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I missed this thread because I forgot how this film had two titles, and I had known it primarily as Curse of the Demon.

Earlier tonight Lincoln Center screened the 96-minute cut in 35mm as part of their Jacques Tourneur retrospective. This is certainly one of his masterpieces in my book. It's a great concept. Most horror films deal with fear of the unknown, and this one develops that idea to its furthest extent. You have characters with a comfortable understanding of the world that is based on some rock solid logic - it would be very hard to take that away and convince them that the foundation for everything they believe is fallacious. To do so would be traumatizing. And what happens when they do accept that they can no longer rationalize the world around them? Suddenly anything can happen, and that leaves them very vulnerable. It's terrifying - reality becomes very alien and very hostile. Yes, Dana Andrews generally keeps his cool, but that isn't the case with Professor Harrington or with the audience.

Regardless of whether Tourneur wanted to film those demon shots, he was right to be unhappy because they break from the ambiguity inherent in the challenges to the characters' perceptions. Aside from the emerging smoke, they should have been cut out. If the rest of the film hadn't been so strong, they would have spun the entire movie on a far less powerful trajectory.

MichaelB wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 3:31 pm Both of those were indeed added after the box had gone to print - an occasional occupational hazard in this business. In fact, for various reasons the Michael Hordern piece was dropped in at almost the very last minute.

(Sleeves and discs tend to go to print/reproduction at the same time, so coordinating their contents is easy, but special packaging normally has to be signed off a few weeks earlier.)

Thanks for that info about the production circumstances. Never refrain from "dropping in" last-minute extras or features. Even if they wind up not being listed on the box or on the Web site as is the case with the LE of Night of the Demon, buyers can simply consider them to be disc Easter eggs (remember those?).

I note that the LE is no longer being offered directly by Amazon on its various sites, and is only available from third party sellers (at inflated prices of course). PH still lists it as being available; might it be getting close to reaching OOP status? Unless other online sites or stores still have some stock. Can Indicator releases, especially the Limited Editions, be purchased in retail stores in the UK or are they sold only through online vendors?

You can certainly buy them over the counter in places like HMV and Fopp.

Powerhouse has confirmed that they're down to their last few copies of the Limited Edition - and once it's gone, it's gone.

The Standard Edition will remain available indefinitely, but doesn't come with the 80-page book, the double-sided poster, the box or the reversible sleeve.

MichaelB wrote: Tue Dec 18, 2018 9:59 am Powerhouse has confirmed that they're down to their last few copies of the Limited Edition - and once it's gone, it's gone.

This answers my recent query. So the LE came out October 22 and is now near OOP status? It may not have sold out before the release date, this is a real achievement, especially for a LE of 10 000 copies, which is above the standard runs for this publisher. Is a new title selling out so fast a record for Indicator?

I suppose there are a few reasons to explain it. For example: it being the first English-language HD edition of a popular (some would say "cultish") title, Internet buzz including a resounding pre-publication endorsement by Guillermo del Toro and an attractively impressive array of features and extras, starting with the BFI restoration. It certainly far surpasses the very good French-language BD of 2013. It's always comforting to see quality work be rewarded with commercial success.

I can't help but feeling a little sorry for Peggy Cummins though; on the booklet of what will probably stand for a long time as the definitive release, she is now memorialised in a cliché scream queen pose from a publicity still (I think you can almost make out her tonsils in detail). At least she will be spared that fate in the Standard Edition. BTW, the latter is surprisingly being sold by some vendors (including Amazon UK) at prices over the initial MSRP for the LE.