NIght of the Demon-blog 4

Night of the Demon is a film that would fit in the horror genre as described by Carroll. According to Carroll the components necessary for a work to fit in the horror genre are that the work must consist of monster that is disgusting, invokes fear and is impossible to exist according to scientific laws. The demon in this film has all of these components. Had the monster not been the demon and simply Karswell, Night of the Demon would not fit into the horror genre so clearly as Karswell is not disgusting and does exist by scientific means. He may inspire fear, but Karswell himself does not have any powers alone, it appears that it is the runes and spells he gets from books that give him this power. So Karwell alone is not a monster.

This film does deliver the emotional effect necessary for the film to be a member of the horror genre by Carrolls definition. However, according to Carroll the emotions of the audience should mirror those of the main positive characters in the work. As we spend part of the film wondering what is causing the demon to exist, our emotions mirror Holdens in that respect and we are fearful. However, as the demon was revealed to us early on, we are not skeptical to its existence as Carroll would have preferred us to be for this film to truly be art horror.

I believe that Night of the Demon could in some aspects be considered an overreacher plot in that Karswell is, although not much of a scientist, but in search of knowledge of the occult that makes him an evil figure. His study of witchcraft led to the creation of the demon and the unleashing of the magic runes. It is also an exaomple of a complex discovery plot. There is a first onset of horrific events with the death of Harrington in which we are led to wonder where the monster came from and what exactly it is. Next, there is a discovery of the cause of Harringtons's death which comes with Eve's production of Harrington's diary. As Holden researches the diary he comes to the discovery of the magic runes and what they cause so they discover the monster. When Karswell is confronted and Holden passes the magic runes that doom him to Karswell, the final stage of the complex discovery plot is completed. According to Carroll, the main difference between the Complex Discovery Plot and the Overreacher plot is that the complex discovery plot has a central theme that denying the unknown will lead to horrible things. As Holden' constant denial of the demon almost leads to his death, it is clear that Night of the Demon is more of an example of a Complex Discovery Plot.

The most suspenseful scene in the film is the scene where the hand is descending the staircase. This is the most fearful to us because we fear the unknown. We do not know whose hand this is or if it is even human. When the door is closed, we are led to believe that whatever the being was that that hand belonged to is now in the room with Holden and Holden is trapped. We are left in suspense wondering when the being will attack Holden yet it never does. This use of the unknown to cause suspense fits Carroll's schema for understanding suspense.

The moral that this story poses is not to get in over your head. When Karswell talks to his mother he asks her where she thinks all the good things that they have came from and tells her that it can all be taken away quickly. This implies that Karwell's greed and desire for power has driven him to continue the study of the occult even after he felt he should stop. Karswell knows what he is doing is wrong but he doesn't know how to stop and he doesn't want to lose everything that he has. This shows that he is clearly in over his head with the witchcraft and it is ultimately his downfall.

The use of showing Karswell's interest in children is done by Tourneur to create more sympathy for Karswell. The film is far more horrific when the antagonist is sympathetic. Karswell does not seem to be a particularly malevolent character. At many points, he seems to be a man who is merely over his head, being controlled by the forces that he is working with. Tourneur's direction of this character adds to the horror.