- Night of the Demon (1980 film)
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Night of the Demon Directed by James C. Wasson Produced by Jim L. Ball Written by Mike Williams Starring Joy Allen
Bob Collins
Barrett CooperMusic by Dennis McCarthy Distributed by Gemstone Entertainment Running time 97 min. Country 
USALanguage English Night of the Demon is a 1980 low-budget horror movie directed by James C. Wasson and written by Mike Williams, presenting a gory take on the Bigfoot legend.[1]
Contents
Plot
Presented in flashback, the film tells the story of an anthropology class's all-too-successful expedition into the American wilderness to find the truth behind the Sasquatch legend. Along the way, the team learns about the creature's previous victims, uncover the squalid story of a hermit (Crazy Wanda) who gave birth to a mutation after being raped by the monster, and finally come face to face with the beast himself. The film is famed for the scene where a motorcyclist has his penis ripped off while urinating in a bush.[2]
Production
The film has a disjointed, stilted, surreal feeling - exacerbated by the extensive use of flashbacks - throughout, prompting at least one critic to liken it to the zero-budget works of Nathan Schiff, though there are some interesting attempts at replicating the stylized lighting of Dario Argento in certain scenes.[3] Night of the Demon became most famous for its depictions of castration, dismemberment, stabbings and disembowelling.[4]
Release
Though hardly convincing, the violence is extremely graphic and helped to propel the film (released on video in the UK by Iver Film Services) onto the video nasties list.[5] The film remained banned until 1993, when Vipco resubmitted it to the British Board of Film Classification, who agreed to pass it with an 18 certificate as long as one minute and forty-one seconds' worth of gory mayhem was deleted. Almost all of the violent scenes were trimmed, but the castration of the biker and the removal of a student's intestines (for use as a flail) were removed completely. If the film were submitted to the BBFC now, however, it would most likely be passed uncut.[6]
The current owner of the film is thought to be the independent label Bijouflix, though other sources have speculated that the rights have since fallen into the public domain.[7]
References
- ^ A-Z of VIDEO NASTIES
- ^ Joshua Blu Buhs (2009). "7". Bigfoot: the life and times of a legend. University of Chicago Press. p. 162. ISBN 9780226079790. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RI4SlHwH7h0C&pg=PA162&dq=Night+of+the+demon+man+penis+ripped&hl=en&ei=if8STv2OM4KY8QOl07S6Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Night%20of%20the%20demon%20man%20penis%20ripped&f=false. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- ^ "Retrospective: 1980's Slice of Sasquatchploitation - Night of the Demon". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37624/retrospective-1980s-slice-sasquatchploitation-night-demon.
- ^ NIGHT OF THE DEMON - Miracle DVD
- ^ BLEEDING SKULL | Night Of The Demon VHS Review
- ^ Wopsploitation: "Night of the Demon"(1980)d/James C. Wasson
- ^ "Night of the Demon Retrospective – Delays, Death Threats and Jason Voorhees". DreadCentral. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37230/night-demon-retrospective-%E2%80%93-delays-death-threats-and-jason-voorhees.
External links
Categories:- 1980s horror film stubs
- 1980 films
- 1980s horror films
- Monster movies
- American horror films
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