13 Demon Street (1959)
13 Demon Street (1959)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Curt Siodmak
Creator / Director / Writer
Lon Chaney Jr.
Host
Charles Nolte
Anton Lupesco / James Duncan / Paul Kessler
Lorri Scott
Claire Elizabeth Standish / Florence Ames / Mrs. Kessler
Lori Scott
Claire Elizabeth Standish / Florence Ames / Mrs. Kessler
Alan Blair
Hubert Ames / Man / Otto Szegety
Sydney Coulson
Dr. Robert Everett Standish / Inspector Mallory / Neighbor
Doreen Denning
Betty Duncan / Mrs. Helen Victoria Gardiner / Seraphina
Details.
Release DateJanuary 1, 1959
StatusEnded
Seasons1
Episodes13
Running Time30m
Genres
Last updated:
This TV Show Is About.
Wiki.
13 Demon Street is a 1959 horror anthology TV series. Thirteen 25-minute episodes were produced in Sweden, filmed in English language. The cast was a mixture of American, British, and Swedish actors. The series never aired in American syndication. In 1962, three episodes of the series were edited together to form a theatrical feature called The Devil's Messenger with extra framing footage shot that reconfigured Chaney's character as Satan. Chaney filmed new wraparound segments to link the three episodes, which were "The Photograph", "The Girl in the Glacier" and "Condemned in Crystal".
In the original TV episodes, Lon Chaney Jr. was the haggard-looking host, introducing each episode from his dreary 'home' at 13 Demon Street. Condemned for some shockingly atrocious crime, Chaney's purpose in relating the series' stories was to convince viewers that the crimes presented in them were worse than his own misdeed, which would free him from his purgatory. This was hard for audiences to judge, however, because Chaney's original crime was never specified.
The series was originated by Curt Siodmak, who also wrote some of the scripts and directed several episodes. He had previously written Chaney's 1941 film The Wolf Man and was instrumental in bringing Chaney into the project.Several of the show's stories were derivative in nature. "The Black Hand", for example, was modelled on The Hands of Orlac, while "The Photograph" is an updated version of the M R James story "The Mezzotint".