Jacques Tourneur, who made Cat People, built an entire horror film around a piece of paper: receive the runes, die on schedule. It is the sharpest possible fit for a series about reading as a dangerous act, and Tourneur's fog-and-suggestion craft still works better than most modern jump scares. Eighty-two minutes on a 35mm print. If you want one classic horror screening this weekend, take this one.
What to expect
A short, tightly wound black-and-white feature projected from a 35mm print, in a repertory house audience that knows Tourneur's reputation. The famous demon effect arrives early and divides every room it plays to. No intermission and you are out before dinner.
Good to know
- 1 to 66th Street-Lincoln Center; walk to the West 65th Street entrance
- Screens from a 35mm print rather than a digital file
- At 82 minutes it is the shortest feature in the series
- Only one screening in this window, so book ahead
- Good gateway for anyone new to 1950s British horror
- Wheelchair accessible with assistive listening devices
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Common questions
Is this the same as Night of the Demon?
Yes. Curse of the Demon is the shorter American release title of Jacques Tourneur's 1957 film, known in Britain as Night of the Demon.
How long is it?
Eighty-two minutes with no intermission, making it an easy early-evening screening.
Why is it in this series?
Bibliomania: A Preface to Chronovisor collects films about reading and research. Here the horror mechanism is a written text handed from one person to another.
More this weekend
