A gang of teenagers were planning on going to the Halloween dance at the local high school. Angela Franklin (Amelia Kinkade) decides to have a party in an abandoned mortuary, Hull House. Rumor has it that the building itself is cursed. Angela and her friend Suzanne (Linnea Quigley) steal food and drink from the local convenience store to supply snacks for the party. Driving separately in another car are Judy (Cathy Podewell) and Jay (Lance Fenton). They pick up Max (Philip Tanzini) and Frannie (Jill Terahita). In a third car is Stooge (Hal Havins), Helen (Allison Barron) and Rodger (Alvin Alexis). Judy’s ex-boyfriend Sal Romero (Billy Gallo) decides that he is going to crash the party.
According to legend, the funeral parlor is surrounded by an underground stream. A wall was built over the stream. The legend states that evil spirits cannot cross over running water. The kids set up a boom box and a strobe light. Things are going fine and everybody’s dancing. Suddenly the music stops. Looking for something to do, Angela decides to have a séance. The kids find an old full-length mirror. They all sit around staring into it. Helen sees herself dead and screams. The mirror falls and smashes.
Suddenly the kids hear noises coming from below them. A demon escapes from the crematorium. It finds its way upstairs and possesses Suzanne. Rodger and Helen decide to leave but when they go looking for the gate in the wall surrounding the mausoleum, they find that it has disappeared. Most of the others go looking for spots where they can be alone and have sex. Suzanne begins acting strangely. She kisses Angela on the mouth and transfers some of the malevolent force into her.
As the night wears on, the demonic Suzanne and Angela attack the other members of the clique. Unable to flee the mausoleum, the teenagers can only hope that they make it through the night. If they can survive until morning, Halloween will be over, and the demons will disappear.
“Night of the Demons” was released in 1988 and was directed by Kevin Tenney. It is a supernatural horror fantasy film with comedy elements. The movie was followed by two sequels, “Night of the Demons 2” in 1994 and “Night of the Demons III” in 1997. There was also a remake done in 2009. There are a couple versions of the film out there. One is rated “R”, and the other is rated “X”. There isn’t a lot of difference between them but there were a few bits and pieces that were trimmed to get it to the “R” rating.
There is one memorable scene where Linnea Quigley (Suzanne) is possessed and is drawing on her body with a lipstick. At one point she takes the lipstick and pushes it into her nipple until it disappears inside her. The scene is reminiscent of the effect in the 1983 film “Videodrome” where Max has a VHS tape inserted into his stomach. Linnea and special effects artist Steve Johnson met when she came in to get the mold for her fake breasts done. They were married in 1990 and divorced in 1992.
In general, the movie is gory, kinky and just plain weird. The special effects are decent. Steve Johnson did most of these effects as well. It ended up being a fun movie.
Director Tenney has a cameo as a customer in the convenience store.