Night of the Demon (1957)
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Night of the Demon is a 1957 British horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins and Niall MacGinnis. An adaptation of the M. R. James story "Casting the Runes", the plot revolves around an American psychologist investigating a satanic cult suspected of more than one murder. The film's production was turbulent due to clashing ideas between producer Hal E. Chester on one side and Tourneur and writer Charles Bennett on the other. Although the original plan was not to show a literal demon, producer Chester inserted a monster over the objections of the writer, director and star Dana Andrews. To accelerate the pace, the film was trimmed down to 83 minutes in the US where it played the second half of a double feature bill with both The True Story of Lynn Stuart and The Revenge of Frankenstein.