The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Hammer provides an entertaining, and actually quite brilliant, adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's work and although I have not read any of Wheatley's work, sadly, I am familiar with his themes and tone and cannot imagine that this movie lets down fans of the literary great either.

Christopher Lee and Leon Greene play Duc de Richleau and Rex Van Ryn, respectively, two gentlemen trying to help their friend (played by Patrick Mower) move away from the tight clutches of a local Satanic cult. Easier said than done and problems come in the shape of Tanith Carlisle (played by Nike Arrighi), an alluring female also caught up in the web of the dark arts, and confrontations with the cult's charismatic and powerful leader, Mocata (wonderfully portrayed by Charles Gray). People close to the daring duo are placed in peril and things go from bad to worse before the finale . . . . . but will it be good or evil triumphing as the sun rises?

The cast here all do a fantastic job. As well as those mentioned, with Lee and Gray being particular standouts, there's some solid support in the latter half of the movie from Paul Eddington and Sarah Lawson.

Terence Fisher directs (from a tight screenplay by Richard Matheson) with an assured hand, throwing us directly into the action and letting us find out a little more with each scene as things move from slightly puzzling to mysterious to dangerous to deadly. Though I do not know enough about the rituals and accoutrements portrayed in the movie it all has a sense of authenticity about it, strange considering how far-fetched the movie actually is in its depiction of a struggle between good and evil.

Considering its age, it holds up very well to this day. There are two major "materialisation" scenes that still hold the power to unnerve; in fact, the very first one actually made me want to look away from the screen as I was getting a bit freaked out by the imagery. There are lots of details in the effects and acting that you could poke fun at if you wanted to (one scene featuring an over-sized spider is about as bad as anything in Empire Of The Ants) but if you forgive the "ravages of time" then you will be letting yourself in for a cracking British horror movie aimed distinctly at adults.

9/10

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To The Devil A Daughter (1976)

Hammer returns to the material of Dennis Wheatley, this time with a markedly inferior final result and with a movie that would remain their last horror film until their 21st century resurgence (however long THAT lasts).

Richard Widmark plays occult novelist John Verney, a man placed in a very unusual position when he agrees to take in and take care of Denholm Elliott's daughter, a young nun named Catherine (played by the lovely Nastassja Kinski). What he doesn't know is that Catherine is being pursued by some . . . . . right nasty sorts (led by Christopher Lee as Father Michael Rayner) with a right nasty plan, to put it mildly.

There is nothing here of any real note except, I suppose, how far removed it is from Hammer's usual restraint and class. The script by Christopher Wicking (with help from John Peacock and an uncredited Gerald Vaughan-Hughes) is okay, if a little clumsy in it's exposition of far-out ideas. The direction by Peter Sykes is unremarkable but also inoffensive. The acting is also distinctly okay but unspectacular (featuring, as it does, those already mentioned and also the likes of Honor Blackman, Anthony Valentine and even Frances de la Tour in a small role). And I suppose that some of the black magic rituals shown at least have a ring of authenticity about them, despite the rather lame effects/editing used.

Some of the stuff on show is, for Hammer, rather shocking. Not only do we get some bizarre, gory "muppet" moments but there's also more full-frontal female nudity than I have seen in any other Hammer movie. To be fair, I have not seen every Hammer film, but I have always known them to be, for the most part, more concerned with blood than sex although the latter is often catered for with suggestive scenes/performances and the occasional flashes from buxom beauties.

P.S. On an unrelated, and rather moronic-sounding, note: this movie has the single best bridge scene I have ever seen. I just liked the mechanism on display and had to mention it.

6/10

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