Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai


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Night of the Demon (1957)

It has been written since the beginning of time, even unto these ancient stones, that evil supernatural creatures exist in a world of darkness. And it is also said man using the magic power of the ancient runic symbols can call forth these powers of darkness, the demons of Hell.

 

The real problem with Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon, originally supposed to be called The Haunted) is, of course, the demon. Director Jacques Tourneur of Cat People fame was all against it, but the producer apparently ignored the director’s choice, and had the scenes with the demon that bookend the movie shot by a second unit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFlzcyd0yqA

The demon looks cheap and fake and borders on laugh-out-loud ridiculous, and it’s a pity, because without it Night of the Demon would be an otherwise impeccable horror movie.
As things stand, it’s still one of the best horror thrillers ever produced.
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Election day

It’s election day here in Italy.
We are snowed in, I am nursing a damaged wrist and typing with two fingers, but we did go and do our duty.
It’s a weird time here in Italy, and I see dark clouds gathering.
And it does get to you – sit here, write fantasy stories while the nation sinks back into its bad habits. What’s the sense of it?
But then I say to myself, what the heck, we can still write about ideas, and imagine solutions, and not just problems.
So here we go.
I’ll let Marc Bolan express my feelings at the moment…