Night of the Demons 1988 - REVIEW

If you are a horror fan and you think about Halloween of course you think of Michael Myers but Night of the Demons is always a good Halloween film that comes to mind.  Kevin Tenney had just put out his first movie Witchboard and went back to the horror genre again with NOTD and made his mark yet again at the end of the slasher craze of the 80's.

Angela (Amelia Kincade) and her friend Suzanne (Linnea Quigley) have decided to throw a little Halloween party at the infamous haunted house in town called Hull House.  Like any normal party it has party food, music and demons.  A Halloween party isn't the same without demons right?  Suzanne and Angela quickly become possessed by the demon in the house and everyone is in for the party of their lives or death if you will.  To make it out alive you have to climb the brick wall and get over the underground stream.  Seems easy enough.  Will anyone make it out alive?

This film is really a hidden gem that does not get the credit that it really deserves.  It has everything from the 80's that slasher fans love.  A good looking final girl, blood, and most of all nudity.  What was really unique about NOTD was fact that it wasn't a normal slasher film.  There was not a masked killer walking around picking off people one by one.  As more characters die in this one the more killers you have because they turn to demons once they die.  Don't get me wrong I am a sucker for a masked killer stalking campers in the woods but this was brilliant and was breath of fresh air at a time when the slasher craze was starting to dwindle.

One of the many bright spots of this film was the cast.  All of which are no names at the time like most slasher films but they all performed so well together.  The standout performance in this one was Linnea Quigley in my opinion.  She was the first one that turned and played the part of the demon great.  The final girl Cathy Podewell gave a good performance but really was not the strong final girl you would expect.  Not trying to take anything away from her but she is no Heather Lagenkamp.

NOTD was just released on Blu Ray this week by Scream Factory and they did it again bringing another great classic to Blu Ray.  The transfer looks great and has a featurette for the Making of which I can say is fantastic.  Any fan of this movie will be more than happy with this collector's edition release.  I give this film 9 out of 10 stars.  I am not sure I have ever rated a film that high till now.  Stay twisted everyone!