Set yourself a task. Find out about a book that you didn’t know existed and see how quickly you can find a copy at a decent price because you want to read it. Such is the case with ‘Beating The Devil: The Making Of Night Of The Demon’ by Tony Earnshaw. I love this 1957 film and it’s on my regular re-watch list. Great cast, especially Niall MacGinnis as Julian Karswell. The fire demon, a little less so, but still terrifying. It’s also a great Halloween game. Pass the runes unsuspectedly to a potential victim and then they’re on the run from a demon who will ultimately tear them apart within a couple of days. What’s not to love? The only problem with discovering this book from 2005 is that there are very few on the market. I counted three, all highly priced, but I got the cheapest available and that still cost more than a demon’s arm. But, hey, at my age, I can afford a monthly indulgence.
This book is really comprehensive. It not only notes the US title, ‘Curse Of The Demon’, but also those for other countries. All film books should be this comprehensive, although with a larger font size.
The original ‘Casting The Runes’ was written by M.R. James back in 1911 and put in his second anthology ‘More Ghost Stories’. Before the film, there was a radio adaptation closer to the short story. Screenwriter Charles Bennett felt it needed expansion for a film production and actually wanted to make it a general release film. As he had to submit the script to the British Board Of Film Censors for approval, they came back saying it had to be an ‘X’ film. From the script details here, this version was different to the final script. It even fitted in a golf tournament! It had a few more hands in the script to reach what we finally saw on the screen, and the fire demon wasn’t part of that, but the producer Frank Bevis added it after director Jacques Tourneur left the production. The demon was in the original draft, incidentally. Its inclusion was largely because the producer felt the viewer would be cheated if they didn’t see it.
These days, we’re used to seeing marked differences as films are developed and completed. Back in 1956, that was less so. This book is a revelation about the film. Looking at the first draft, I would have criticised it myself for having too many distractions. As a writer, a lot of the time in plotting is looking at what is needed and removing the rest, but with any plotting there is a need to flesh out a reality, and with no template to compare it to, any writer would be doing this in the dark.
One of the best selling points is seeing the impressive 13 illustrations by Ken Adam for the interiors in the film. This was the second film he did as art director, his previous one being uncredited. If the name escapes you, think of the Bond films. His early work was good from the start.
It’s a shame that its publishers haven’t gone for a reprint because I’m sure fans of ‘Night Of The Demon’ who missed out like I did would love to own this book.
GF Willmetts
October 2026
(pub: Tomahawk Press, 2005. 127 page illustrated indexed medium softcover. Price: varies but expensive. ISBN: 978-0-95319-261-8)
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