The Night of the Sorcerers (1974) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

A shedim is a demonic entity in the film's Vodoun mythology. In 1910, when soldiers interrupt the bokor's ritual sacrifice of missionary Barbara King, the shedim demon slips into her body while she's dying, effectively possessing her. This explains why the missionary returns decades later as a leopard-skinned creature with feline canines, the demon has taken control of her corpse and transformed her into a supernatural being.

• shedim
• demon
• possession
• vodoun
• bokor
• leopard woman

Carol is captured while photographing the ritual altar at night. The resurrected bokor performs the same ceremony that created the first leopard-woman, whipping her, binding her to the altar, and decapitating her under the full moon. The shedim demon then takes possession of her body, transforming her into another leopard-woman loyal to the original.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the expedition discovers the ritual clearing where the original sacrifice took place, foreshadowing that Carol will meet the same fate at the same altar.

• carol
• leopard woman
• transformation
• sacrifice
• ritual

When Rod rescues Tunika from the altar, she has already been attacked by the leopard-women and placed on the ritual site. Her final line delivered in a breathy, Shedim-inflected voice strongly implies the demon has transferred from its previous host (the leopard-women) into Tunika. The film ends on this unsettling note, suggesting evil has followed them even in their escape.

• tunika
• demons voice
• ending
• possession
• shedim

The elephant disappearances are never explicitly explained in the film, but they serve as the plot device that brings the safari expedition to the cursed Vodoun ritual site. The implication is that the bokor's dark rituals and the shedim's presence have corrupted the jungle, causing animals to vanish or flee the area.

• elephants
• disappearances
• jungle
• ritual
• corruption

The leopard-women move through the jungle at night with supernatural stealth. After Carol's transformation, she and the original leopard-woman slip past the camp's defenses undetected. Liz, who is groggy from sleeping pills and emotionally devastated over Carol's disappearance, doesn't react in time to alert the others when they infiltrate her tent.

• leopard women
• camp
• infiltration
• stealth
• liz

Liz is approached by Carol and the original leopard-woman in her tent. Carol manipulates her by claiming to be her best friend, convincing Liz to leave the camp with them. Once in the jungle, the leopard-women attack Liz, biting her neck and killing her. The demon presumably possesses her body, turning her into another leopard-woman.

• liz
• transformation
• carol
• leopard woman
• death

The bokor (the original ritual priest) is resurrected when the leopard-women revive his ceremony. The shedim demon's power appears to be the force behind this resurrection, as the ritual recreates the sacrificial conditions that first summoned the demon. He is killed a second time when Rod's random gunshots strike him during the chaotic rescue.

• bokor
• resurrected
• ritual
• leopard woman
• death

Rod tosses his empty ammunition belts into the ceremonial fire partly to destroy evidence of the violent confrontation and possibly to symbolically destroy the cursed ritual site. The act is somewhat ambiguous but appears to be a desperate gesture to ensure no trace of the ceremony remains, possibly believing this will prevent further evil.

• rod
• ammo
• fire
• ritual
• destruction

Professor Grant is killed during the leopard-women's infiltration of the camp. They specifically destroy the photographs Carol took of the altar because these images document the ritual site and could expose or disprove the supernatural events. By destroying the photos, the leopard-women erase evidence of their existence and the cursed location.

• grant
• photos
• destroyed
• leopard woman
• killed

During the struggle with Liz, the first leopard-woman's choker breaks, and she is decapitated. Her head rolls away as blood gushes from the wound. This mirrors the original sacrifice that created her, where the missionary was also decapitated on the altar, suggesting the curse requires this specific method of death.

• choker
• decapitation
• leopard woman
• sacrifice
• ritual