BTW, does anyone have any info on the 1980 “Night of the Demon” which is supposedly a “lost” Bigfoot on the rampage classic?

yes, this is a Bigfoot Attacks film that has a cult following in both the US and in the UK.

in the US it’s because the savagery of the film is unmatched in any bigfoot film before or since. the onscreen violence and prolonged screen time of each assault is jawdropping, even in this so-called permissive era of screen violence. the final assault is literally THE WILD BUNCH of bigfoot films, with the creature single-clawingly destroying an entire group of kids in one of the bloodiest screen assaults ever filmed for sheer carnage. the director was clearly echoing TAXI DRIVER and ROLLING THUNDER.

in the UK, the film is notorious because Margaret Thatcher’s government proclaimed it one of the so-called “Video Nasties.” that is, it was banned from official possession by any video store or person who collected such movies. no joke! raids were conducted in video stores all across England during this era. if shop owners were found in possession of any of the banned Video Nasties? they faced bankrupting fines, jail time and in some cases, both verdicts. it was a very 1984 Orwellian time in the 1980’s under Thatcher for the arts; i won’t brag about USA today, however, as we’re dangerously close in self-censorship here now, too.

the film features one sequence the Brits evidently found too disturbing to be viewed by a free republic of people: a motorcyclist stops on a rural country road to relieve himself. two seconds later, a bigfoot claw reaches unceremoniously out from the brushes and grabs the poor lad by his ‘privates,’ whereupon he is ‘beheaded’ (so to speak) in shocking, graphic daylight, complete with close-ups designed to offend even Herschel Gordon Lewis.

i’m not defending it as great art, but it is clearly meant to be Grand Guignol in tone. it’s so ludicrously shot and over-the-top that if you don’t at least giggle at this inane attempt at childish humor, you probably should have never rented nor bought a copy of a movie entitled NIGHT OF THE DEMON to begin with! i mean, what were you expecting? Shakespeare? Sasquatchspeare?

though hard to find, NIGHT OF THE DEMON is available from several cult distributors, among them BijouFlix (which, in full disclosure, is a cult film company i own). i recommend it to fans of bigfoot attack sub-genre who have a STRONG stomach for onscreen violence; otherwise, definitely pass on it, as it will upset you.

BTW, does anyone have any info on the 1980 “Night of the Demon” which is supposedly a “lost” Bigfoot on the rampage classic?

As sausage1 said though, he is more remembered here in England for his roles in Porridge and Last Of The Summer Wine.

I’ll have to watch Demon again to see who Wilde played in it. I seriously don’t recall.

As well as his brilliant role in this film Brian Wilde played the mild-mannered and ineffectual prison guard Mr Barrowclough in the Ronnie Barker series ‘Porridge.’ He had this bumbling character down to a tee, a really good piece of character comedy acting. He also played Foggy Dewhurst in the long running BBC comedy ‘Last of the Summer Wine,’ which first aired when gigantopithecus was still walking on his knuckles.

Great actor, will be missed.