'Curse of the Demon' is the American cut of the British horror film 'Night of the Demon'. A Wheatlyesque tale; folk horror adjacent. Directed by Jacques Tourner, a Frenchman who had directed some of producer Val Lewton's best remembered horror movies, such as 'Cat People' and 'I Walked with a Zombie', as well as 'Out of the Past', a canonical Film Noir with Robert Mitchum which I didn't particularly care for the one time I saw it, but have been meaning to revisit.
Only mildly creepy, but well shot; the demon effect is memorable. The film approaches things largely from a psychological angle, which I liked, but by the end our lead is saying to his love interest "You're right, maybe it's better not to know". That lead is played by Dana Andrews and I wish they had cast someone else because I found him hard to buy as a psychology professor. Andrews is in England for a parapsychology conference but his principle British colleague dies in a mysterious accident hours before Andrews plane arrives.
Andrews teams up with the dead man's niece, a kindergarten teacher played by Peggy Cummins, essentially the opposite of the character she played in her best known film 'Gun Crazy'. A local cult leader played by Niall MacGinnis had cursed the man shortly before his death and subsequently curses Andrews. I liked the way McGinnis chose to play the character, more likable then menacing, as well as pretty generous, you can get why people might follow him; why we never actually see him with his followers feels a real oversight. A reasonably smart film, just different enough to be memorable. ***
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