Are you ready to have a good time? “Angela is throwing a party, but Jason and Freddy are too afraid to attend.” But you will have a great time.” Do not be concerned. You have not been invited to Angela’s Halloween party. I am merely reminding you of the tagline from Joe Augustyn’s 1988 cult horror movie ‘Night of the Demons,’ directed by Kevin S. Tenney and written and produced by Joe Augustyn.
You must have guessed by now that the film is about a Halloween party, which is, of course, organized by Angela and held at a frightening and infamous mortuary. Even if you did not show up, ten other teenagers did. They held a seance and let the demon go, who possessed and slaughtered them one by one. The film was made on a shoestring budget of $1 million in just a few weeks, and the company was hesitant to give it a wide release because the screenings were limited to only a few chosen cinemas.
However, the picture was a box office hit, grossing $3.1 million throughout its theatrical run, much to everyone’s astonishment. The film was a hit with horror enthusiasts, and it may have done much better with a wider release. The popularity of the first film prompted the production of two further sequels as well as a remake of the original in 2009.
Amelia Kinkade was cast in the role of Angela, which required a great dancer. Linnea Quigley played Angela’s best friend Suzanne, who initially turned down the job because she thought she was too old for it, but eventually accepted. Hal Havins, Allison Barron, Judy Powell, Lance Fenton, and others made up the rest of the cast. ‘Halloween Party’ was the original title of the film. Due to persistent protests from Moustapha Akkad, the producer of the film titled ‘Halloween,’ director Tenney suggested the title ‘Night of the Demons,’ which was accepted by all. Now, let us have a peek at their Halloween celebration.
The First Halloween Party on ‘The Night of the Demons’ in 1988
A Halloween party had been organized by not-so-popular teenager Angela and her best friend, Suzanne. The venue for the party was a spooky, abandoned mansion converted into a mortuary called Hull House, considered to be the most haunted spot of the town. As the three friends, Stooge, Helen, and Roger approached the party, they drove past an older man carrying apples and razor blades. Stooge taunted the old man with inappropriate gestures while the old man cursed them, saying, “They’ll get what they deserve”.
One of the teenagers, Judy, arrived home and enquired whether her boyfriend Jay had called, but she learned that her ex-boyfriend Sal had called instead. She was not interested in Sal, so when Jay called and told her about their plan of attending Angela’s party, she hastily agreed even though she disliked Angela. When Sal arrived, Judy’s brother told him about Judy’s plans, and he left for the Hull house with the monster mask of Judy’s brother.
Angela was busy shoplifting essentials for the party from the convenience store as her seductive friend Suzanne allured the shopkeepers. As Stooge, Helen and Roger neared the Hull house, their car had a flat tire and they decided to walk the remaining way. They felt the spookiness of the place as they discussed the horror incident of a Hull family member who turned insane and murdered the remaining members and committed suicide. Judy, Jay, Max, and Frannie arrived first as they felt the creepiness of the dark, cold and deserted place. Max explained that an underground river and high walls around the mansion confined the evil spirits inside the premises.
Eventually, the party began, but soon the radio batteries died out. Angela proposed to organize a séance, and as they sat in front of a mirror and concentrated, the images faded to black. Shortly the mirror broke into pieces, and the demon transformed into powder form so that no one could see it, possessing Suzanne, who in turn kissed Angela, making her possessed too. Helen and Rodger wanted to leave the haunted house while Judy and Jay looked for a place to get intimate. But Judy was not interested in making out with Jay which is why he locked her inside a room. Helen and Rodger could not find the exit door as it completely vanished. Suddenly Helen disappeared and a scared Rodger locked himself inside the car.
Stooge, meanwhile saw Angela dancing sensually in front of the fireplace, and as he tried to kiss Angela, she bit off his tongue. The choreography of this dance was done by Amelia herself and became one of the famous dance scenes of a horror film. Jay was seduced by Suzanne, and she killed him by gouging out his eyes. Again, a possessed Stooge found Max and Frannie making out in a coffin and killed them brutally. Sal was petrified to see Angela putting her hand in the fire and joined Rodger, who had fallen asleep in the car. Later in an interview, Amelia recalled that a bucket of ice was kept to extinguish the liquid and fire, or else her hands would have been severely burnt.
Sal and Rodger rescued Judy, but as Angela hunted them down, they were scattered again, and eventually, Sal was hurled out of the window by Suzanne. Judy frantically scurried through the mansion to save herself from the demons. When Angela almost got her, Sal again confronted Angela as both of them fell from the roof and Sal was killed, impaled by a spear. Judy and Rodger were the only ones left, and though they tried hard to escape, they were surrounded by all their friends who had become possessed demons. However, they managed to crash outside the window and started climbing the wall by grabbing the wire.
The demons tried to drag her down, but the sunlight destroyed all the monsters as the sun rose. Devastated and shaken, Judy and Rodger started heading home. The older man from the first scene watched them as they walked past his house. He murmured that they were disgusting people returning from the party. Later he sat for breakfast, and as he started eating the apple pie his wife had prepared, the razor in the apple slit through his throat. As he died painfully, his wife kissed his forehead and said, ‘Happy Halloween, dear.”
A typical 80s horror film packed with fear, bloody murders, and erotic content is not the favorite of the critics, and this film was no exception, but the horror fans loved it, making it a cult hit. The film plot is mostly inspired by the 1981 successful horror film ‘The Evil Dead’ by Sam Raimi, while the gory make-up ideas came from the 1985 horror movie ‘Demons’. Fans can also connect it with films like ‘Hellraiser’ and ‘Legend’. Hey, it’s only inspiration, that’s all! Amidst all the okay-ish stuff, the title sequence by animator Kathy Zielinsky is worth mentioning.
The incredible animation about the ghosts and ghouls rising from their resting places and floating up the hill to the haunted house was such an appropriate and well-thought presentation. She was a well-known face in Disney studios working on classics like ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘Aladdin’, Oscar-winning film ‘Frozen’, and many more. This project had proved its worth about the dark world and villainy, which had been a source of motivation for many of her following projects.
The Second Halloween Party on ‘The Night of the Demons-2’ in 1994
A couple accidentally visited the dilapidated Hull house, totally unaware of the massacre that occurred there six years ago. They were welcomed by Angela and even offered cake, but by the time they noticed the dirt and cobwebs everywhere, including the cake, it was too late, and they were murdered brutally. The film now focused on St. Rita’s Academy, a Catholic Boarding school for troubled teens where three girls, Shirley, Bibi, and Terri, discussed the massacre in the Hull house. From them, the audience got to know that the mutilated bodies of everyone but Angela’s were recovered.
Rumors said that “Angela descended into hell, with body and soul”, but her presence was constantly felt in the Hull house. Suddenly Angela’s sister, Melissa, who lived in the same boarding requested them to stop joking about the dark unworldly topics, but the girls taunted her. Opposite to the girl’s hostel was the boy’s hostel, where Kurt and Johny kept watching the girls with binoculars, while Perry was a studious student highly interested in demonology.
Later that day, the girls kept discussing Melissa, stating that five years ago, Melissa’s family received a creepy Halloween card from Angela signed by her and committed suicide. Deeply troubled and orphaned, Melissa finally landed up in the Boarding school. Their discussion was interrupted by Sister Grace, who requested them to show some mercy towards Melissa. Eventually, Shirley got banned from the school Halloween dance for flirting with Kurt on the tennis court. Being desperate, she organized her own Halloween party and tricked Bibi, Terri, Kurt, Johny, and Melissa to join the party. Her boyfriend Rick and his friend Z-Boy had organized everything for the party.
And guess the location! After reaching the Hull house, they were terrified by many uncanny incidents. Bibi saw something peeping from the lipstick in the bathroom, Terri saw a demon face in the toilet, and Melissa saw demonic Angela. The teens were terrified enough to leave the Hull house except for Z-Boy, who was raped by Angela. While returning, Bibi realized that she was carrying the lipstick from the Hull house, but Shirley snatched it from her as she was trying to throw it. By the way, it was Suzanne’s demonic lipstick from the previous film.
After coming back to school Halloween dance, everyone started enjoying the party while Shirley went to the restroom to freshen up. As soon as she took out the lipstick, the demon was released and immediately possessed Shirley. Rapidly, Angela and Shirley started possessing and killing the students. Sister Gloria and Perry prepared themselves to confront the demons with holy water, crosses, and other blessed items and asked all the students to assemble at the church.
Amidst the commotion, Perry saw Angela kidnap Melissa, and he was sure that their destination was the Hull house. Consequently, Perry, Johny, Bibi, Sister Gloria, and Father Bob headed for the Hull house to rescue Melissa. On reaching there, Father Bob was possessed and killed by demonic Rick, while demon Z-Boy killed Perry. Sister Gloria, Bibi, and Johny managed to finish off all the demons with holy water and found Melissa sleeping on the altar. Angela wanted to sacrifice Melissa’s pure soul to the Devil to prove her faithfulness, but Sister Gloria convinced Angela to sacrifice her instead of Melissa.
Angela agreed and handed the special sword to Melissa to behead Sister Gloria, but Melissa finally shoved the sword into Angela and killed her with holy water. Unfortunately, as they prepared to escape, Angela took the form of a serpent and attacked again. Johny finally made a cross-shaped hole in the window, and as sunlight poured in, Angela’s body exploded. As the survivors returned to the school, we found a student picking up the pink demonic lipstick from the ground.
‘Night of the Demons 2’ was the direct sequel to the 1988 original film, and it was released in 1994 on home video by Republic Pictures Home Video. The film, written by Joe Augustyn and James Penzi, was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starred Amelia Kinkade, Cristi Harris, Rick Peters, Jennifer Rhode, and Christine Taylor. Honestly, this film has the best storyline out of all the four movies though it also intensifies the horror and erotic content, including a fascinating touch of humor.
Interestingly the Hull house was an abandoned house owned by a supermarket chain and was about to be demolished. Some legal constraints delayed the demolition while it was rented by the ‘Night of the Demons’ crew. It was the perfect site as per the film plot, and the first two films were shot here. But soon after, the house was finally demolished. It was located at the junction of Menlo Avenue and West Adams Blvd in Los Angeles.
The Incidents in ‘The Night of the Demons 3’, released in 1997
Another Halloween night had arrived a few years after the St. Rita’s Academy massacre, and Officer Larry on night patrol, confronted Angela at the Hull house and was murdered by her. Can you believe it! Officer Larry actually visited the Hull house on a Halloween night!
Let us give a quick introduction to the main characters of the film. Notorious Vince, his girlfriend Lois, Nick, Reggie, and Orson was driving through the city on Halloween night when they met Holly and Abbie, whose car had a breakdown on the road. Holly unwillingly joined them but remembered Nick from the Algebra class, while Nick speculated that Holly had a crush on him. They stopped at a departmental store where Reggie tried to buy beer using his brother’s ID, but the storekeeper pulled out his gun and threatened them while Vince snatched the weapon from him. Two police officers entered the store, and Vince accidentally shot one officer when the storekeeper grabbed Vince while the other officer shot Reggie in the stomach.
A rampage broke out in the shop, and all the teenagers fled in the van along with two guns. The shot officer was actually wearing a bulletproof vest and was unharmed. The two officers checked the security camera footage and realized that the shopkeeper’s claim of a robbery was false as he himself was stealing money from the cash register. They also understood that the teenagers were not criminals but just a bunch of frightened teens.
Meanwhile, Angela’s wait ended as the scared teens decided to hide at the Hull house as their van ran out of fuel. Abbie warned them about all the rumors surrounding the place, but Vince forced them to enter the house at gunpoint and even fired a hole in the wall to facilitate the evil spirit’s entry taking Angela’s form. As Vince, Lois and Nick looked around the house, Orson watched the remaining teens along with Angela. Soon Angela played music and started her usual seductive dance.
As Orson was distracted, Holly and Abby tried to escape with an injured Reggie using the hotwiring technique, but she didn’t want to leave without Nick. Angela went on seducing Orson and soon killed him with her long, monstrous tongue. Soon Abbie was tricked and possessed by Angela while demonic Orson ran over Reggie. Abbie, who was converted into a demon, tried to allure Vince until he could hear the van crash. Lois was scratched and slapped by Abbie while her hand was transformed into a snake which eventually killed her. That was quite innovative!
Holly tried to call the police using officer Larry’s car, but officer Larry was still there, as a demon of course, and attacked Holly. Luckily as soon as Holly stepped over the underground stream, Larry burst into flames. Well, Holly again went inside the house to get everyone out though I guess she didn’t know that only three of them were alive. Suddenly police officer Dewhurst reached the Hull house and offered to help them. Next, Vince came out with Angela as his hostage. Dewhurst tried to convince him that the officer he shot was alive and he had nothing to be scared of, but Angela confused him, stating that the police were lying.
Vince opened fire and in the shootout, Vince was shot dead. Angela and all the demons now attacked them together, but Angela gave them a proposal. She said that if Holly sacrificed her soul, then she would let Nick and Dewhurst go. Holly agreed, and Angela, with all her demons, started dragging Holly towards the Hull house. Officer Dewhurst managed to stab Angela with the switchblade, and as they tried to escape, Angela confronted them and pulled out officer Dewhurst’s heart, killing him instantly. As Nick and Holly stepped outside the boundary, Angela caught Holly’s hand and the tug-of-war continued until the sun rose and shattered Angela into pieces.
Holly closed the gate of the Hull house with a cross and promised that she would come there every Halloween night to ensure that no one ever entered the Hull house again, while Angela’s roar of laughter could be heard from the distance.
‘Night of the Demons 3’ was the last sequel of the series released in 1997 by Paramount Pictures and Republic Pictures. The Director of the original 1988 film was the writer of this third sequel, and it was directed by Jim Kaufman. Amelia Kinkade was back as Angela maintaining the continuity nicely, while other actors included Vlasta Vrana, Tara Slone, Joe Gordon, and Christian Tessier. Many of Angela’s floating scenes and inside shots of the Hull house were taken from the original film. The film successfully concludes the series with similar horror and eroticism like its preceding movies, but it is a fun horror flick for fans of gory films.
Advanced Halloween Party in 2009 with The Night of the Demons Remake in 2009
The movie commenced in the year 1925 when Evangeline Broussard was seen on the verge of committing suicide. A man approached her and tried to stop her, but Evangeline called him a liar and hanged herself from the balcony. The man stared at her dead body, and his eyes changed into a demonic form.
The film turned to the present-day when Maddy, Lily, and Suzanne were all invited to a party hosted by Angela. Maddy’s ex-boyfriend Colin was dealing drugs at the party, while Lily’s ex-boyfriend Dex was also present with his friend Jason. Not to mention that the party was hosted at the same mansion where Evangeline hanged herself and six people had disappeared. When Maddie went to the toilet, a hand grabbed her through the mirror. Yet she didn’t pay any heed to it, taking it as a prank by Angela.
Meanwhile, the police stopped the party as Angela was taking money from the invitees. Everyone left the party while Colin tried to hide the drugs before leaving. But after some time, everybody returned to Angela’s house as they couldn’t find Suzanne and Colin who had returned to retrieve his drugs. They found that Suzanne had passed out due to overdrinking while Angela and Colin looked for the hidden drugs. As they reached the basement, the duo found a hidden room containing six skeletons.
Angela guessed that the skeletons belonged to the guests who went missing from Evangeline’s party. But one of the skeletons suddenly bit Angela’s hand, as she tried to pull out a gold tooth from its mouth. She started transforming into a demon. In the meantime, Suzanne narrated the story about Evangeline practicing black magic to get close to Louis. After a séance, she confronted the seven demons who had been banished from hell, and they needed seven human sacrifices to rise again and control the human world. Evangeline sought to take her own life than let that happen. Only the maid was alive, but she almost turned insane due to the impact of the events on a cursed night, and had scribbled spells on the walls of her room.
Angela kissed Dex and converted him into a demon, while Dex converted Lily into a demon by intimidating her. Next, Angela allured Suzanne and ripped her breasts and face. Jason was horrified to see Lily inserting lipstick through her breast and taking it out of her vagina, with a pool of blood flowing out. That scene was extremely intense. The demons had learned a lot in the last two decades. So, before you realize it, all but three of the teens had already been converted into monsters. Maddie, Colin, and Jason escaped the demons and finally took shelter in the maid’s room. The spells on the walls prevented the demons from entering the room.
Now, blood started pouring from the walls and washed off all the spells. As the three of them tried to redraw the spells, the demons created an illusion of daylight, and the group stepped out of the room. I warned you, the demons had become extremely smart! Hence Colin was killed while Maddie and Jason returned to the maid’s room. Nonetheless, the rotten floors of the maid’s room collapsed, and Jason crashed into the basement. Maddie quickly climbed down a rope to help him but alas! Jason had been possessed too.
Maddie fought her way back to the maid’s room and reached the balcony, where she hanged herself just the way Evangeline had. As the sun rose and the demons were killed, it seemed it was Maddie’s turn to fool the demons as she had tied the rope around her waist. Thus, Maddie was the sole survivor as she walked out of the exit gate.
This 2009 film was the remake of the 1988 film, directed by Adam Gierasch, who had co-written the screenplay with Jace Anderson. The actors starring in the film are Edward Furlong, Monica Keena, Bobbi Sue Luther, and others. I really don’t know why the budget of the film was $10 million, but it merely grossed $64000. After watching the first two movies of the series, the last sequel and the remake hardly offer anything special.
Future of the Franchise
In June 2013, Tenney had announced a sequel to the 2009 film titled ‘After Party’ which was to be directed by Anthony Hickox. Though a Kickstarter campaign was launched to raise funds, it was unsuccessful. The disaster of the last remake in 2009 was probably the cause of the failure of the project and the Kickstarter campaign. The demons, as mentioned earlier, were definitely more intelligent and more competent than their predecessors. Let us thank Maddie’s and Evangeline’s presence of mind for saving the world from demonic invasion and the failed Kickstarter campaign for saving the world from another sequel. Last but not the least, please be careful and watch out before attending the next Halloween party.