Richie-67-485852 I like Dana Andrews. Then, I like these type of pictures where there are ancient writings, curses and things we don't understand so we mock and dismiss them until they come a calling. Well that is what happens here. All investigators for the paranormal start out as skeptics until they have an experience they cannot explain. Here, you can explain it and be glad about it as it applies to you unless it wants to know you better. The Demon does a great job of scare-doom tactics and doesn't bother anyone until it is summoned usually for bad reasons. What I find interesting that you have a set of rules under which it comes and if not followed can backfire and if followed someone ends up having a real bad day. This movie covers that and more too. It moves at a steady pace and yes there is a pesky woman, séances, warnings and for 1957, this was to be part of a double feature. Watch this because it is a....

sol- Skeptical of black magic, devil worship and superstition, an arrogant psychologist gradually begins to question his scientific convictions after the mysterious death of a colleague in this horror thriller from Jacques Tourneur. The film has been criticised over the years for overtly showing the title demon given that Tourneur's earlier 'Cat People' was a pioneer psychological horror movie where everything was implied rather than explicitly shown. Emerging from smoke and clouds, the demon is utterly unsettling though and adds a welcome degree of creepiness to the tale even if its appearance obliterates all ambiguity. Its appearance also adds more dread to the tale with Dana Andrews coming off as foolish in his attempt to rationalise everything and suspense coming from the question of whether he will open up his mind to the possibility of black magic being real before it is too late. In fact, the only significant drawback of the film is how difficult a character Andrews is to like with his smug and frequently condescending attitude and demeanour. Niall MacGinnis is delightful with his questioning of "where does imagination end and reality begin?" and the final ten or so minutes of the movie are utterly intense with a strong sense of impending doom. Several images from this final stretch are absolutely haunting and linger in the mind long after the film has concluded.

grampa1956 I had not watched this film for many years until I watched it tonight on the Internet. A true horror GEM that probably gets overlooked! Dana Andrews and the rest of the mostly British cast are all great. Andrews is extremely stalwart, with a jaw that could probably knock a demon over with one thrust! I know this sounds like I'm making fun of the film or Andrews but I'm not: he was made to fit the part of the skeptical scientist and man of reason who sudden finds himself cursed and doomed to die in only 3 days at the hand of a demon.It's interesting watching his character slowly begin to realize that all his nay-saying of the "black arts" has totally been turned on its head. Lots of mood here, heightened by the decision to film in black and white and having much of the action happen at night.The special effects may seem dated to some but impressive for 1957, in a film whose major expense was probably paying Andrews to be in it.In the past few years, films like "The Conjuring" have, reputedly, brought some new "intelligent" films into the genre. I think this started with "Sinister" from a few years back.Hopefully, we'll see the end of the "Unstoppable Slasher" films that were churned out a decade or so back.I really like this film and it needs to be remade/updated! Perhaps with Anthony Hopkins as the villain, Of course, as has been seen before, a reboot doesn't necessarily mean greatness but... who knows?

jason-210 I realise this film has its fans and they will downvote this review. It's not that the monster effects are bad. Well, they are, but this is not what ruins the film. What ruins it is the fact that the monster is fully revealed within the first 5 or 6 minutes. The smoke effects were scary enough - we didn't need to see more. By revealing a cross-eyed rubber giant right at the beginning, the film lost much of its power to engage and frighten. They could have saved this disappointment for the end, after we had had the chance to enjoy the films many merits. I guess the producer wanted to see all his money on the screen from the start. Had they chosen not to show the demon at all, this film might have been a masterpiece.As horror writer H.P. Lovecraft once said: "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown". Having something unknown, undefined and not entirely visible after us is far more unsettling than something we can see and define.Even the author of the original story upon which this film is based, M.R. James, never described the demon, but rather left it to our imagination, with only hint here or there as to its appearance. James, the master of the Ghost Story, wrote all his stories like that. In his essay on writing fiction, James said "...our ghost should make himself felt by gradual stirrings diffusing an atmosphere of uneasiness before the final flash or stab of horror." All of James's stories follow this rule, so it's somewhat disappointing to see this fundamental rule broken in this adaptation of one of his classics.