'The Devil Rides Out' is one of those films you can return to again and again. Maybe it is because, unlike so many films adapted from horror novels, it retains the core of its parent. So you have Dennis Wheatley's book, Richard Matheson's breakneck adaptation, Terence Fisher at his finest directing and Christopher Lee as the heroic Richleau pitted against the evil Mocata played by Charles Gray. Mocata's speech about the indifference of magic to ideas of good and evil reminds me not only of those who practice Satanism but those who show the same level of indifference to good and evil in other realms. His urbane, authoritative, hypnotic voice so naturally charming but turning so easily to something that chills the blood because we recognise the truth of the characterisation. We've met people like Mocata and it just wouldn't occur to them that by enacting their will upon the world they are destroying lives.
'The Witches' is much less well known and I have seen it less frequently. It lacks the same kind of pacing that makes you want to return to it again and again. But, in its climax, it has this wonderful ceremony, somewhere between a black magic rite and modern dance with Linda, played by Ingrid Boulting (billed as Ingrid Betts) being controlled like a puppet by Stephanie Bax, played by Kay Walsh. There's this moment where Linda looks directly at us, something behind her eyes asking us why we aren't doing anything to help her.
Hammer didn't stray that often into this kind of territory. There are elements of black masses in a number of the Dracula films (where Dracula seems to be serving as a proxy for Satan) and they really went into full on horror territory with the nightmarish 'To the Devil a Daughter' (also adapted from a Dennis Wheatley novel but not as pleasing to fans of the author). I've always felt that 'To the Devil a Daughter' was more of a response to 'The Exorcist' than a Hammer film in its own right. There are arguments that suggest Hammer was right to follow new trend and others that suggested that if Hammer had stuck to their guns, they might have fared well as a kind of heritage company. In the main, I suspect that Hammer fans are quite diverse in their tastes. For me, 'The Devil Rides Out' is a kind of pinnacle for Hammer. It was less a horror film than a black magic adventure. If it didn't exactly lead to dozens of Dennis Wheatley adaptations (although quite a few were advertised, notably 'The Haunting of Toby Jugg') it is probably because with 'The Devil Rides Out' they went straight for the best. But opinions will differ.
#hammer #horror #blackmass #blackmagic #christopherlee #charlesgray #thedevilridesout #denniswheatley #terencefisher #60scinema
Music: In the Past by Twin Musicom
and Underworld by Miyuu
In the Past by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. creativecommon...
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