|Night Of The Demons|
Kevin S. Tenney
Starring: Mimi Kinkade, Cathy Podewell, Linnea Quigley, Lance Fenton
Dennis Michael Tenney/Bauhaus
September 9, 1988
Running time: 87 minutes (Theatrical cut), 90 minutes (Unrated cut)
Night of the Demons (also known as: Halloween Party) is a 1988 American horror film written and produced by Joe Augustyn and directed by Kevin S. Tenney. The film tells the story of ten high school seniors having a Halloween party in an isolated mortuary. Their party turns into a nightmare when after conducting a séance as a party game, they unlock the demon that remains locked in the crematorium. Filming of Night of the Demons took place in South Central Los Angeles, California, USA, and lasted for two months.
Stooge, Helen, and Rodger are driving to a party thrown by outcast Angela Franklin and her friend Suzanne at Hull House, an local mortuary that was abandoned. The car passes by an elderly man. Once alone the elderly man shows that he is carrying apples and razor blades. Judy returns home and discovers that her boyfriend Jay wants to attend Angela's party. She hesitates briefly, but agrees to attend.
In the mean time, Sal Romero (Judy's former date) bribes Judy's brother to disclose the party, which later turned out to be Hull House. Romero's inclusion wasn't well lambasted by others.
Jay, Max, and Frannie pick Judy up. Judy and her friends arrive at Hull House, where Max, one of the party goers tells Judy the legend of Hull House. The house is rumored to be cursed, with the evil spirits inside contained only by an underground stream that surrounds the building. During the party Judy tries and fails to light some candles with a nearly empty lighter. The party stops when the radio's battery power dies, prompting Angela to hold a séance as a party game. Helen sees a demon's face and her dead body in the mirror, which causes the mirror to fall and shatter. This prompts the Hull House Demon to come out of a furnace in the crematorium and possess Suzanne. Everyone experiences multiple scents in the room. Helen states that she wants to leave, a sentiment that is echoed by Rodger and the two are given Angela's car keys. Jay and Judy wander off with some of the other party goers to explore the house. The now-possessed Suzanne leaves with one of the male partiers, Stooge, but not before kissing Angela and passing the demon along to her. This leaves Sal and Angela alone. Meanwhile Jay and Judy have split from Max and Frannie, where Judy discovers that Jay only invited her to the party in order to have sex with her. She refuses him and is abandoned by him in one of the rooms. During this time Roger and Helen are unable to discover the exit. The two of them argue and Helen leaves Rodger in the car, after which she is killed by an unknown demon. He is later frightened out of the car after he sees Helen's body hit the car's windshield. Stooge wanders off to find a bathroom with Suzanne and is irritated when she locks him out. Inside the bathroom Suzanne ages and disappears into a mirror. Confused at her disappearance, Stooge goes back to the main room to find Angela. He is warned by Sal that she is acting erratically, who then leaves them alone. Stooge ignores Sal's warning and is promptly killed by Angela. The party goers are then picked off one by one by the increasing number of demon possessed people, Jay dying during a sexual encounter with Suzanne and Max and Frannie by a now-possessed Stooge. Rodger and Sal run into each other and agree that something wrong is going on. The two try to find a way out and in the process, discover Judy in the room Sal left her in. The three attempt to escape the demons and Sal is later killed after he falls off the attics' roof and lands on a spike. Judy and Rodger continue to run from the demons and end up in the mortuary's crematorium, where they use the antiquated gas system to keep the demons at bay. With the demons temporarily subdued, the two attempt to escape and are instead chased by various demons throughout the house. They manage to make it out of the house to the brick walls surrounding the property. Rodger manages to climb over the brick wall using the barb wire hanging from it, but Judy is initially unsuccessful and is almost captured by the demons before she is rescued by Rodger. The two make it over the wall just in time to see the sun rise and banish the demons back to Hell. Rodger and Judy slowly walk home, passing by the elderly man that had been harassed earlier in the film. The Ol' Freak scowls at them and then goes into his house where he begins to eat one of his wife's home-made apple pies that she made with the apples into which he had stuck razor blades. The razor blades begin cutting through his throat as they kill him. The woman kisses his head and says "Happy Halloween dear" while sipping on her coffee.
- Cathy Podewell as Judy Cassidy
- Amelia Kinkade as Angela Franklin
- Alvin Alexis as Rodger
- William Gallo as Sal Romero
- Linnea Quigley as Suzanne
- Allison Barron as Helen
- Lance Fenton as Jay Jansen
- Hal Havins as Stooge
- Philip Tanzini as Max
- Jill Terashita as Frannie
- Harold Ayer as the Ol' freak
- Marie Denn as the Homicidal Woman
- Clark Jarrett as the Clerk
- James W. Quinn as the Co-Clerk/Demon Voice
- Karen Ericson as Mrs. Cassidy
- Donnie Jeffcoat Jr as Billy Jr. Cassidy
- Bauhaus – "Stigmata Martyr"
- Dennis Michael Tenney – "Main Title Theme"
- Dennis Michael Tenney, Steve Ring, and Tim Wojan – "Computer Date"
- Dennis Michael Tenney, Steve Ring, Rich Lowe, Paul Ojeda, and Bobby Thompson – "The Beast Inside"
- Dennis Michael Tenney, Steve Ring, Rich Lowe, Paul Ojeda, and Bobby Thompson – "Victims of the Press"
Initial critical reception to the film was predominantly negative, with the Washington Post criticizing the film as "a convergence of stereotypes ... and cliche's". The New York Times reported that "the cleverest thing about Night of the Demons is its advertising campaign" and that it "is stupid; it is sexist; at 89 minutes it feels unforgivably long". Later reviews have been more positive, with Cinematical writing that "while not particularly original, Tenney's film is definitely entertaining if you're into the whole "teens wander into an isolated locale and die horrible deaths" sub-genre of horror".HorrorNews.net called Night of the Demons one of the 80′s great legacies in horror". DVD Talk praised the film's 2004 DVD release, but stated that the director and producer commentary was "seemingly stodgy". Dread Central reviewed the film, saying "It's fun. Lively. A masterpiece, it's not." Bloody Disgusting praised the movie's DVD release, calling it "the perfect DVD for all fans of this lost era: “The Eighties Horror Film”.