Curse of the Demon

Curse of the Demon...1957...95 minutes...starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, and Athene Sayler...written by Charles Bennett, Hal E. Chester, and Cy Endfield...directed by Jacques Tourneur

Dr. John Holden has headed to a London psychological symposium to debunk cult leader Julian Karswell, stressing the power of the rational mind to see through Karswell's supposed supernatural powers.  Holden  meets the niece of an associate, Professor Henry Harrington, and Holden and Joanna find themselves working together not only to expose Karswell but to understand the mysterious circumstances surrounding Professor Harrington's death. Karswell passed a parchment to the older Harrington with mystic runes inscribed upon it,  runes that are supposed to attract a demon to slay the holder of the parchment...and now the same fate is to befall Dr. Holden. Is there dark magic at work, or is Karswell simply an expert at manipulating the minds of those around him?

I will make no bones that I find this an excellent movie, although I do constantly wish that the studio had let Tourneur have his way and not insist upon having a monster in the film. I believe that it's fairly obvious that these sequences aren't a smooth fit, and the insertion really takes away from the whole debate: supernatural or psychological? I think it would have been a much better movie if the viewer could fit his/her own ideas on to what really happened by the end of the movie.

Even so, there are some sequences in the movie that are cinematic gold. The one that always comes to mind is Karswell at his estate, dressed like a clown and having just performed stage magic, summoning up a storm out of nowhere. Of course, Holden is having none of it, thinking the magician is simply an expert of prediction and timing. Overall, it's a tight story, and in a time when we have reality shows like Ghost Hunters on the air, I submit that it's primary conflict holds up as relevant.

And yes, the sample dialogue at the start of Kate Bush's "Hounds Of Love" is pulled from this movie.

I give this movie 4 slippery slips of paper out of 5.