Night of the Demon

According to Noel Carroll’s definition of art horror, Night of the Demon is a classic example of a horror film. The monster in the film created agitation for the audience through its physical attributes which are threatening, dangerous and impure. The methods used to create the monster were fusion, magnification and horrific metonymy. The monster, a demon, is a fusion made up of a dragon body with wings, long claws, fangs, horns, pointy ears and a hairy body, much like a werewolf. Magnification was used by making the demon very large. Horrific metonymy was established through the smoke that appeared before the demon attacked, the fluttering of the unknown creature before the demon came and the powerful winds that were present at the time of the demon and to warn Holden. All of these features were used to evoke disgust and fear in the audience.

Carroll notes in his writing that we can not fully identify with a character. To be able to identify with the character, we would have to experience the same emotions and cognitions as the character. We don’t actually do that though because we don’t run when the monster is coming at the screen. The writers of “Night of the Demon” present two characters though to which we can relate. Dr. Holden and Joanna Harrington represent two different sides of the spectrum when it comes to believing in the demon. Joanna obtains her uncle’s diary and in it reads of his belief that he will die of the supernatural. The pages of his desk calendar had been ripped out after the date of his predetermined death and he speaks of how he has seen the evil that will come for him. Joanna wants to be proven wrong that something greater was not involved in her uncle’s death, but she realizes that his death was not an accident. Holden on the other hand tries to use science to disprove what is happening. He believes in the power of psychology and hypnosis. Holden creates a response to everything that Dr. Karswell does and is very skeptical. It is not until Holden is performing hypnosis on a former cult member that he fully fathoms the danger he is in. Only then does he act accordingly to save himself and end the curse of the demon. Joanna represents the portion of the audience who come and get caught up in the suspense of disbelief. They are those that fit the pretend and illusion theories. They pretend to be fearful for the thrill or they forget about reality and their illusion is that the monster is real. Holden represents the part of the audience that needs convincing. They know the monster is impossible, but are eventually worked into being fearful of the thought of its reality, as in the thought theory. The audience as a whole ultimately experiences art horror. The key to experiencing the fear at the movie is the monster. No matter the means taken to experience horror, the monster and it’s impurity, disgust and danger is what the audience gets excited and fearful about.