Night of the Demon (1980 film)

By cinematographer John Quick's recollection, the film's budget was approximately $70,000.[3] Quick had worked with producer Jim L. Ball previously on a 1964 feature he had filmed while attending the University of Southern California entitled Fraternity of Horror.[7]

Principal photography took place in 1979, with the exterior sequences being largely filmed in Valencia, California, near Six Flags Magic Mountain, as well as other undeveloped areas outside Los Angeles.[8] Additional filming locations include at the Feedbin feed store in Malibu, as well as producer Jim L. Ball's private studio on La Brea Avenue, which is where the interior cabin sequences were filmed.[lower-alpha 4] The college campus featured in the beginning of the film is that of Immaculate Heart College.[lower-alpha 4]

Following the film's completion, a small showing was held largely for cast and crew members, which led to a second screening at a local Los Angeles film festival.[10] After the film performed poorly with audiences at the festival, producer Jim L. Ball shot numerous gore-filled sequences to insert into the film, retrofitting it in a way that each of the graphic murders are told through flashback, and serve as the anthropology students' impetus to capture the bigfoot.[11] According to director James C. Wasson, he had no involvement in the filming of these scenes, and his original cut of the film was much more tame.[11] The final sequence in which the bigfoot murders the remaining students in the cabin was filmed in a makeshift studio in producer Ball's garage in Los Angeles.[12]

Due its depiction of brutal violence, Night of the Demon was listed as a "video nasty" by the British Board of Film Classification.[13] It remained banned in the United Kingdom until January 1994, when VIPCO resubmitted it to the BBFC, who agreed to pass it with an 18 certificate as long as one minute and forty-one seconds' worth of gore was deleted.[14] Almost all of the violent scenes were trimmed, but the castration of the biker and the removal of a student's intestines (for use as a flail) were removed completely.

Devon Bertsch of Digital Retribution wrote, "When the Bigfoot is off screen, it is admittedly hard to overlook the film's many, many flaws. Indeed everything that is not the Bigfoot is highly flawed, and even the Bigfoot himself looks pretty crap. The acting, script, FX and the often incongruous score are laughable, but add to the film's wacko charm."[15] A 2½ out of 5 was given to the film by Justin Kerswell of Hysteria Lives!, who called it "undoubtedly the best of the worst of the early 80s backwoods slashers".[16] Dread Central's Chris Haberman stated, "Is this a 'so-bad-it's-good' movie? No. This is one of those rare, largely forgotten films that was taken so seriously by its creators that it is difficult to imagine a large team of people reading the script, enjoying it, coming on-board, and putting in the time and energy to bring the terrible story to life. As such, this is an 'I-must-have-a-fever' movie, because most of what you'll see may feel like a hallucination" and "The film has plenty of problems, but I think the reason its supporters still stand beside this freakshow is that the film works hard to entertain. No matter how clumsy the dialogue and effects may be, these cats were trying to be taken seriously, and the result is too angry and depraved to be considered a lazy cash-in or mocking parody piece. The filmmakers' intention to make an earnestly mean and perverted film is undeniable, and that weird essence turns even the most absurdly executed set pieces into memorable mindfuckers".[17]

Film scholar Scott Von Doviak wrote of the film's representation of violence: "It's a repugnant piece of work all around, yet Night of the Demon earns its place in motion picture history simply by getting more out of the phrase "horribly mutilated" than any other movie ever made."[18]

Rob Hunter of Film School Rejects wrote that the film "is played completely straight, but Night of the Demon is gloriously bonkers."[19]

The film was released on VHS in the United States in 1983 by the Los Angeles-based home video company VCII, Inc.,[20] who reissued it in 1986.[21] Gemstone Entertainment released another VHS edition in 1987.[22] Vipco released the film on VHS in the United Kingdom on September 13, 1993,[23] though, according to the British Board of Film Classification, cuts were made to the film for this release.[24]

It was later released for the first time on DVD by Black Horse on November 1, 2004, and by Vidtape on November 30 that same year.[25] Code Red released the film as a part of its Maria's "B" Movie Mayhem series on October 11, 2011.[25] It was last released by Mr Fat-W Video on June 21, 2016.[25]

On November 26, 2021, Severin Films released the film for the first time on Blu-ray, launching it as part of their annual Black Friday online sale.[26] Additionally, Severin released a new novelization of the film by Brad Carter, as well as various limited memorabilia, including keychains, figurines, and a small number of bigfoot masks replicated from the mask used in the film.[27]