Angela just wants to party

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS (1988)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Until the film picks up the pace during the last forty minutes or so, "Night of the Demons" is a sorry sight to behold - an amateurish horror film with blank automatons substituting for human beings. It is strange that the blank automatons gain a little sparkle in their eyes when they are possessed by demons. As high-school teens, they are about as interesting as watching makeup dry.

Directed by Kevin Tenney, the bare thread of a plot dangling on Linnea Quigley's nipple has a few select teenagers going out to a Halloween party at, get this, a mortuary! I am guessing it is an abandoned mortuary and for good reason - evil spirits reside there! Angela (Mimi Kincade) - the Goth queen who robs convenience stores while her friend (Linnea Quigley) shows her ass to dumb, entranced store clerks - is the party leader. These teens, including a beer-bellied jerk who just wants to PARTY!, are disposable, unlikable young jerks. Excepting the sole black kid (Alvin Alexis) and a vulnerable and virginal Alice-in-Wonderland-costumed girl (Cathy Podewell), the rest are soporific at best.

When the evil spirits start their possession duties, "Night of the Demons" excites and manages to be frightful. Some scenes with the monstrous transformation of Angela actually work (the makeup is extraordinary). Other scenes with Linnea Quigley leave a lot to be desired, including the insertion of a lipstick in her nipple! Don't ask me to explain that one! There is also the mean old man in the neighborhood who places razor blades inside of apples...but his actual purpose in this film left me mystified.

Essentially, this is "Evil Dead" in a mortuary and nowhere near as blood-curlingly fun. "Night of the Demons" could have used more demented humor and horrific shenanigans overall, and less Linnea Quigley though short-sighted males will enjoy seeing her breasts. Ah, the small pleasures of 1980's horror flicks.