The Devil Rides Out (DVD)

..."Hammer had always worried about the Church's reaction to the screening of the Black Mass. But we thought the charge of blasphemy would not stick if we did the thing with due attention to scholarship. I appointed myself black technical adviser, as well as playing a goody, and spent many hours in the British Museum guddling for Satanic trout, and came up with a useful catch, notably the genuine prayer of exorcism we used at the end. It was a ...
...people, to put them off the sinister dangers implicit in dabbling with black magic."
~Lord of Misrule by Christopher Lee~
Published 2003


The film that Christopher Lee was alluding to above was the 1968 Hammer produced The Devil Rides Out, a slight departure from the norm for the studio, in that the 1920's English country setting is quite different to the usual gothic 19th century small European villages Hammer ... more

STARS: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Niki Arrighi, Leon Greene, Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington, Patrick Mower.
DIRECTOR: Terence Fisher

~SATANIC TROUT~
"Hammer had always worried about the Church's reaction to the screening of the Black Mass. But we thought the charge of blasphemy would not stick if we did the thing with due attention to scholarship. I appointed myself black technical adviser, as well as playing a goody, and spent many hours in the British Museum guddling for Satanic trout, and came up with a useful catch, notably the genuine prayer of exorcism we used at the end. It was a new venture for everybody and it came off. It was right to scare people, to put them off the sinister dangers implicit in dabbling with black magic."
~Lord of Misrule by Christopher Lee~
Published 2003

The film that Christopher Lee was alluding to above was the 1968 Hammer produced The Devil Rides Out, a slight departure from the norm for the studio, in that the 1920's English country setting is quite different to the usual gothic 19th century small European villages Hammer were so fond of. No burgomasters or cobweb encrusted castles here. It's all delightfully and uniquely British with period motorcars, Dukes, Countesses and country houses a plenty.

The storyline is refreshingly simple and clear - it's basically the age-old battle between good and evil. The side of the virtuous is led by the noble Duc de Richleau (Lee in a heroic role for a change) while the evil contingent has as it main combatant the Satanist Mocata, an insidious, slimy human being played with appropriate snake-like charm by the excellent Charles Gray.

The Duc and burly friend Rex (Greene) meet up for their annual reunion. Missing from the get together is young Simon Aaron, the son of their former late Army colleague. Playing Aaron is an amazingly fresh-faced Patrick Mower, a world away from the wrinkly Emmerdale days that lay in his future.
It seems the impressionable Simon has fallen under the spell (sorry for the pun) of a group of Devil worshippers led by the silken voiced Mocata. Another new member of the group is Tanith, a beautiful young French woman. Mocata is eager to officially welcome them both by giving them their Satanic baptism.
Richleau, though not a practitioner himself, is an expert in the Black Arts and resolves to rescue the young couple before it is too late.

The Devil Rides Out is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley who, despite publishing mainly thrillers, became famous for his occult novels. Hammer would later translate another Wheatley novel to screen - To The Devil A Daughter in 1976 - but that became a bit of a disaster and turned out to be the famous studios last commercial feature. Given the task of adapting Wheatley's work to the screen here was another famous horror scribe, Richard Matheson, author of such classics as I Am Legend and The Shrinking Man. The script is certainly not lacking in pedigree then and it shows for this is one of Hammer's most intelligent features.
The characters are all fairly well rounded and the dialogue is certainly a cut above the usual drivel reserved for a lot of horror movies from this period. The film doesn't get off scott free however. There are still a couple of lines from the school of corn thrown in just for good measure – “Don’t look at the eyes, Rex!” - but they don't detract from the overall high standard.

~SATANIC GOATS~

The pacing throughout is fairly leisurely apart from two standout set pieces for which The Devil Rides Out has become justifiably famous.

First we have the Satanic baptism of Simon and Tanith, a wild gathering in the woods, the members of the sect cavorting and dancing in a hypnotic trance while Richleau and Rex look on. After the sacrifice of a goat, Mocata summons up the lord of evil himself - the Devil. Regular Hammer music maestro James Bernard cranks up the tension here with a fantastic score as the Duc watches in disbelief -

"The Goat of Mendes! The Devil himself!"

The main bulk of the film however is taken up the famous drawing room sequence, whereby the Duc and his friends spend the night within a protective chalk circle as Mocata sends many spirits and evil beings to tempt one of them to break the circle. Director Terence Fisher builds the tension slowly, with just minor distractions at first, before building to a tremendous crescendo with the arrival of the Angel of Death. Lee has never been better than here, milking every last drop of tension he can, his face becoming ashen as he hears the hooves of the approaching Angel.

"He has given up trying to get Simon. He has sent the Angel of Death to claim him. If he breaks into the circle...if we once catch sight of his face....."

The actual appearance of the Angel is a major letdown after it's great build up and indeed the special effects overall in the movie are certainly not spectacular. This was 1968 though so I suppose I can forgive them that. What makes the drawing room sequence work so well though is the build up, the anticipation of what's coming next. It's just a shame that when the things do arrive they mainly look awful.

If you are a bit of a gore hound, you are in for one major disappointment here. The red stuff is virtually non-existent for which I am glad. Soaking the movie in claret would only serve to sensationalise and distract from the main message of the film - meddling in black magic is dangerous.

Readers of my reviews will know I am a big admirer of Christopher Lee and the Duc De Richleau is one of my favourite Lee characters. Originally up for the role of Mocata, Dennis Wheatley persuaded Hammer to give him Richleau and it certainly paid off. Lee is a towering, commanding hero and it's nice to see him on the side of good for a change.

~THE DEVILISH VERDICT~

Stylish and uniquely British, The Devil Rides Out is an entertaining battle of good vs. evil with Christopher Lee and Charles Gray going to a photo finish in the acting stakes. Letting the film down, meaning four instead of five stars, are the special effects - very unconvincing. Made today, and Christopher Lee still hasn't ruled it out, the film could be spectacular.
 

...less