Curse of the Demon

A smug American scientist (Dana Andrews) out to debunk the paranormal arrives in England to investigate a warlock (Niall McGinnis). Andrews's skepticism crumbles as he learns that he has been cursed to die in a short period of time. This is the premise of Jacques Tourneur's fabulously entertaining 1957 suspense film, a metaphysical journey that leads us, along with the protagonist, from a well-ordered world of recognizable landmarks into a primitive universe where life, death, faith, and reason depend on the interplay between light and dark.

Best known as the director of Cat People and Out of the Past, Tourneur makes Demon a manifesto of the values that inform his work: rhythmic fluidity, subtle changes in mood, and a mathematical sense of enigma and doubt. He wanted to avoid showing the demon clearly on screen but was overruled by the producers. When it materializes, the monster merely crystallizes the dread that's present continuously throughout this taut, deceptively elegant film. At the Brattle Theatre this Monday, November 1.

-- Chris Fujiwara