Review of The Demon

The Demon (1981)
4/10
It's less then more and yet more then less!
19 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
(There may be Spoilers) Looking as if it's two different movies, both ridicules, rolled into one "The Demon" is about as mindless of a film that you'll ever come across and so badly constructed that it wouldn't even make it on the Mystery Science 3000 bad movie TV show. Cameron Mitchell obviously needing a paycheck and a free vacation in sunny Capetown South Africa plays this psychic detective Col. Bill Carson hired to both find the kidnapped daughter, Emily, of Mr & Mrs Parker, Peter J. Elliot & Molra Winslow, and the person who kidnapped her. Having been abducted by this faceless psycho Emily is feared to have been killed and the killer is expected to come back to the Parker home to finish the job, murdering the entire family, that he at first started.

Carson showing up at the Parker house goes into some kind of mombo-jumbo act getting on all fours sniffing and licking, just like a bloodhound, objects as well as ripping up the sheets and pillow cases with his teeth in and around Emily's room. Carson comes up with this startling conclusion to who, he's sure that she's been murdered, Emily's killer is saying this about him as if he's in awe of the killer : "He's less then a man and at the same time more much more", whatever that means.

Mr. Parker figuring out just where he can find the killer, from a number of Carson's psychic drawings, goes it alone to this creepy hotel in downtown Capetown only to get himself killed by the killer who catches him by surprise. Later a boy playing solider in the woods finds the skeletal remains of Emily's body hidden up on a tree. Mrs Parker is so pi**ed off at Carson for him and his meddling getting her husband killed that when he comes over to pays his respects she shoots the startled psychic right between the eyes. After all that we never see her or anyone else involved with the Parkers and Carson again in the movie.

The same killer, or what seems to be him, is then seen stalking this kindergarten teacher Mary, Jennifer Holmes, and after a few minutes you get the impression that your watching a double-feature with Mary and the persons that she's associated with having nothing at all to do with Col. Carson and the Parkers! In fact Mary looks as if she's in another movie altogether! We never see her and the Parker's or Col. Carson together or even as much as even mention them!

Going first after Mary then her young cousin Jo, Zoli Markl, as well as her poor little rich boyfriend Dean, Craig Gardner, the unseen and unknown serial killer is given no reason, or attempt, to murder them other then kill them off to raise the body-count.

Eariler, after murdering Mr. Parker, the killer for some reason goes on a rampage in the Capetown night-club and red-light district attacking and possibly murdering a number of persons, workers and tourists, including a go-go dancer for no reason at all but what seems for him to keep in shape for the films climatic bloodbath!

Like in most slasher films the killer, wearing what looks like a transparent rubber mask, goes into action murdering almost everyone in the cast which are the people in the second half of the movie. Only the plucky and topless Mary, who after getting away from him, surprises the psycho in her bathroom sticking him in the throat with a pair of scissors and shoving him into the overflowing bathtub where he eventually drowns.

Were given the impression when the movie ends that the killer survived, together with his mask, and is soon going to be back to haunt and terrorize us yet again in a sequel! After some 25 years after "The Demon" was released we can all now be certain that isn't about to happen now or any time soon and we can all thank God for that!
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