The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Film: The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Stars: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene, Sarah Lawson, Patrick Mower

Director: Terence Fisher

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

All October long, The Many Rantings of John is running a marathon dedicated to the Horror classics of the 1960's-90's that I'm seeing for the first time this month.  If you want to take a look at past titles from previous horror marathons (both this and other seasons) check out the links at the bottom of this article.

Last year we had a clear entry point into the new era of horror that happened after the Hays Code-Night of the Living Dead, a violent new chapter in horror, one that was a massive hit with audiences on a shoestring budget.  Night of the Living Dead is by all accounts the best entry-point into the genre during this time period, and as a result I wasn't entirely sure how to equal it this year.  So I decided to go into a different direction, looking at Hammer films, which was a groundbreaking British film production company (that still makes films today, though nowhere near the same cultural relevance as it did in the 1960's).  Hammer was most noted for having cheesy effects, focusing in a big part on sex & violence.  Despite having seen a couple of Hammer films productions during this time (including maybe its most known production today, One Million Years BC), I believe this is my first foray into the horror genre for the production company, and we're going to be doing so with one of the most iconic horror actors of this era, Christopher Lee.

(Spoilers Ahead) The movie, based on a series of novels by Dennis Wheatley, takes place in the 1920's in posh English society.  Nicolas, the Duc de Richleau (Lee) is looking after the son of a late friend Simon Aron (Mower), and along with his pal Rex van Ryn (Greene), he discovers that Simon has become involved in the occult.  He saves him from a meeting where he would've sacrificed his soul to the devil (also saving a girl named Tanithe, played by Arrighi), but both Simon & Tanithe, despite not being baptized into Satanism, are still under the spell of Mocata (Gray), who is intent on getting them both back into the fold.  The movie then spends about 60 minutes just sort of playing a game of cat-and-mouse, with us learning that Richleau knows WAY more about the occult than your average human being (which is super convenient for the plot), and that Mocata probably should've just given up trying to get these two back (it's the 60's-go to Spahn Ranch & you'll find a lot more worthy participants if you're desperate for devil-worshiping).

The glibness here is intentional.  The Devil Rides Out is considered to be one of the better Hammer horror films, but it lacks some of the sex and violence that are the hallmarks of the production company, and it probably needed them.  The movie's plot, which is deeply Christian in a way that isn't off-putting, but is definitely limiting to its final goal of terror (it makes it pretty clear which side is going to win), is very dry.  There's not a lot to the story, and we don't get enough character growth or titillation or chills as we're going to really make it feel like we're watching a proper horror film-it's not bad, exactly (the effects are cheesy fun (love the giant spider) and man do they use every cent of that budget by renting out random drawing rooms, but it's dull.

The acting is also abjectly awful.  With the exception of Christopher Lee, the rest of the men in the cast are interchangeable to the point of the confusion, and the women aren't much better.  Lee is such a strong actor, but he's famously good at playing villains, so much so that I kept expecting a twist that Richleau was in on the game all along, and was trying to trick all involved that they had accidentally sold their souls to the devil.  That would've made a better movie, but instead he's a deeply solemn hero in search of a less cardboard movie.

Past Horror Month Reviews

1920's: The Golem, The Phantom of the Opera

1930's: The Black Cat, The Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, Dracula's Daughter, Frankenstein, Freaks, The Invisible Man, Mad Love, The Mummy, The Old Dark House, The Raven, Son of Frankenstein, Werewolf of London

1940's: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Cat People, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, The House of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man Returns, The Invisible Man's Revenge, The Invisible Woman, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Invisible Agent, The Mummy's Curse, The Mummy's Ghost, The Mummy's Hand, The Mummy's Tomb, Phantom of the Opera, She-Wolf of London, Son of Dracula, The Uninvited, The Wolf Man

1950's: Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, The Blob, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Creature Walks Among Us, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, It Came from Outer Space, Revenge of the Creature

1960's: The Innocents, The Masque of the Red Death, Night of the Living Dead,Village of the Damned

1970's: The Amityville Horror, Carrie, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, When a Stranger Calls, The Wicker Man

1980's: Child's Play, The Evil Dead, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Poltergeist

1990's-Present: The Blair Witch Project, Scream