Maria's B-Movie Mayhem-Night of the Demon [DVD] [1980] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I never knew of Night of the Demon till the one and only James Rolfe reviewed it for his annual Monster Madness. I've always been interested by Bigfoot, but let's face it: The majority of Bigfoot movies are pretty bad. Now, by technical standards, and just plain old good taste standards- This movie is awful. It is vile, graphically violent, mean spirited, and totally distasteful at times. But this is why I love it. Every other Sasquatch flick has the hairy humanoid skulking around the forests, or becoming the family pet, and movies where he has attacked have been pretty lame. Sure, there's flicks like Abominable, but they just don't hold up to Night of the Demon. The movie is even darkly humorous at times as well.

The premise is this: Professor Nugent (Can't help but feel this wasn't a coincidence) and his group of college students venture out into the forest to find Bigfoot. That's it really. In the end, they not only find Bigfoot, but a lot that they didn't bargain for as well. Now, I realize I made the movie out to sound horrible before. Most of the violence is quite cheesy by today's standards, and you'll most likely laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of some of the "kills". But this doesn't mean it's for all ages, this movie is definitely not for kids. The movie is also told in a series of flashbacks, and envelops the movie in a surreal, dreamlike feeling. Combine that with the pounding synthesizer score, and by the final sequence (Cabin scene), the movie turns quite bizarre, even moving into slow motion for a final, gory showdown. Also, the fact that every character wears flannel cracks me up. Seriously, nearly every character wears a flannel shirt for the whole movie. Feels like the movie should of been made with Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam for the soundtrack in 1992! xD

Bottom line is this: If you dig campy horror movies, Bigfoot movies, and aren't afraid of a good amount of gore, pick this movie up as soon as possible. I remember when it released in 2011 and was going for $12 new, but I just kept putting it off till today, when I finally bought it. The DVD is out of print and rare now, so you'll be paying a bit more, but for me (and I'm sure other horror fans), it's worth every penny. And if you don't like it, watch it with some friends, laughs and a good time are guaranteed for sure. Enjoy! :)

I'm not the best at reviews but I did want to inform future customers of the Night of the Demon (Maria's "B" Movie Mayhem) version of this movie.

#1) It's campy. Don't expect Oscar nominated performances and lighting, etc. Think in the vein of Blood Feast (1963) but from 1980. Don't go in the Woods...Alone has some similiarities as well in production and setting value.

#2) Altomosphere. I did skip through some of the slower parts during the daytime where they liked to converse about whatever. But the night camping scenes are very reminiscent of The Burning. It's almost as if it was trying to jump onto the band wagon that Friday the 13th started. So that worked for me. Again, the production value is less polished than The Burning or Friday the 13th but it still keeps that feeling flowing.

#3) The story. It wasn't the best but it was enough to work. The cabin in the woods, where a young girl lives had me thinking of Evil Dead. Again, not the same but similar. Had that real campy, lost and forelorn feeling.

#4) Gore. The movie, if you purchase this copy Night of the Demon (Maria's "B" Movie Mayhem)(Not sure about any other versions), is entirely uncut and complete. I tested it against this website as I watched second by second. Go here: [...] to see for yourself what has already been tested and measured.

#5) Some movies are on the video nasty list and you wonder why. This is not one of those. This does have nice gore scenes. It's not flashy and over the top like alot of gore scenes we know of today BUT it still holds true to being too vile for mainstream. Most people would watch this and think, this is a depravity. Why am I watching this trash? But if you are a horror fan, if you like movies like Last house on Dead End Street or the other house on the left that Wes decided to go visit, then this is going to work for you. Trust me.

I've heard of this film for years, due to its notoriety as a video nasty and the fact that copies were not easy to find, and I had read about the most infamous scene involving a biker, so this film has always stayed with me as a title I'd like to eventually see.

Now, thanks to Code Red, I have seen this film and it has more than lived up to my expectations. Be careful with some reviews here and elsewhere, as they have spoilers, and believe me, the less you know about this film, the better, however, there are some spoilers towards the end if you want them...

The source is a 1 Inch master tape, not a film print, since none could be found, and the artwork is not of the original movie poster, since this film was so low budget it didn't have a poster (it probably played third bill at the drive in circuit anyway, and didn't need one). The image is full screen, but since the film was shot 16mm and blown up to 35mm, you are actually not losing any of the picture as with many full screen presentations, and the quality is decent.

The music is a minimalist moog score, and reminds me of the music in another film made around the same time called "Burial Ground", and the lack of a distinct theme (this isn't a Carpenter/Howarth score) lends to the surreal proceedings - believe me, this is an insane Bigfoot movie, and had me surprised at every turn.

Unlike other Bigfoot films made in the 70s, you do get a good look at the costume, and considering the low budget, it's not too bad.

I enjoyed this film so much that I've watched it twice so far, and will probably watch it a third time in the next week or so. I'd much rather watch a film like this than most multi-plex garbage littering movie screens across the country.

As the cliché goes, `they don't make `em like they used to', but thanks to companies like Code Red, films like this are getting unearthed for all to see.

Keep `em coming...

***SPOILERS***

This was one of a few R-rated films released by the adult film company VCX, and when the bigfoot spies on the couple having sex in the van and pulls the man out and kills him, the woman sees his body falling across the window and her cries/screams sound very orgasmic. I'm convinced this was an in-joke by the filmmakers.

There's debate whether or not some of the outrageous scenes were intended to be funny (many people today view older films with contempt and derision and think everybody making movies back then were clueless idiots), but picture yourself on the set when the biker was castrated, the two girl scouts were stabbed to death by their own hands (with a little help from the Bigfoot), or Bigfoot swinging someone's intestines as a lasso, and ask yourself if you would be stifling laughter. I think many of these scenes were intended to be darkly humorous, back then and now.

"Night of the Demon" could've been a rough gem, but too many parts of it are either boring, confusing, or fail to deliver the bigfoot goods. The first half gave me hope, because it's fun. A group of researchers interupt a funny sacrifice to the bigfoot gods, bigfoot kills people (all in flashback mode) in funny ways, but after awhile, the movie loses steam, especially considering a lot of the kill scenes at the end are done in slow-motion and the gore factor really isn't a factor.

But I can't hate this movie, but I can't give it a huge thumbs up either. I wanted to like it more, but I couldn't...though it did have its moments.

I saw this rare film on VHS decades ago for the first time and have been waiting for a DVD release. There's a message about the quality before the film starts and the quality isn't great, but it still looks good. It looks so much better than my worn out VHS tape that I haven't watched in over 10 years; I didn't have that many complaints about the quality. It won't appeal to everyone, but I think it's a lot of fun and the gore is well done. Some of the kills are also extremely graphic and also pretty creative. The double girl scout killing is worth mentioning, and the climax of the film when bigfoot goes bonkers and slaughters everyone is classic. The whole film has that grindhouse type charm that I like, and it also has a high amount of replay value because it's one of my most watched films in my DVD collection; but I should mention that this may not be true for some people who prefer to watch a lot of mainstream horror films because this flick is geared more towards fans of 70s and 80s grindhouse stuff. Some good atmosphere, nice forest locations, a simple story and a good body count make this a fun film. Most of the film takes place in and around the forest, and there's some nudity; although there's no full frontal nudity. I thought most of the film moves at a good pace, and the film basically will appeal to many fans of slasher films and monster flicks because the demon (it's actually bigfoot) kind of acts like both. I thought it was great, but it might not appeal to many mainstream horror fans.

The DVD has no chapter stops. The quality is from a VHS master. The picture is nice and clear and looks good.