clore Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 There are two versions of the 1958 film released here as CURSE OF THE DEMON and in the UK as NIGHT OF THE DEMON. The American cut is 82 minutes, some 13 minutes shorter than the UK version. TCM had it listed last month as 82 minutes as part of Peggy Cummins night on September 28, and while the title card read "Curse" what we got was the longer print. The film is scheduled tomorrow, but once again listed as 82 minutes. It starts at 1230am and the schedule lists a short at 158am, so that would seem to indicate the shorter version. But hey,it's easy to sacrifice a short and give us the longer print. Any chance that the TCMProgrammer can chime in on this? Thank you in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Great film. The DVD has both versions. The UK 95-minute version is an excellent print; can't imagine why it wouldn't be shown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 This thread just reminded me, what ever happened to that old horror film "Gargoyles" (1972)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 I intend on recording it - but only if my issue with TimeWarner is solved. I'm getting constant audio drop-outs and video freezing for the last two days on both of my boxes. I'll probably end up getting the DVD, but I did want to record BURN, WITCH BURN tomorrow also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyBackTransformer Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 > There are two versions of the 1958 film released here as CURSE OF THE DEMON and in the UK as NIGHT OF THE DEMON. The American cut is 82 minutes, some 13 minutes shorter than the UK version. TCM had it listed last month as 82 minutes as part of Peggy Cummins night on September 28, and while the title card read "Curse" what we got was the longer print. The film is scheduled tomorrow, but once again listed as 82 minutes. It starts at 1230am and the schedule lists a short at 158am, so that would seem to indicate the shorter version. But hey,it's easy to sacrifice a short and give us the longer print. Any chance that the TCMProgrammer can chime in on this? Thank you in advance. I believe that TCM has shown the UK print before. At least 2 times I've seen the main title as *Night of the Demon* so I assume that both times it was the UK version I was watching. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I recorded Burn Witch Burn the last time it was on -- April 21, I believe. Good print, hadn't seen the film in yonks. But I regret not thinking to record it in HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 'Gargoyles', which if memory serves starred Cornel Wilde, was a made-for-tv movie of the week. As such, TCM is unlikely to ever show it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyBackTransformer Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 > Gargoyles', which if memory serves starred Cornel Wilde, was a made-for-tv movie of the week. As such, TCM is unlikely to ever show it. The Disney Company's consumate plagiarizers ripped off the design of their Gargoyles cartoon characters from this 1974 TV-movie. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedya Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Speaking of *Burn Witch Burn*, the trailer that TCM has been running for it makes it look like one of those hilariously bad movies that's unintentionally funny. Is that actually the case? Because if it is, that makes me more want to see it. (I haven't seen it before.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 *I recorded Burn Witch Burn the last time it was on -- April 21, I believe. Good print, hadn't seen the film in yonks. But I regret not thinking to record it in HD.* I watched it on that occasion, I had not seen it since I saw it on a double bill with PREMATURE BURIAL way back when. I had forgotten just how good a film this one is, so I do want to get a copy of it tomorrow night. Now if only TCM could come up with a print of THE UNEARTHLY STRANGER... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timothy-obie Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 apparently tcm is not ready to retire the two bogus versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Wow - I don't believe it. I spoke online with TimeWarner Cable about the reception problem with TCM. They asked if it was a problem with both of my cable boxes and I told them yes, as well as on a neighbor's set, so it's at their end, not mine. They promised to pass it along right away and thanked me for my informing them. I went out for a couple of hours but when I turned the box on, no more problem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Kimble Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Although much shorter, doesn't Curse contain at least some dialogue -- the Karswell with his mother scene -- that is not in Night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo2 Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 >Speaking of Burn Witch Burn, the trailer that TCM has been running for it makes it look like one of those hilariously bad movies that's unintentionally funny. Is that actually the case? Because if it is, that makes me more want to see it. (I haven't seen it before.) No, not really, Fedya. In my view it's not "campy" either intentionally or unintentionally. I'd say it's more a somewhat decently done and somewhat earnestly presented tale of obsession and ambition which includes the idea of the occult as its means to express those two behaviors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 *Although much shorter, doesn't Curse contain at least some dialogue -- the Karswell with his mother scene -- that is not in Night?* I saw the longer version only a month ago and the scene was there. I hadn't recalled seeing it before, but then, I haven't seen the film in 25 years. Back then, I worked for Columbia Pictures Television and had put together a bunch of packages for syndication. DEMON was in my horror package and I had made inquiries about the longer version but was told that we only had the 82 minute cut in our vault. Yet there was a VHS released of the longer cut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Btw, the mother in Demon is played by a great actress -- Athene Seyler, who lived to 100 and had an impressive stage and screen career. One of her most enjoyable film roles is as Dame Bea in Make Mine Mink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EveCairo Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I was just about to post the same thing. The last time I saw it, they showed the edited version. It seems the scene they mostly cut is the one in the farm house where the Dana Andrews character goes to get permission to study the catatonic Hobart. At this point the Andrews character is strictly a nonbeliever in any of this. The scene in the farmhouse is quite frightening because of the bizarre behavior of the devil worshiping Hobart family who have disowned him because he refused to accept his fate and returned the paper to his brother. When Andrews has the session with Hobart and Hobart speaks he finally understands what's going on when he frantically asks for permission to ask Hobart the question about returning the paper. And the credits show a Mrs. Hobart and a farmer and I always wonder what people think who watch the edited version and see that and think "who the heck are they?" The man who is running the whole show may or may not be a fraud and things might be explained another way..hysteria or the power of suggestion or whatever. But when you see the Hobart family it's quite scary and makes you think this is all very real to some people. It just seems odd to me that TCM of all places would show the edited version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tikisoo Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 >This thread just reminded me, what ever happened to that old horror film "Gargoyles" (1972)? I loved that film! It was in heavy rotation on the Saturday kid's movie on local TV. Wasn't there a scene in the cave where the monsters were plotting against the humans and as the departed, one Gargoyle pats the other on the fanny like a football player? I remember shrieking in laughter as a young teen seeing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 I'm sure hoping that we get the longer version this time as we did in late September. If I recall properly, Robert Osborne even mentioned that it was the longer version, even though the title card read "Curse" rather than "Night." I know that TCM has shown it on other occasions, but the last screening was the first time in 25 years that I actually sat down through all of it. What did strike me was that Andrews remained somewhat the skeptic even after a house cat turned into a panther and pounced upon him, or having the footprints following him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 One annoying thing about Andrews' scepticism is the way he behaves during the seance. The "sceptic during a seance character" is a cinema cliche that I find to be really tedious. On the other hand, I like the look of the demon. Although the director wanted to keep it in your mind, a la The Haunting, I think it's very effectively creepy and am glad the producer insisted on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 I look at it this way - no matter which title one goes by, we're told there is a demon involved. Otherwise, they should have called it NIGHT OF YOUR IMAGINATION. I admit that a couple of shots of the thing don't come off well, but that close-up of that thing is one incredible sight. This was one of the first horror films that I saw in a theater, it was double-billed with REVENGE OF FRANKENSTEIN and we came in at nearly the end of it. My sister was so scared of the beast that my mother decided we'd leave the theater when the FRANKENSTEIN film was over. This was the summer of 1958, I wasn't quite seven yet, but as I had already seen a few of the Universal FRANKENSTEIN films on TV, we all expected something along those lines. So, not until 1965 did I see DEMON on TV and I hadn't connected it to the film we abandoned years earlier. Then, once we get to the train sequence, it clicked immediately and I was so pleased to finally see the whole thing. By this point I had read in Famous Monsters that the demon was a last minute addition, but I'm convinced that it does work better this way. Has there not been the cat transformation, or the footsteps scene, OK, we could chalk it up to the power of suggestion. I'll grant that the storm scene could have been a coincidence, but then again, Doppler Radar isn't that accurate as to the exact moment of such an event. But all along, the only one who doesn't believe what's there in front of him is Dana Andrews. It is probably to the actor's credit that we don't lose interest because he is so myopic and a rather dumb protagonist. Andrews also sided with Tourneur regarding the beast and could be seen in some documentary 20 years later declaring it a bad idea to show it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winslow_Leach Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 *Clore*- I assure you *TCM* most certainly aired "*Curse of the Demon*" last time as opposed to "Night". As you noted it was listed as such. And being otherwise occupied and unfit for a "sit and watch" we simply left it on as background. The scene at the farmhouse *EveCairo* mentions was indeed missing. And even though I knew what was in store going in I still whined about *TCM* showing the truncated version*, knowing full well that they have shown "*NOTD*" in the past. I imagine we will once again get the *82MIN* version tonight. *10+ minutes* is a precious commodity in terms of broadcasting and the *PTB* at *TCM* are practicing no deception. It's not like they are advertising the movie as *NOTD*. *(This amused my better 9/10ths as she knew I could simply quit complaining and pop in the DVD if it bothered me so much.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clore Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 The heck with it, I'll just get the DVD then, it's cheap enough at $8.50. The lucky owners of a Blu Ray player that accepts Region 2 discs will be able to get a Blu Ray of the film as of November 27 from a company called Wild Side Video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winslow_Leach Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 By all means, Clore, at that price buy the DVD. You will not be disappointed! (I paid a bit more than that for mine.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 The DVD is also in the correct aspect ratio: approx 1.66:1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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