This review was originally published in 2014 as part of a review of both Night of the Demons and Witchboard and some of the context reflects that.

Night of the Demons

Kevin S. Tenney owned aspects of my horror-worshipping childhood, and I didn’t even know it. I have always considered myself a pop-culture archaeologist, a person who was never content with mainstream cinema or musical offerings, and looked deeper into the influences of my favorite artist to find the real gold out there. If that wasn’t possible I just grabbed things that looked interesting, which was more the case when I was much younger than it was now. My town had many well stocked video stores, and at separate times I had stumbled on both his films Witchboard and Night of the Demons. I do remember Witchboard being quite a bit of a good possession film, but Night of the Demons was the mindblower. I still remember being huddled in my friends living room sometime in the middle of the night as the film began to unwind on the tape, and simultaneously blow our young pre-teen minds. I remember a few moments where I got legitimately scared, but I also remember loads of fun.

Night of the Demons, might be director Tenney’s horror masterpiece. This film is equal parts fun and scary, and has been an undeniable genre classic in my eyes since I was around the age of 12. The film’s premise is very simple a group of teens are invited by gothic teenager Angela to a party at shuttered funeral parlor “Hull House”, it turns out Hull House was the sight of demonic infestation, and after a seance goes awry the teens are either possessed or killed (or both) one by one.

Night of the Demons really sets the tone for great Halloween cinema from the openings credits which are cleverly animated, before going into a setup with each character finding their way to Angela’s party. The film like Witchboard takes a bit of time to get going, but unlike the prior film streamlines the narrative to one primary interesting location, which Tenney uses to create an excellent horror film atmosphere. When the film finally gets going in the latter half we get an excellent mix of suspense and splatter as the teens are possessed and picked off one by one accompanied by excellent special effects by Steve Johnson. The character’s in Witchboard were of the 80’s yuppie variety, and were a rather drab bunch to spend that much time with. In contrast the gang created for Night of the Demons prove to be unique and diverse bunch, and offers both great eye and splatter candy, and while Night of the Demons doesn’t bring anything new to the horror audience, it creates something undeniably fun and classic.

Night of the Demons 2

Night of the Demons 2, speaking of films directed by icons of cult cinema is directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith who has such a varied career directing children’s classics like BMX Bandit and Frog Dreaming to action packed delights like the brilliantly over the top Stunt Rock to horror sequels such as Leprechaun 3 and the film we are discussing now. Night of the Demons 2 takes place a few years later at a Catholic(?) boarding school and follow Angela (Amelia Kinkade)’s sister Mouse who has started to have visions of her dearly departed demonic sister. Mouse is your stock standard nerd in a high school movie, and is picked on by her dorm mates. One night she is dragged along to a party at Hull House, and of course this brings Angela back out to play, of course this time the house isn’t big enough, and she ends up taking over the students and faculty at the school.

As I said in my NOTD 2 intro Brian Trenchard-Smith is no stranged to cult-cinema, and to be fair he knows how to create a truly wild ride no matter the genre. Give him a Vietnam war film (Siege at Firebase Gloria) and it will be one of the most action packed slices of fun you’ll have in the genre, car crashes, kung fu, the man knows how to have a zany good-time, and with Night of the Demons 2 he “may” out do the original in over the top style. This film is a splatter-riffic great time with one amazing set-piece after the other. We do have a great Hull House party sequence, but after that letting Angela loose on a school campus is a delight, and as an extreme metalhead watching her turn the school dance upside down to Morbid Angel’s ‘Rapture’ is an absolute high point.

Archival Comments

Night of the Demons on the other hand looked absolutely fantastic. The black levels (it’s a very dark film) are very solid and deep, colors are reproduced nicely, and detail is excellent throughout. I did not really see anything to pick apart with Night of the Demons.

The audio is presented in both DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1 both tracks are solid, but I stuck to the traditional 2.0 for the most part. The dialogue sounded nice and clear as did the score and effects. I did not detect any instances of pops, cracks, or hissing on the track

These 2 releases are so stacked full of extras to call them definitive releases for both films would not be an exaggeration. Witchboard comes with 2 commentary tracks one with the cast and crew, and one with the director and producers. We also get multiple makings of vintage, and new the latest runs roughly 45 minutes in length. We get a bunch of interviews with the cast archival stuff compromised of older footage spread out amongst multiple sections of the Blu-ray, also trailers, outtakes, and a behind the scenes, and promo gallery.

Night of the Demons also has 2 commentary tracks setup accordingly. There is also an over hour long making of featurette. An interview with Amelia Kincaid who played Angela, and a featurette of Alison Barron going over her photos from the set. After that we have a make up reel, various promo spots, radio spots, tv spots, and trailers for the film, and various photo galleries.

4K and 2023 Comments

So let’s get the cat out of the bag the new 4K scan from the original camera negative is a revelation. Absolute thing of beauty, deep gorgeous blacks, excellent detail. If you’re a fan and 4K capable (4Kapable?) you’ll love it. Night of the Demons 2 looks to hae the same transfer as the Olive Films from the prior release, but that was a solid transfer without room for complaints. Audio for NOTD 1 is in DTS-HD 5.1 and sounds great and is well balanced, NOTD 2 is DTS-HD Stereo and comes through crisp and clear without issues.

But now let’s get to the meat of this. Night of the Demons 1 if you have the Blu-ray you have most of what’s here, but Scream went and got even more content. There is additional interviews with producers and actors, but the REAL TREAT is the workprint and the workprint title card.

If you’re buying these whether in the box or seperately the real excitement comes from Night of the Demons 2 finally getting an extras package. There is a cast commentary, interviews with Trenchard Smith and Kevin Tenney, plus a bunch more interviews with the cast and crew including Amelia Kinkade. There are also an hour of dailies, and the workprint of the film with alternate scenes and much more.