Finally! Hello! This is the Doomed Show is back from a short hiatus. Between illnesses and birthdays and whatevers, duders needed some time. But we're back with an episode on The Demon from 1979. You can listen or download right here. Want to check out some older episodes? Then please go to the archives located right here yo. Anyway, enjoy the show. We are going to try very hard not to make you wait so long for the next one. Try. Very. Haaarrrrrd.
Hey Richard & Brad,
ReplyDeleteI just cheated a bit and listened to the first and last half hour of the show, because I haven't watched The Demon yet - I hadn't even heard of it until now - but I enjoyed what I've heard so far! I haven't watched a whole lot of movies this year yet, but I do feel the urge to get back to it now. If this translates in your mind to 'Martin Luther Presley gets excited by our hot horror talk' you wouldn't be too wrong!
I strongly encourage you to do a show on Rob Zombie's Halloween I & II. I'm quick to hate stuff (though to my credit, if I may say so myself, I am also quick to change my mind once I realize I was wrong), and the original Halloween is a serious contender for my all time favorite horror film, but the general hatred for Zombie's Halloween films puzzles me to no end. And this from Halloween fans who are used to suffer through terrible shit like Halloween 5 and 6?!? Granted, I like Zombie's earlier stuff a lot and might therefore be biased, but I think I could somehow understand if Zombie's take on the franchise was just not appreciated, but the passionate hatred for the films is mind buffling to me. Sure, #2 is a bit weird (and flawed I must admit) and again, I could understand if one just doesn't care for it (in both cases the director's cuts are MUCH better I think). But #1? I think it's pretty damn awesome, and not just because I want to do the sexy sex with Laurie. I actually think it's a prime example of how to do a remake, which contrary to popular opinion is not such bad thing in itself, it's just that so many in the past 15 years have been so incredibly bad and pointless (in the way they were made) that you just get sick of the idea.
So, please do a show on those, even if you might be treated like taliban communists. I'd still tune in.
Also, I'm sooo glad you made me watch My Soul To Take. I fucking loved it. It's one of those films that made me wonder what's wrong with people. I think it's a great new entry in the slasher genre and I hope it will find its place in horror movie history. So, thanks for covering that one. The Ward was...well, let's just say so-so. It's not that I didn't enjoy it (and I did jump a few times in my seat), but I don't need to watch it again too soon.
That's it for now! Turbulent times for me at the moment, but I hope to find the time to watch more films again and stop always being so behind with my favorite horror blog/podcast stuff as I've been lately!
Cheers,
MLP
MLP- Thanks so very much for your comments! We will respond to them in full on the next show. Let me float this though as a preamble to my thoughts on RZ's Halloween: People were surprised when Rob Zombie delivered a Rob Zombie film. I hope this weekend finds you in fine form and you get to watch some horror films!-Brad
ReplyDeleteHey there. I'm a total expert on THE DEMON, so I was really psyched to find your show. I shouldn't tell you this, but I'm the dude who wrote that IMDB tagline about the "malevolent man" who brings people's worst fears to life. Looking back, I don't know why I wrote that. I think because in the early days of IMDB, they were, like, "Don't reveal any plot points! Leave it vague!" So I made it as vague as possible. I think I got that "brings their worst fears to life" thing because the Parkers had to deal with their missing daughter, and Mary had to deal with being stalked, etc. But you're right, it sucks. I'm sorry. Anyway, I just wanted to say that THE DEMON is, indeed, a 1981 production. The movie was shot in May-June 1980, and released straight-to-video in the US (via Thorn EMI) in 1981. It didn't play in theaters until it was released, even later, as THE MIDNIGHT CALLER (the distributor hoped to cash in on the "Freddy" phenomenon by featuring the steel manicure artwork in the ads). Oh, about "Boobs Disco" — it was actually a real nightclub in Johannesburg at the time. By the way, I think I know what sparse piece of music you're referring to that the soundtrack lifts from giallo flicks. It's a track called "Cold Sweat" by David Lindup. https://youtu.be/xL3XKyIDc2o It was also used in the US trailer, and US opening sequence, to TORSO. And it turns up in THE DEMON a couple of times. Nick Labuschagne, the credited composer on THE DEMON, was actually more like a music supervisor — I think the entire soundtrack was pre-existing stock tracks. One thing we're both in the dark about, however, is who played the Demon. I can tell you, though, the story behind his disappearing and reappearing mask. The impression the director wanted to create was, whenever you see the Demon's face, it's "a mask." The character is "faceless" and wears a false face to blend in with people. So when you see what's clearly the actor with just face paint on, that's supposed to be his mask. Thing is, that rubber mask we him with a couple of times — washing it in the sink, sitting on the bed when he's doing pushups — looks absolutely nothing like the actor. The director thought audiences would think the actor with face paint and eye shadow WAS the mask, so he'd shoot him putting it on or whatever, then just have him run around without it and hope people thought that rubber dolly mask and his painted face were the same thing. Anyway, thanks for the show! It's always strange and interesting to find fans of this flick. They're definitely a rare breed. I always look at it this way: the director (who passed away in 2009) had a long career stretching back to the 60's, but he maintained, to his dying day, that this was his best film. So, there ya go: We might see a crusty, confusing, intriguingly bad HALLOWEEN rip-off, but THE DEMON was somebody's baby, somebody's "best film," someone's most proud accomplishment. Wow.
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