The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Director:

Terence Fisher

Writers:

Richard Matheson (writer)
Dennis Wheatley (novel)

Release Date:

20 July 1968 (UK)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The beauty of woman . . . the demon of darkness . . . the unholy union of "The Devil's Bride"

Plot:

Some followers of Satan want to sacrifice the niece of the Duke of Richeleau. But they did not think...

Plot Keywords:

Satanism | Giant Spider | Black Magic | Blood | Car Chase

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Duc de Richleau
Charles Gray	...	Mocata
Nike Arrighi	...	Tanith Carlisle (as Niké Arrighi)
Leon Greene	...	Rex Van Ryn
Patrick Mower	...	Simon Aron
Gwen Ffrangcon Davies	...	Countess
Sarah Lawson	...	Marie Eaton
Paul Eddington	...	Richard Eaton
Rosalyn Landor	...	Peggy Eaton
Russell Waters	...	Malin

Also Known As:

The Devil's Bride (USA)
Braut des Teufels, Die (West Germany) [de]
Eromeni tou Diavolou, I (Greece) [el]
Novia del diablo, La (Spain) [es]
Vierges de Satan, Les (France) [fr]

Runtime:

Spain:96 min | USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Black Park Country Park, Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Associated British-Pathé

Trivia:

Hammer first wanted actor Gert Fröbe in the role of Mocata.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rex arrives at the forest to witness the Black Mass, it is almost totally dark. Later in the evening when he phones de Richleau, however, the view outside de Richleau's window shows it is broad daylight.

Quotes:

Marie Eaton: [watching Mocata prepare to sacrifice her daughter, Peggy] Those words you said before, say them again.
Duc de Richleau: [helplessly] I cannot!
Marie Eaton: [urgently] You must! My baby is going to die if you don't. You must speak those words again.
Mocata: [carrying on with the ritual] The bride of chaos.
[coven repeats]
Mocata: The rider upon the beast.
[coven repeats]
Mocata: With this knife, do I draw out the blood, which is thy life.
Marie Eaton: [possessed by the spirit of Tanith] Only they who love without desire, shall have power granted them in their darkest hour!
Marie Eaton: [moves to the altar with Peggy lying on it] Peggy, get up. Repeat after me, the words of the Susama Ritual. Oriel Seraphim.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Rumpole of the Bailey: Rumpole and the Children of the Devil (#7.1)" (1992)

A different Hammer film, but still fun

This film sets itself apart from most of the rest of Christopher Lee's career as, for a change, he plays the good guy! In fact, he does a rather good job and the character, although a hero, definitely suits his persona. Lee's character is a pronounced expert on the occult and Lee does a great job in portraying him. He brings with him a sense of worldliness that few actors can match and that is perfect for his role here. However, I'm sorry to say that Christopher Lee's performance is practically the best thing about this film. Don't get me wrong, it certainly isn't bad; there's some lovely moments of horror and the film remains interesting throughout, but it's far too serious and the innocent, tongue in cheek edge is one of the things I like best about Hammer. Some of the trademarks are still there; campy acting and over the top sequences been the best of them, but overall this seems like it could have been released by another studio. And that isn't something I want when I'm watching a Hammer film.

That being said, some of the imagery in the film is fantastic. We've got the angel of death, a giant tarantula, several scenes of devil worship and - wait for it - Satan himself makes an appearance! And, get this, he doesn't look ridiculous either! The plot follows Christopher Lee as he discovers that one of his best friends has turned to devil worship, don't you just hate it when that happens? Anyway, Lee doesn't take this sort of thing lying down and decides to dedicate all his free time to saving his friend's soul. Because that's what friends are for, right? The film builds it's atmosphere by way of several sacrifices and other assorted devil worship and a great score. The great score doesn't exactly hinder the film's atmosphere either, and helps to build up a malicious sense of dread throughout. Despite it being more serious than usual, the film is still a lot of fun and it's hard to really call a film that sees Christopher Lee running around trying to stop a devil worshipping cult 'serious' anyway...