The 80s were a wild time for horror movies. While many films released in the decade’s deluge of delusional, depraved, and disgusting flicks may have been forgotten over time, 1988’s NIGHT OF THE DEMONS has taken on an afterlife of its own. This gruesome tale of ten teenagers throwing a Halloween party in an abandoned, haunted funeral home has it all: eye-gouging, body horror involving cosmetic products, boobs galore, and a tray full of off-putting chocolate treats.
As you’d expect, the teens decide it’s a good idea to hold a sĂ©ance in said abandoned funeral home on Halloween night and unleash an ancient demonic presence. Before you know it, all hell breaks loose. Literally, one by one, the teens succumb to lust, gory deaths, and demonic possession. Taking clear inspiration from EVIL DEAD, it somehow doesn’t feel like a knock-off. Sure, NIGHT OF THE DEMONS’ dead are evil, but they’re definitely not Deadites.Â
This film holds esteem as one of the VHS covers that made me too afraid to venture down the horror aisle at my local video store as a child. I was convinced the film’s biggest, baddest demon, Angela – seen on the cover holding an invitation to a Halloween party – was going to follow me home and get me in my sleep! (The image shares its title of terror with the VHS covers of 1988’s MONKEY SHINES and 1986’s GOTHIC).
The film, written by Joe Augustyn and directed by Kevin Tenney, features some of the most delightfully wooden dialogue you’re liable to encounter, bestowing the world with such quotable one-liners as, “Do you guys have sour balls?” and “Hey, how ’bout an orgy? I’m sure if we try, we can get Jay hard again!” Aside from the script, the cast seems to be in on the joke, delivering their lines with all the fervor and passion of a community theater’s best players. (At least, one hopes they were in on the joke). One thing’s for sure: it looks like they had a lot of fun on set.
Speaking of performances, the film served to further embed its stars into horror cinematic stardom. As Angela, choreographer Amelia Kinkade provides ample inspiration to spooky drag queens to this day, and Linnea Quigley, of THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD fame, gives the performance of her Scream Queen career playing pretty-in-pink Suzanne. Her now-iconic lipstick sequence would lead to meeting her future husband, special effects makeup artist Steve Johnson.Â
The hit movie would spawn two sequels and a passable yet immediately forgotten 2009 direct-to-DVD remake and serve as undeniable costuming inspiration to Rob Zombie’s HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. From its animated opening credits sequence to its surprising bookend epilogue of an ending, the film captures the Halloween spirit in a way many other films can’t. It also boasts some effective and impressive sequences, including an inspired shot utilizing broken mirror fragments, an unforgettable dance sequence to Bauhause’s “Stigmata Martyr,” and a Demonic Angela floating down the dilapidated halls of the funeral home decades before the invention of Segways and Hoverboards.
For all its campy flaws (all worth celebrating), it’s a uniquely well-made film and a bona fide Halloween classic.
It’s available to stream on Peacock.