''My Demon Lover'' is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Charlie Loventhal and written by Leslie Ray. The film stars Scott Valentine,

Michele Little Michele Little (born c. 1960) is an American former actress, best known for her appearances in the 1980s and early 1990s. She retired in 1995 to raise a family after giving birth to a daughter with husband Brett Cullen. Filmography *''Radioactiv ...

Robert Trebor Robert Trebor (born June 7, 1953) is an American character actor, perhaps best known for starring as Salmoneus on the cult hits ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. The surname of his stage name (Trebor) is an ana ...

Gina Gallego Georgina Maria Gallego (born October 30, 1955) is an American actress, known for her work in television. Her credits include: '' Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'', '' Flamingo Road'' (as Alicia Sanchez), ''Remington Steele'', ''Airwolf'', ''Ritua ...

, Alan Fudge,

Calvert DeForest Calvert Grant DeForest (July 23, 1921 – March 19, 2007), also known by his character name Larry "Bud" Melman, was an American actor and comedian, best known for his appearances on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' and '' Late Show with David ...

and Arnold Johnson. The film was released on April 24 by

New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...

Plot

Denny is a young woman who has horrible luck with men. Her latest encounters have been particularly bad, so when she meets a homeless (and horny) street musician, Kaz, she thinks that she may have found a good man. Little does she know that Kaz was cursed by the mother of a young girl he was messing around with while he was in middle school. Whenever he becomes aroused he becomes a demon. When young women begin to die throughout the city, Kaz begins to wonder if he is "The Mangler" that is murdering them. His worries are compounded when Denny's friend Sonia, a psychic, receives a vision that seems to confirm his suspicions. The killer is ultimately revealed to be Charles, who kidnaps Denny. To save Denny, Kaz sleeps with Sonia to trigger his transformation. He then saves Denny and is cured of his curse, while Charles is defeated.

Cast

* Scott Valentine as Kaz *

as Denny *

as Charles *

as Sonia * Alan Fudge as Phil Janus *

as Man in Health Food Store * Arnold Johnson as Fixer

Production

To distinguish ''My Demon Lover'' from werewolf films, Valentine's character was written to change into a multitude of forms. Comic book artist

Bernie Wrightson Bernard Albert Wrightson (October 27, 1948 – March 18, 2017), sometimes credited as Bernie Wrightson, was an American artist, known for co-creating the Swamp Thing, his adaptation of the novel ''Frankenstein'' illustration work, and for his o ...

did additional character design and storyboarding for the film. Shooting took place in Los Angeles and New York, starting in September 1986 and finishing in November.

Reception

The film grossed $1,815,583 in its opening weekend. ''My Demon Lover'' received negative reviews.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' that the film bores audiences despite its copious special effects and strange characters. Michael Wilmington of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' wrote that "though there’s a lot wrong with it, there are things amusingly right about it, too". While acknowledging that some audiences may find it too "overcute and shallow", he said it works better than some big studio comedies. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

''s review says that film may have been meant to be satirical, but the film's script and direction make it difficult to take seriously.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, my_demon_lover 1987 films 1987 horror films 1980s comedy horror films American comedy horror films Demons in film Films about homelessness Films about music and musicians Films scored by David Newman New Line Cinema films 1987 comedy films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Charlie Loventhal 1980s American films