Night of the Demon (1980)
DVDR
Trash Palace
Night
of the Demon (1980) is one of the strangest bigfoot movies ever made. Released
in the middle of the Video Nasties craze it was originally banned in Germany,
Norway and the UK. In 1994 it was granted an '18' rating (U.K.) but cut by 1
minute 41 seconds. The DVD-R from Trash Palace is the uncut edition.
While
this film may follow in the tradition of Bigfoot films such as the Abominable
Snowman and The Legend of Boggy Creek, it moves the film into a modern setting
adds lots of tits, sex and gore and creates something which is truly unique.
This may be a film marked by bad acting and a low budget, but don’t let that
turn you off, this is one of those truly excessive cult horror films you just
really cannot miss.
Professor
Nugent is the only survivor of a mass slaughter, five of his students are dead
and he has terrible injuries to his face. He awakens in a hospital and tries to
explain to the rather sceptical policeman at the end of his bed what happened.
The film is essentially told via flashbacks.
Professor
Nugent works at a local college and wants to make a name for himself. After
reading numerous reports of a bigfoot or Yeti in the local forest (with related
brutal murders) he decides to investigate. He finds the authorities have been
covering-up the crimes and the university refuses to back his expedition.
Accordingly, against all advice, he puts together a group of his students and
off they go on a quest for the bigfoot.
This
may sound all pretty average but this is a very strange tale. The bigfoot seems
very human in oh so many ways; he does strange things to a naked male on the
top of a car, pulls off a biker’s dick, scratches deeply into a man’s back
while he makes out with his partner, rapes a young girl and seems to have the
intelligence to use axes, knives and other weapons as required. He looks like a
man in a ape suit and probably is !
This
film also has many elements akin to a conventional slasher, you know when the
youngins start making-out they are going to get it. Since the death of the team
are not enough to fill the film with perversity and gore, we get enactments as
the Professor retells the killings attributed to the creature by the media.
These are gloriously exploitative, violent and allow all manner of excess. From
fisherman to schoolgirls, the tales of slaughter are retold with abandon.
The
first half of the film is primarily filled with these stories and the
exploration of the woods, the stage is also set as they come across a group of
inbred locals about to undertake some sort of “Yeti folk” rite involving the
rape of a Wanda, a local girl.
As
we move into the last half it is then that the team gets in real trouble. When
they meet Wanda, they decide to hypnotize her to uncover her story. Soon we
hear a tale of religious excess, child abuse, her rape by the Yeti and lots
more. Of course they are now in very dangerous territory, Wanda is the love
interest of Bigfoot and he is about to come and pay a visit.
This
is one of those strange cross genre films where exploitation meets
creature-feature, slasher horror meets cult. It is a truly ridiculous and fun
romp. The uncut edition from Trash Palace offers a good print, clear sound and
comes with some related cult film trailers.
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