- Broken Base: Opinions are split on whether showing the demon in closeup (or showing it at all) adds to or detracts from the film. The closeups were a result of Executive Meddling — director Jacques Tourneur wanted the demon to be barely glimpsed.
- Retroactive Recognition: Rand Hobart is played by Brian Wilde, who would later be best known for playing Mr. Barrowclough in Porridge and Foggy Dewhirst in Last of the Summer Wine.
- Special Effect Failure:
- From a modern perspective, the closeups of the demon are more likely to inspire laughter than terror. The demon's smoky long shots, however, hold up pretty well.
- In the scene where Karswell's cat Graymalkin turns into a leopard and attacks Holden, Dana Andrews is pretty obviously wrestling with a taxidermy model.
- When Karswell leaves the train to chase the parchment with the runes, you can clearly see the wire on which it's hanging.
- Visual Effects of Awesome:
- Although the closeups of the demon's face haven't aged particularly well, the puppet looks quite impressive for the 50s, especially when it's shown from afar and wreathed in smoke.
- The scenes where we don't see the demon itself but rather the effect it's having on the world, like the smoking hoofprints in the forest being left by something we can't even see, are very effective.
- Watch It for the Meme: A lot of Kate Bush fans found out about this film through her song "Hounds of Love"
from the album of the same name, which opens with the sampled line "It's in the trees, it's coming!"
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/NightOfTheDemon
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