teeth in and around Emily's room. Carson comes up with this startling conclusion to who, he's sure that she's been murdered, Emily's killer is saying this about him as if he's in awe of the killer : "He's less then a man and at the same time more much more", whatever that means.
Mr. Parker figuring out just where he can find the killer, from a number of Carson's psychic drawings, goes it alone to this creepy hotel in downtown Capetown only to get himself killed by the killer who catches him by surprise. Later a boy playing solider in the woods finds the skeletal remains of Emily's body hidden up on a tree. Mrs Parker is so pi**ed off at Carson for him and his meddling getting her husband killed that when he comes over to pays his respects she shoots the startled psychic right between the eyes. After all that we never see her or anyone else involved with the Parkers and Carson again in the movie.
The same killer, or what seems to be him, is then seen stalking this kindergarten teacher Mary, Jennifer Holmes, and after a few minutes you get the impression that your watching a double-feature with Mary and the persons that she's associated with having nothing at all to do with Col. Carson and the Parkers! In fact Mary looks as if she's in another movie altogether! We never see her and the Parker's or Col. Carson together or even as much as even mention them!
Going first after Mary then her young cousin Jo, Zoli Markl, as well as her poor little rich boyfriend Dean, Craig Gardner, the unseen and unknown serial killer is given no reason, or attempt, to murder them other then kill them off to raise the body-count.
Eariler, after murdering Mr. Parker, the killer for some reason goes on a rampage in the Capetown night-club and red-light district attacking and possibly murdering a number of persons, workers and tourists, including a go-go dancer for no reason at all but what seems for him to keep in shape for the films climatic bloodbath!
Like in most slasher films the killer, wearing what looks like a transparent rubber mask, goes into action murdering almost everyone in the cast which are the people in the second half of the movie. Only the plucky and topless Mary, who after getting away from him, surprises the psycho in her bathroom sticking him in the throat with a pair of scissors and shoving him into the overflowing bathtub where he eventually drowns.
Were given the impression when the movie ends that the killer survived, together with his mask, and is soon going to be back to haunt and terrorize us yet again in a sequel! After some 25 years after "The Demon" was released we can all now be certain that isn't about to happen now or any time soon and we can all thank God for that!
Zoli Marki is gorgeous
Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki12 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This South African flick seems like two short films (maybe even unfinished films?) strung together, with no connection between either one of them. The first part of the movie was about a missing girl and a psychic guy trying to find her and her abductor. The psychic is just filler material, as he's killed probably a half an hour before the ending of the movie. Most of the photography in the first few scenes consists of single, unedited master shots (wide angle) with very little in the way of editing, which is why I say that it looks almost like an unfinished film. Then a second movie dealing with a killer stalking another girl starts up, with no obvious connection between the two. Better photographed but still dark, we mostly see two hot girls going about their daily lives in stupefyingly boring detail. One hour and 13 minutes into this 90 minute movie it does kind of pick up, with a little bit of suspense, albeit the climax is just stupid: a nude girl wearing a shower curtain over her head stabs the killer with a pair of scissors after blinding him by spritzing him with a shower nozzle?! What?
The dark haired girl (Zoli Marki) is gorgeous, and the blonde girl (whose name I can't figure out) is also cute and has very sexy green eyes, and they both appear topless several times throughout- that, and the little bit of suspense in the last 15 minutes is all this movie had going for it. The fact that the killer is never identified doesn't help matters either, he's just another anonymous killer in a mask (which appears and disappears between shots) stalking 20-something year old girls for no apparent reason. Congratulations to anyone who can figure out what the title has to do with the movie, because the "demon" in the title was just some guy in a mask wearing some kind of claw thing on his hands.
The dark haired girl (Zoli Marki) is gorgeous, and the blonde girl (whose name I can't figure out) is also cute and has very sexy green eyes, and they both appear topless several times throughout- that, and the little bit of suspense in the last 15 minutes is all this movie had going for it. The fact that the killer is never identified doesn't help matters either, he's just another anonymous killer in a mask (which appears and disappears between shots) stalking 20-something year old girls for no apparent reason. Congratulations to anyone who can figure out what the title has to do with the movie, because the "demon" in the title was just some guy in a mask wearing some kind of claw thing on his hands.
Yet another lousy "Mike Myers" wannabe (2-10)
andybob-323 December 2001
Yet another attempt to duplicate "Halloween", and like most other rip-offs its unimaginative, pointless and extremely boring. It's claims of the victims being "made to experience their worst fears while being tortured to death" are a blatant lie and have nothing to do with what actually happens, not to mention this film is virtually gore-free. And despite the title there's nothing supernatural about the killer other than the fact he's very strong and likes to growl, but those are probably the least of this movie's problems. Only points of interests are the film's unbelievably amateurish editing and Cameron Mitchell's laughably bad performance. 2 out of 10, bad by even "Halloween" rip-off standards and overall just incredibly boring, don't waste your time and money.
This film couldn't stink more if it were the body target in a game of scat darts!
chris-319325 January 2006
I happened to stumble across this toss, oh I mean 'movie', while buying 'House on haunted hill' for 1.49 in my local Post Office with a buy one get one free sticker on it. After toying with the idea of coupling it with some ropey old feel-good b/w fare, I saw the rather vibrant and inviting cover of 'The Demon'. Over the years I have become quite enamoured with the 'Ropey Horror' genre and slipped it into the player with a "it can't be as bad as Camp blood 2" type comment dribbling from my mouth. Straight into the action and I was expecting at least some c grade monster but no, all it is is a rather tall, inbred, Cornish sex pest! I could go on to describe the film for you but other people on this page have already done that with way more skill and grace than I could ever dream.Comfort yourself with the thought that you have just watched the most badly produced horror film ever(and there's been some stiff competition over the years re:'Granny'. Dreadful script, acting, music, camera-work. In fact so desperate is the lighting man to disguise the fact that the 'Demon' has zero make up that half the set on some shots is black. This makes 'Nursie' look like a multiple Golden Globe winner and so awful that catching the deadliest Ebola virus seems appealing by comparison! Avoid this piffle at all cost's! -99 out of 10.
Greatest club name ever: Boobs Disco
Zeegrade27 January 2010
Warning: Spoilers
What a mess this one is! This South African production appears to be two movies put together with only the relation to the "Demon" connecting both the stories. The first part of the film concerns the family of Emily Parker who was kidnapped during an evening home invasion by a tall man that may or may not wear a mask and may or may not have gloves with blades sewn onto the ends of the fingertips even though he chooses to strangle his victims anyway. Confused yet? Yeah, this is a real doozy. Anyway, the Parkers enlist the aid of Col. Bill Carson (B-movie royalty Cameron Mitchell slumming for a paycheck so he can afford some Capetown prostitutes one would guess) a former Marine with ESP who can pick up the "vibes as the kids like to say" of the crime. This begins Col. Carson's bizarre trances and seemingly useless psychic drivel, "he's less than a man, yet more than one - much more". Thanks, that really helps. At one point Carson has a creepy extrasensory wet dream in Emily's room complete with tearing pieces of her clothing and sniffing them while sweating profusely. Luckily he didn't find her panty drawer. Mrs. Parker becomes apprehensive when Carson turns up no leads as her husband seems more concerned with catching the kidnapper rather than finding his daughter. Mr. Parker pursues the killer to his apartment thanks to a vision Carson had and is promptly dispatched by the hulking madman. When Carson returns to the Parker residence to speak with the newly widowed Mrs. Parker he is shot in the head for no reason whatsoever. You trusted a psychic instead of the police, what the hell did you expect? Maybe, I dunno, you're fired? Thus ends the Col. Carson/Parker storyline with about a half hour to go.
The bulk of the movie centers on Mary, an American teacher that is being followed a la Halloween by the Demon/Strangler/badguy whatever. Mary works with her eighteen year old cousin Jo who speaks curiously with a South Afrikan accent. Jo is dating some rich American playboy which is useless to the plot yet gets a stunning amount of screen time instead of establishing why the killer has targeted Mary and what motivates him to murder various customers of the town's redlight district. I appreciate the fact that the various nude scenes placed throughout the film were added strictly for the American version as both ladies' extended nude scenes broke up the monotony of the bloodless murders and boring date footage (What, no mini golf scene?). It doesn't matter as all the attention paid to Jo's courtship are dashed when she's murdered anyway along with her new boyfriend. Mary is a little clueless as well. If some beast of a man was stalking you would you fling the front door open in the middle of the night at the slightest knock? Mary does quite frequently. The finale features the Demon sometimes in a mask and sometimes not toying with Mary suddenly when he killed every other victim quickly allowing her to escape through the house wearing just her panties. Can't say I'm complaining but I'm just a lowbrow American. (Smiling wryly)
The editing is so disjointed that it's hard to get your bearings while watching this train wreck. Scenes such as the waves crashing into the shoreline rocks appear here and there for no explicable reason that I could see. At one point two boys playing soldier stumble upon a skeleton in a tree with a blonde wig on it. Who the hell is that supposed to be? There is no insight into the Demon as well. Was he really a supernatural force or just some psycho that grunted and growled a lot? The movie never gives a clear answer. Cameron Mitchell's gonzo performance is one of the only saving graces of this movie. He's just so over the top with his psychic theatrics. Hope that check didn't bounce Cam. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to this disco that's right up my alley.
The bulk of the movie centers on Mary, an American teacher that is being followed a la Halloween by the Demon/Strangler/badguy whatever. Mary works with her eighteen year old cousin Jo who speaks curiously with a South Afrikan accent. Jo is dating some rich American playboy which is useless to the plot yet gets a stunning amount of screen time instead of establishing why the killer has targeted Mary and what motivates him to murder various customers of the town's redlight district. I appreciate the fact that the various nude scenes placed throughout the film were added strictly for the American version as both ladies' extended nude scenes broke up the monotony of the bloodless murders and boring date footage (What, no mini golf scene?). It doesn't matter as all the attention paid to Jo's courtship are dashed when she's murdered anyway along with her new boyfriend. Mary is a little clueless as well. If some beast of a man was stalking you would you fling the front door open in the middle of the night at the slightest knock? Mary does quite frequently. The finale features the Demon sometimes in a mask and sometimes not toying with Mary suddenly when he killed every other victim quickly allowing her to escape through the house wearing just her panties. Can't say I'm complaining but I'm just a lowbrow American. (Smiling wryly)
The editing is so disjointed that it's hard to get your bearings while watching this train wreck. Scenes such as the waves crashing into the shoreline rocks appear here and there for no explicable reason that I could see. At one point two boys playing soldier stumble upon a skeleton in a tree with a blonde wig on it. Who the hell is that supposed to be? There is no insight into the Demon as well. Was he really a supernatural force or just some psycho that grunted and growled a lot? The movie never gives a clear answer. Cameron Mitchell's gonzo performance is one of the only saving graces of this movie. He's just so over the top with his psychic theatrics. Hope that check didn't bounce Cam. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to this disco that's right up my alley.
Below Average South African Slasher.
meddlecore21 November 2020
A serial killer is plaguing the South African countryside, killing indiscriminately.
Using a plastic bag to suffocate people.
However, when one girl gets kidnapped by this monster, her family hires a medium, who possesses the power of ESP...with hopes that he might be able to provide them with answers, where the police have failed.
Through his process, the medium discerns that the man responsible for this series of heinous acts, is a human aberration.
A demon, in the flesh.
The girl's mother just wants her daughter back.
But her father wants vengeance.
The medium uses his powers to get inside the man's head.
To become him, in a sense.
All while this devil continues to prey on the innocent and unsuspecting.
There's just one problem...he can never manage to see the man's face.
The question is...is he even a man?
Or, rather, a shadow being, that is so evil, it is able to manifest itself into a physical form?
Either way, two beautiful young primary school teachers seem to be this vicious killer's next targets.
Just as the missing girl's father uses the information provided by the medium to track this evil entity, in the form of a man, down.
However, he does not heed the warning that, if he were to do this, he would not come back alive...
Thus, as one person after another dies...only one person he has targeted remains alive.
So, it is up to them, to stop this demonic force, before he kills anyone else.
It's not exactly the most engaging slasher of all-time.
Though, it has a spooky atmosphere, that is both dark and brooding.
The end does have a decent amount of action.
But, as far as slashers go, it's only about the middle of the field.
5 out of 10.
Using a plastic bag to suffocate people.
However, when one girl gets kidnapped by this monster, her family hires a medium, who possesses the power of ESP...with hopes that he might be able to provide them with answers, where the police have failed.
Through his process, the medium discerns that the man responsible for this series of heinous acts, is a human aberration.
A demon, in the flesh.
The girl's mother just wants her daughter back.
But her father wants vengeance.
The medium uses his powers to get inside the man's head.
To become him, in a sense.
All while this devil continues to prey on the innocent and unsuspecting.
There's just one problem...he can never manage to see the man's face.
The question is...is he even a man?
Or, rather, a shadow being, that is so evil, it is able to manifest itself into a physical form?
Either way, two beautiful young primary school teachers seem to be this vicious killer's next targets.
Just as the missing girl's father uses the information provided by the medium to track this evil entity, in the form of a man, down.
However, he does not heed the warning that, if he were to do this, he would not come back alive...
Thus, as one person after another dies...only one person he has targeted remains alive.
So, it is up to them, to stop this demonic force, before he kills anyone else.
It's not exactly the most engaging slasher of all-time.
Though, it has a spooky atmosphere, that is both dark and brooding.
The end does have a decent amount of action.
But, as far as slashers go, it's only about the middle of the field.
5 out of 10.
I don't get it
TheMikeJustice1 November 1999
Warning: Spoilers
I just didn't get this movie. The identity of "The Demon" is never explained. His motives are never explained. The nature of his very existence is never explained. It's never made clear whether he is a "demon" in the traditional sense of the word, or just a really mean man who, although he wears gloves outfitted with metal claws, prefers to kill people by sticking ziplock baggies on their heads. Odd subplots and diversions abound, the South African setting is completely arbitrary, and a general feeling of "why was this movie made" lingers. The "demon," by the way, looks like Charles Grodin and wears a rubber mask, even though his identity isn't an issue. It's never explained why blond American Jennifer Holmes has a brunette South African cousin or why she's even in the country in the first place. This film is as obscure as they come and is almost always omitted in reference books and it's no wonder why.
The demon is decent
leathermusic6 November 2005
Most people reviewing this movie panned it. Fair enough, the plot is clichéd, not much gore, kinda slow. But I liked the atmosphere, and the dialog, especially the Cameron Mitchell stuff, is good for sampling. "The time of the demon, our demon is close at hand" "she's high, high up, she's floating, floating" And unlike others, I found that the filmmakers made good use of the South African location. All in all, a creepy atmospheric cheese ball of a movie, well written, well acted and well filmed on an almost nonexistent budget. I feel as if i now know how it feels to be a young south African school teacher being stalked by a shadowy creep in the late 70's.
Utterly tedious, pointless picture
michaeldouglas129 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Yes, this review definitely contains some spoilers. But this movie is so inconsequential, there's not much here to even 'spoil'! Made in the wake of Halloween, and covers some of the same territory. Starts out fairly well, with a teenage girl abducted, and her parents seek the help of a retired Marine colonel who happens to have ESP and apparently has assisted police on past cases. Okay, ex-Marine... and perennial "tough guy" Cameron Mitchell... yeah, this could at least have possibilities. Aside from Cameron Mitchell's usual hammy performance, so far so good. Shades of the old 1972 TV series "The Sixth Sense" (which starred Gary Collins as the psychic investigator). Cameron Mitchell goes around the the kidnapped girl's room, touching things, and picking up vibes and visions and so forth. Again, not too bad... yet.
Mitchell senses the girl is dead, but then starts telling the distraught parents that he thinks the killer is a "demon" and spouting malarkey like "He's less than a man... but more than a man"... and this movie starts to sink. What are the parents to think of this nonsense? He provides the vengeance-seeking father with just enough clues for the father to seek out the killer (alone, BTW. Our heroic ESP ex-Marine is nowhere to be found by then). The father is of course killed, himself -- which Cameron Mitchell had warned him of, obviously to no avail. Then in the most pointless scene in the movie, Cameron Mitchell returns to the parents' house, babbling to the mother about "the time of the demon" is now beginning. The mother cuts him off, telling him she thinks he's a phony and a coward (and insinuating maybe he even killed her husband). Then she pulls out a gun and shoots poor Cameron dead! Exit Cameron Mitchell... Exit any coherence in the story-line.
At this point, the plot swings over to two women living together (I think the younger one is the niece of the older one, or something like that), who also work together at the same school. We then get treated to like 45 minutes of them, and their relationships with a couple of guys, which is boring in the extreme. We see a few "menacing" shots of the psycho killer outside the school, and at a store where one of them is shopping. These people are so blah that the audience never feels "engaged" in their lives, and consequently couldn't care less what happens to them. Okay, the producers DO throw in some topless scenes, I guess to try and maintain some interest level with the audience. Man, but talk about your "gratuitous" nudity...
Finally, just as we're getting to "know and care about" these women (lol), the killer strikes. (After nearly falling asleep, all I could think of was: "about damned time!"). First he dispatches the younger one and her boyfriend with ease. Then in typical slasher-movie fashion, this seemingly ultra-competent psycho can't finish off the last intended victim. She runs around the house for 15 minutes, alternately screaming or trying to hide, and always evading him. Meanwhile some old coot of a neighbor hears the ruckus, talks about it for awhile with his sleepy wife, but in the end does nothing about it. (More 'time filler'?). Our "heroine" manages to lay a clever trap for the psycho in the bathroom, spreading slippery shampoo and turning a water hose from the sink onto the floor. The killer breaks in, slips, and goes right onto the scissors she's holding. He falls into the bathtub and expires. The gal runs out of the house as her boyfriend shows up, and the end credits roll.
That's it??? We don't even get the "obligatory" twist ending? So this 'oh-so-menacing' killer was nothing but the standard psycho, and all Cameron Mitchell's talk of demons and the supernatural was just a red herring? As one IMDb reviewer noted, it's almost like they started off in one direction, then half-way thru the film they 'changed gears' entirely, and we end up with a whole different movie. Yet what they ended up with is a total bore-fest. Do yourself a favor and skip this one... it's really not worth an hour and a half of your time.
Mitchell senses the girl is dead, but then starts telling the distraught parents that he thinks the killer is a "demon" and spouting malarkey like "He's less than a man... but more than a man"... and this movie starts to sink. What are the parents to think of this nonsense? He provides the vengeance-seeking father with just enough clues for the father to seek out the killer (alone, BTW. Our heroic ESP ex-Marine is nowhere to be found by then). The father is of course killed, himself -- which Cameron Mitchell had warned him of, obviously to no avail. Then in the most pointless scene in the movie, Cameron Mitchell returns to the parents' house, babbling to the mother about "the time of the demon" is now beginning. The mother cuts him off, telling him she thinks he's a phony and a coward (and insinuating maybe he even killed her husband). Then she pulls out a gun and shoots poor Cameron dead! Exit Cameron Mitchell... Exit any coherence in the story-line.
At this point, the plot swings over to two women living together (I think the younger one is the niece of the older one, or something like that), who also work together at the same school. We then get treated to like 45 minutes of them, and their relationships with a couple of guys, which is boring in the extreme. We see a few "menacing" shots of the psycho killer outside the school, and at a store where one of them is shopping. These people are so blah that the audience never feels "engaged" in their lives, and consequently couldn't care less what happens to them. Okay, the producers DO throw in some topless scenes, I guess to try and maintain some interest level with the audience. Man, but talk about your "gratuitous" nudity...
Finally, just as we're getting to "know and care about" these women (lol), the killer strikes. (After nearly falling asleep, all I could think of was: "about damned time!"). First he dispatches the younger one and her boyfriend with ease. Then in typical slasher-movie fashion, this seemingly ultra-competent psycho can't finish off the last intended victim. She runs around the house for 15 minutes, alternately screaming or trying to hide, and always evading him. Meanwhile some old coot of a neighbor hears the ruckus, talks about it for awhile with his sleepy wife, but in the end does nothing about it. (More 'time filler'?). Our "heroine" manages to lay a clever trap for the psycho in the bathroom, spreading slippery shampoo and turning a water hose from the sink onto the floor. The killer breaks in, slips, and goes right onto the scissors she's holding. He falls into the bathtub and expires. The gal runs out of the house as her boyfriend shows up, and the end credits roll.
That's it??? We don't even get the "obligatory" twist ending? So this 'oh-so-menacing' killer was nothing but the standard psycho, and all Cameron Mitchell's talk of demons and the supernatural was just a red herring? As one IMDb reviewer noted, it's almost like they started off in one direction, then half-way thru the film they 'changed gears' entirely, and we end up with a whole different movie. Yet what they ended up with is a total bore-fest. Do yourself a favor and skip this one... it's really not worth an hour and a half of your time.
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