[Opinion] Three possibly passable Magic Movie Classics?

[Asteriskos]

I was looking through some ".mp4's" in my collection recently and decided to see what other folks think of these three movies:

1.) Roger Corman's "The Raven", Vincent Price, et al. - My Favorite, got Humor, got Hazel Court!

2.) The Devil Rides Out, Christopher Lee, et al. The Antagonist is an evil "Ipsissimus", How Cool is That?

3.) Night of the Demon (B&W) - Curse of the Demon (Color), Dana Andrews, et al. - The Worst special effects in Magical Movie History?

 

[szamatlii]

Haven't seen the first two, I have to admit, but I really liked the special effects in Night of the Demon lol. I thought the fire eruption was pretty jarring. If a demon really materialized in a similar way, it might not look like normal Earth fire. Might look pretty wonky, man. Demon might look like a fuckin rabid Muppet, too.

 

[Asteriskos]

Haven't seen the first two, I have to admit, but I really liked the special effects in Night of the Demon lol. I thought the fire eruption was pretty jarring. If a demon really materialized in a similar way, it might not look like normal Earth fire. Might look pretty wonky, man. Demon might look like a fuckin rabid Muppet, too.

I like them too! There are some details if memory serves, maybe on IMDB about the special effects, the Director wanted to "Punch the Effects
Creator in the Face", that's pretty Close to what he said, and How he Felt! But the effects got accepted, I guess by the Producer/s, the rest is
Occult Movie History!

 

[Xingtian]

I understand the annoyance Tourneur et al felt with the creature effects, and their preference for suggestive horror like in "Casting the Runes". Close-up it does look rather goofy. However, the scenes where it appears from further away, seemingly walking in the air amid smoke and fire, are quite terrifying IMO.

BTW Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell (2009) is a hugely enjoyable comedy-horror inspired by Night of the Demon (I don't know if Raimi read "Casting the Runes"). For me it accomplishes a really difficult feat of being both genuinely funny and genuinely scary, often in the same scenes.

 

[Asteriskos]

I understand the annoyance Tourneur et al felt with the creature effects, and their preference for suggestive horror like in "Casting the Runes". Close-up it does look rather goofy. However, the scenes where it appears from further away, seemingly walking in the air amid smoke and fire, are quite terrifying IMO.

BTW Sam Raimi's Drag Me To Hell (2009) is a hugely enjoyable comedy-horror inspired by Night of the Demon (I don't know if Raimi read "Casting the Runes"). For me it accomplishes a really difficult feat of being both genuinely funny and genuinely scary, often in the same scenes.

I have both versions (Color and B&W). Depending on how I feel determines which version I watch. To me the effects aren't That Bad!
The fact that (as you mention above) there was a bit of a tiff merely signifies "people are people"! The movie has "Atmosphere", what's Not to Like?

 

[Rowena]

You can't have an occult movie thread without mentioning The Wicker Man (1973).
It's worth a watch just for the cheery sing-song around the fire at the end.
Don't bother with the sequel, or the remake though - both are crap.

 

[Asteriskos]

You can't have an occult movie thread without mentioning The Wicker Man (1973).
It's worth a watch just for the cheery sing-song around the fire at the end.
Don't bother with the sequel, or the remake though - both are crap.

Ah Rowena!,
Absolutely Correct, it's incredible that I could have been so remiss to dismiss The Wicker man! it's a Kickass movie. I must have been chewing an awful lot of "cubensis" that day? Christopher Lee looks almost young there, huh? Thanks for posting that. I do miss your input!

Post automatically merged: Oct 30, 2024

I understand the annoyance Tourneur et al felt with the creature effects, and their preference for suggestive horror like in "Casting the Runes".O.

Excellent point there about "suggestive" horror. If it's done well it's in a class by itself.

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2024

You can't have an occult movie thread without mentioning The Wicker Man (1973).
It's worth a watch just for the cheery sing-song around the fire at the end.
Don't bother with the sequel, or the remake though - both are crap.

Wanted to get back to the The Wicker Man. This movie was released "right around" the time that Christopher Lee wrapped up his run on the Hammer Dracula series. I think that's why he was so outstanding and happy in this movie, he stated that in his opinion it was his Best performance, and I thought it showed too. What I took away from the film was that it's unwise to interfere in the affairs of an isolated community of nice folks that have "rediscovered" their Celtic Pagan roots! The "pagani just want to have fun!"

I only had one question about the whole thing, which is, what were the "Land Wights" doing the whole time they were building the Giant Wicker Man set? As a "wannabe" film critic I have to give it Five (5) Stars!