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 When a young girl is kidnapped and murdered
by a black-gloved brute, her parents call in a psychic (Cameron
Mitchell) to help find the killer. Meanwhile, the stalker has
his sights set on a young kindergarten teacher (Jennifer Holmes).
The game of cat and mouse begins when the killer traps the teacher
in her house.
Writer/director Percival Rubens combines elements of Halloween
and The Exorcist in this odd little slasher from Johannesburg,
South Africa. The slasher is a faceless demon forced to wear
a rubber mask in order to appear human. His weapons of choice
are a pair of black gloves with metal claw fingertips and the
old plastic over the head trick. Mitchell's psychic refers to
the killer as "an aberration of the species. Something hallucinating
evil."
Cameron Mitchell, who obviously took the role to help pay his
gambling debts, begins his performance rather subtle until he
does his ESP shtick. Then, Mitchell starts gasping like an asthmatic
and sniffing the missing girl's pillows. He goes from heroic
figure to dirty old man real fast. His screen time is very short
and he never gets to confront the killer. Jennifer Holmes is
very good as the stalked teacher. Her character is more intelligent
than most slasher heroines and she isn't afraid to fight back
when trapped by the killer.
While The Demon does have several tense, creepy moments,
the overall film is dragged down by an unnecessary romantic
subplot involving secondary characters. This subplot brings
the film to a screeching halt and makes The Demon feel
like a three hour movie. Another problem, why does the killer
have razor gloves when he rarely uses them on his victims? Death
by suffocation is gruesome but not very bloody.
Fans of slashers with a heavy emphasis on stalking should check
out The Demon. The version you see depends on where you
live. The US cut has a hefty level of nudity while other countries
decided to edit out all T&A. Such edits would really effect
the ending considering Jennifer Holmes is nude during the final
confrontation. Watch for a sign for "Boobs Disco" and an awesome
billboard for The Amityville Horror.
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