By Ray Walton
Curse of the Demon (1957) ⭐️⭐️⭐
American professor John Holden (Dana Andrews) arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that the colleague he was supposed to meet was killed in a freak accident the day before. It turns out that the deceased had been investigating a cult lead by Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis). Though a skeptic, Holden is suspicious of the devil-worshiping Karswell. Following a trail of mysterious manuscripts, Holden enters a world that makes him question his faith in science.
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis
Watch on: Tubi, Prime Video or AppleTV
Curse of the Demon tells the story of when American professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshiper Julian Karswell. I haven’t seen a lot of 50s creature feature films, but the best way I can describe this is that it is an A movie with a B movie feel. You don’t even see the demon that much. The movie talks more about witchcraft and skepticism than anything else. Dana Andrews is really good. He doesn’t strike me as the type of actor to star in a monster movie, but I can see why this would have appealed to him. Peggy Cummins is also really good, but I don’t think she was used to the fullest. At some points, she feels like a strong female character, while also feeling like a damsel in distress in others. One scene towards the end in particular baffled me with what was going on with her character. Movies about demons, curses, and devil worship are something you don’t find very often when it comes to old-school horror, but the movie industry had to start somewhere. I didn’t love this movie, but I appreciate it for its place in the horror catalog. It would probably make a good double feature with the silent film, Häxan.
NightTide Magazine 
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