Ultimately, his designs for the demonically possessed kids partying in a morgue were a creepy, sleazy landmark for low-budget horror (watch for the weirdest use of lipstick ever). For effects master Steve Johnson, it was a chance to lead a project after years working under industry legends like Rob Bottin and Rick Baker. Tenney and his team saw their sophomore release as a challenge, to expand and prove themselves. Tenney said, 'one of the reviewers said that it was Porky's for horror fans.' He said, 'After Witchboard, which was a more subtle ghost story, we wanted to go completely the other way with Night of the Demons.' The end result was one of the great works of вЂ™80s schlock horror. Now Tenney had a taste for gore, but wanted a change of tone. Keying on the Ouija board cultural phenomenon, the Kitaen vehicle was a moderate cinematic success which hit its stride on home release. but just four credits short of his master's degree, he left college to direct Witchboard. 'On campus, it was, 'Oh Kevin, he's the big drama director' Then after Joe it was, 'Oh, Kevin, he's the comedy director.'' He's not the first filmmaker to make that jump (as he points out, ' William Peter Blatty was a screenwriter before The Exorcist, and he was known for romantic comedies'). Then he produced his grad project, a dark comedy called The Book of Joe, which landed him a three-picture production deal. While studying film at the University of Southern California, he won an Emmy for 'War Games,' a dramatic short about a Vietnam vet. 'It's funny how people pigeonhole you,' he said. The gruesome twosome established Tenney as an icon of the era of VHS horror, but it wasn't ever his plan to become a master of fear.

Today the classic tale of suburban demonic possession and Tenney's follow-up, the gore-drenched kitsch of Night of the Demons, both see a long-overdue Blu-ray release through Scream! Factory вЂ“ a firm quickly establishing itself as the gold standard for exploitation and horror. It's a gloriously eerie piece image: model-turned-actress Tawny Kitaen in terror as two hands erupt out of a Ouija board. 'They stuck it on an Italian video,' he said. Tenney, another film borrowed it for its VHS cover. So good that, according to director Kevin S.

If you've never seen the UK poster for Witchboard, it may just have been the best piece of creepy вЂ™80s horror art. That's just as well, in any case, as Night of the Demon still qualifies as one of the finer debuts by the many bands associated with that movement.Amelia Kinkade shows the perils of smoking as the demonically possessed Angela in Night of the Demons, out today on Blu-ray and DVD from Scream! Factory Indeed, while the similarly intentioned (yet far more successful) Def Leppard borrowed liberally from the Sweet to craft their tightly bound guitar harmonies and vocal choruses, Demon were clearly channeling the looser, bluesier spirit of UFO into songs like 'Decisions,' 'Liar,' and especially 'Ride the Wind.' Here, Demon vocalist Dave Hill displays more than a passing resemblance to Phil Mogg (although guitarist and co-songwriter Mal Spooner is no Michael Schenker), and then the almost country-fried 'Fool to Play the Hard Way' bucks the metal stereotype even further by aping none other than Foghat - seriously! Album closer 'One Helluva Night' swings the chains back to the heavy metal realm ever so slightly, but is still rooted in enough classic rock tricks to fully expose Demon as somewhat less representative of the NWOBHM than their press releases of the time would suggest. But once they get past these misleading opening salvos, listeners will be surprised to discover that Demon were actually far more indebted to blue-collar, '70s English hard rock than Black Sabbath or any of their NWOBHM peers. And so do the ensuing title track and the brilliant 'Into the Nightmare,' which, despite offering surprisingly singalong choruses and Thin Lizzy-like melodic guitar lines, hardly fall far from the heavy metal family tree, either.

As its over-the-top intro, 'Full Moon,' sets an ominous tone with piercing screams, guttural croaks, and insistent chants to 'rise! rise! rise!' Demon's 1981 debut album, Night of the Demon, promises to deliver a single-mindedly 'metallic' example of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal style.

Night of the demons song