Les Vierges de Satan

Nicholas Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) meets his friend Rex Van Ryn at an airfield. They set off to check on their friend Simon Aron who is living on an English country estate. They find him hosting a party for a group of strangers. It turns out to be a cult for the devil.

This has good atmosphere and Christopher Lee helps deliver an intensity to the material. On the other hand, the action needs to be better. The special effects are not up to the task. The spider is especially bad. The devil isn't much more than a guy in a goat mask or is that supposed to be a guy in a goat mask. All in all, this is probably the best Hammer film from the 60's that I've seen.

Dennis Wheatley's black magic novel gets the Hammer horror treatment, with Christopher Lee relishing the chance to play the good guy for once as the Duc De Richleau, an authority on the occult who does battle a group of Satanists (led by Charles Gray) for the soul of his friend. Made the same year as Rosemary's Baby, it was one of a number of films that brought Satan out of the shadows during the onset of the Summer of Love and is one of Hammer's best movies. Directed by the legendary Terence Fisher (The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and The Mummy), from a screenplay written by Richard Matheson (of I Am Legend fame, the novel that spawned Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price, Omega Man with Charlston Heston and I Am Legend with Will Smith), it received praise from Wheatley himself and Christopher Lee said in interviews that it was one of his favorite onscreen performances. The cast includes Niké Arrighi as the sexy satanic neophyte Tanith Carlisle and Sarah Lawson and Leon Greene. The grinning Goat of Mendes in the film was played by Eddie Powell, who was Christopher Lee's stunt double in Hammer's 1958 adaptation of Dracula.

How on earth did it take me so long to see 'The Devil Rides Out' and to even hear of it? This is the sort of film that should have been seen by me years ago, being somebody who likes many of the Hammer Horror films and who has always loved Christopher Lee. It also had on board other much admired people and Hammer Horror regulars, namely Terence Fisher as director and James Bernard as composer. It was my dad who recommended it to me when we happened to be channel surfing and 'The Devil Rides Out' happened to be on.

After seeing 'The Devil Rides Out', my mind is still blown about how it took me so long to see it or even know of it. It is an absolute gem and is to me one of Hammer Horror's best, it is hardly surprising that it was Lee's (in a departure role at the time, having specialised as villains) favourite of theirs. It is still a very clever and genuinely unsettling film that has held up incredibly and surprisingly well, considering that there were films at the time from the genre and with a similar tone that come over as fairly cheesy now. To me there is nothing cheesy about 'The Devil Rides Out'. Also read the book since and this is a rare case of the film being better than the source material, leaner and creepier.

Sure, the special effects are not always great and a little wobbly such as the spider. Have though on reflection seen far worse-looking spiders in film and television, the notoriously awful one from the 'IT' mini-series anyone?

Otherwise there is very little to fault. Other than (some of) the effects 'The Devil Rides Out' is a good looking film, especially the eerie lighting in namely the Angel of Death, an effect that actually still looks scary, and and Ghost of Mendes sequences and the photography which is both sumptuous and menacing-looking. Bernard's score has a real ominous vibe throughout without being too intrusive or too loud, as does the sound quality. Especially the Angel of Death scene, audibly that was quite hair-raising stuff. Fisher directs intelligently and with a good feel for unnerving atmosphere.

Richard Matheson's script is pacey and always thought-provoking, with no signs of awkwardness or fat. The story never felt dull, even when it was not as horror-centric and had more talk, and the atmosphere at its best is shiver-inducing. The genuinely creepy Ghost of Mendes and Angel of Death scenes stand out (the latter is unforgettable), as does the very clever and unnerving climax that kept me in suspense.

Even when not playing a villain, Lee is still a very powerful presence and cuts a quite elegant figure. The other standout is Charles Gray, who was never this frightening before or since. The rest of the cast are all fine, but not quite in the same league as Lee and Gray.

In conclusion, devillishly good. No make that great. 9/10

Very cool Hammer film from the great Terence Fisher with Christopher Lee playing the good guy for a change. Lee plays the Duc de Richleau who, along with his friend Rex Van Ryn (Leon Greene), rescues a late friend's son and a young woman from a Satanic cult led by a powerful man named Mocata (Charles Gray). Now holed up at a country estate, de Richleau and Rex must fight off Mocata and the forces of evil.

One of my favorite Hammer films. The screenplay comes from Richard Matheson, adapted from a novel by Dennis Wheatley. Fisher's direction is terrific. The movie has a great 1920s period look and at times a very creepy atmosphere. The cast is excellent, with Lee giving one of his best performances. Charles Gray gives a subdued turn that makes him all the more menacing. I really like this one and rewatch it more than most Hammer movies I own. It's an exciting, enjoyable movie that will surely please Lee and Hammer fans.

Last night I saw this film for the first time in 35 years. Time has been kinder to it than it has to many Hammer films, but this one is less driven by effects and make-up and more by dialog.

That's all for the better because once again, when need be, Hammer fails in the effects department. I had forgotten how the theater went wild in 1968 while looking at the cheap tarantula effect - was it growing or not, the perspective changed constantly.

Some of the effects are of the "stop the camera" variety, no more convincing here than on "Lost In Space." But still, it is the performances, situations and the dialog that engage us. Christopher Lee, who brought the project to Hammer, seems to be enjoying himself as the Duc de Richleau, finally getting to play a hero. His longtime friend Rex, played by Leon Greene (but voiced by Patrick Allen) is a real stalwart guy, given to punching out windshields when necessary, climbing into car trunks, and throwing a crucifix from a running board to eliminate the specter of the devil himself.

The best scene has Lee and company in a circle in which to protect themselves from the evils sent by Mocata, played by Charles Gray with a suaveness that matches the twinkle of his blue eyes. Mocata tries every trick in the book, including trying to make it appear that the daughter of the household is being threatened by the tarantula, as well as an Angel of Death on horseback (it is a large room). Meanwhile, outside, Rex has a potential female victim tied up for her own good, she later becomes a medium when the previously "threatened" little girl is kidnapped - to take the place of the medium on the sacrificial altar!

Nike Arrighi plays the "medium" - a young woman who was to have been re-baptized as a servant of the devil, but whose life now hangs in the balance between the black magic of Mocata, or the efforts of the Duc de Richleau, and she has more talent than most of the Hammer actresses of the period. The Duc's friend Rex falls for her, but is hard pressed to keep up with the spells of Mocata, who will stop at nothing to reclaim his servant.

What really helps the film is a great sense of period - somewhere midway between the two world wars. The props (especially the vehicles) and costumes are quite right, and the landscapes are far more diverse than the usual Bray Studios trappings. There's no doubt that the team sought to make this one special and shoot on some real locations - and it's perhaps here rather than in the effects that the budget was concentrated. All in all, despite some shortcomings, a very enjoyable Hammer film, a solid Richard Matheson script from a superior Dennis Wheatley novel makes for exciting viewing, far superior to the previous Satanic Hammer film "The Witches" (aka "The Devil's Bride") and equal to the later adaptation of Wheatley's own "To the Devil A Daughter" - the last Hammer film which may have its less than sterling reputation for that measure alone.