Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

THE DEMON (1981)

THE DEMON (1981). Writer/director: Percival Rubens.

When a young woman is kidnapped by a masked maniac, the parents call in a supposedly psychic investigator (Cameron Mitchell) to find out what happened to her and track down her abductor. In the meantime, two pretty young roommates with boyfriends are being stalked by [presumably] the same person. For quite awhile The Demon seems like two movies with different plot lines spliced together. In any case, the film was clearly influenced by Halloween with its ambiguous killer whose face is hidden and who wears a brown leather jacket and gloves with razors on them. Some of the characters and actors, including Jennifer Holmes, Zoli Markey and Craig Gardner, among others, are appealing. There's at least one unexpected development in the movie, but most of it is over-familiar. That's too bad, because The Demon isn't badly directed and has some good scenes, although the ending is a mite dragged out.

Verdict: Intriguing elements but ultimately a time-waster. **1/2.

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