Night of the Demons - 1988

Hey y'all.  I moved.  You heard me right.  You might be wondering (but you're probably not) why the reviews have slipped a bit.  I'm talking quantity, not quality, of course.  Haha, homie, my quality never slips up son.  I only do the premium.  And in this moving, of course, I just have not had the time to watch a movie at all.

However, I stop unpacking, cleaning, I stop doing all that shit at 10pm every night.  I'm in bed by like 10:15, and then I watched Night of the Demons in two sittings, so we're not talking a one-sitter, which is always ideal.  Hey, newsflash here:  LIFE isn't always ideal.

Night of the Demons, not to be confused with Night of the Demon, is a somewhat well known cult classic 80's horror.  It's got B-Scream-Queen Linnea Quigley, it's got a great look and original music, it's quick paced, practical effects, zombies, boundary-breaking ideas about who lives and who dies, and all in all sets standards higher again for what people imagine when they think 80's horror.  Night of the Demons looks like it for sure would've spawned a huge following, and I'm quite surprised to see that director Kevin Tenney didn't go on to direct dozens of horror movies.  He has a bit of films he's done, and a lot are somewhat well known, but frankly I'm astonished he didn't get more fame.

Simply put, this movie is about a group of friends that go to an old house, where they perform a seance and release demons.  The house is not haunted, they say, it's infested.  Haunting means that people lived there.  Infested means demons just so happened to hang out there.  It's a interesting twist I guess, and soon enough the demons infest the friends staying in the house, controlling them.  At first the humans just act weird, but soon enough they're turning fully evil and demonic, and coming after their buddies with deadly intent.

Night of the Demons is one of these that nary needs much in the way of a review.  Not only because it's well known, but because it's one where everything is simply awesome.  Whether it's the acting, the pacing, the nudity, the effects, the sets, the design, the camerawork, the comedy... Somehow, all the cylinders fired just right, and given it's just Tenney's second film, it's a tremendous achievement.

This is one to show people.  This is one to tell people about.  It's one to cherish, possibly own.  I think I've seen it before, but it's been a long time, and honestly, I could watch it again right now.  It's sort of the poster child for 80's horror comedy.  Mostly horror, just how you want it, with slices of wry comedy and dark twistedness to it.  5 stars.