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1

Other than the usual Hammer horror aptitude for gothic visuals and cheap-but-great effects (that lightning!), this film has several great things going for it:

1. There's a moment early on where someone gets punched to the ground, and the camera inexplicably and unexpectedly shakes. I don't think it happens again, and it's so delightfully shocking that it makes it seem like that punch broke the world.

2. The sequence with the circle of protection is just plain tense. It pulls out all the stops, with cheezy effects used well, simple tricks (a knock at the door) used well, and ultimately, some misdirection that makes the Angel of Death an intimidating presence on the screen. The ultimate reveal could be seen…

3

A mesmerizing satanic panicked feast! The Devil Rides Out is packed to the gills with the kind of imagery, colors, and set pieces I go nuts for. Absolutely my favorite Hammer jam—I adore this moving hell picture show!

16

"In 24 hours, Simon could be lost to us forever...."

Much like its occultism contemporaries, The Devil Rides Out isn't without its goofy elements. Nonetheless, it secures its place as one of the best films spawned during the satanic panic era of the 60s/70s. Hammer deliberately avoided depicting themes of occultism and Satanism in their earlier filmography, mostly due to fears of backlash from the church and British censors. In many ways, The Devil Rides Out is a daring departure from their signature gothic outlet, yet still shows clear hallmarks of a typical Hammer production.

Testament to Hammer's thrifty nature, The Goat of Mendes looks like he's been summoned from Build a Bear Workshop and an elderly horse with one…

Review by Slig001 ★★★★½

The Devil Rides Out is Hammer Horror at its absolute best. An occult fuelled action packed rollercoaster ride as two men try to save their friend from the clutches of a coven of devil worshippers. The opening credits, emblazoned with the image of Baphomet, set the tone before the film event starts - The Devil Rides Out really goes all in with the central concept - even going so far as to depict the Devil himself in one key sequence. The film is bolstered by a commanding and deadly serious performance from the great Christopher Lee, who absolutely sells the central theme of the threat of black magic. The film is very well directed by Terence Fisher. It all feels…

17

Hooptober 4.0 - 2017 - Film #20

With a title like The Devil Rides Out, I was fully expecting a bad-ass Hell's Angel bikie covered in Pentagram tattoos, and sporting a pair of ugly goat's horns poking out each side of his head, to ride onscreen astride a gleaming, roaring Harley. Spoiler Alert: That never happens.

On the other hand, there is some serious Aleister Crowley shit going on here. A period horror film set in and about London during the roaring 20s, a time when the said occultist and magician was at his most notorious.

The film trades on the stories associated with his esoteric magical orders that include black magic powers, satanic rituals and bacchanalian orgies. And director…

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½ Liked

Terence Fisher remains European cinema greatest anti-Enlightenment filmmaker and his belief on the limits of reason fuels this Satanist thriller really well. We know a film has a true nasty perspective when the only line of defense against a satanic cult is played by Christopher Lee who keeps all his off putting qualities very much on display, he can’t stop been a charming monster even on the side of angels. The last half hour keeps a non stop sinister quality that is truly remarkable.

8

4th Terence Fisher (after Dracula, The Hound of the Baskervilles and Dracula Prince of Darkness, followed by The Gorgon, The Curse of Frankenstein, The Brides of Dracula, Frankenstein Created Woman, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Curse of the Werewolf, Island of Terror, The Man Who Could Cheat Death, The Earth Dies Screaming, To The Public Danger, Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, The Stranglers of Bombay, Mask of Dust and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Rob and Joe were kind enough to let me come back for a third time now (gluttons for punishment?) to talk about Hammer Horror, what I boldly call "Britain's finest cultural export".…

Review by Graham ★★★★ Liked

Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE seems to have swirled around within an eternal chasm of horrific doom-laden cinema, TV and video game narration for his whole career. A career that included 293 acting credits and spanned nearly 70 years from 1948 to his final farewell in 2015, his booming voice is still instantly recognisable in huge roles including Count Dracula, Bond villain Scaramanga, Star Wars' Count Dooku and the fearsome Saruman in the Lord of the Rings series. What a guy. What a legacy.

In the Hammer horror era, he and his long time screen buddy Peter Cushing knocked out countless great films, with The Devil Rides Out being one of the very best. Released in the US under…

Review by WraithApe ★★★★ Liked

Hammer Time! The eternal battle of good and evil played out via terrestrial proxies, Duc de Richleau and Mocata. Heavy on the sleuthing with less emphasis on monster effects, this is a classy slice of Hammer. Christopher Lee had a well-earned rep for fully committing to a role and so it is here, imbuing the arisocratic occultist de Richleau with seriousness and dignity that other actors might have played for laughs. Opposite him, former Blofeld Charles Grey is an equally magnetic screen presence as Satanic cult leader Mocata, attempting to indoctrinate de Richleau's young charge Simon into his circle of thirteen before the epochal sabbath.

Alongside Lee, Leon Green plays his more down-to-earth and initially skeptical companion, Rex Van Ryn.…

Review by Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti" ★★★★½

"The Devil Rides Out" is a 1968 occult horror film directed by Terence Fisher. Originally a book written by Richard Matheson in 1934, the film follows the character of Duke De Richleau (Christopher Lee) as he takes on a hoarding onslaught of the occult and Satan. Finding out that Simon (the son of De Richleau's late friend) and Simon's romantic interest Tanith have been influenced by the cult, De Richleau stops at nothing to break the two from the connection. To aid De Richleau's in all this is his sidekick Rex Van Ryn, making the two somewhat comparable to a Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in solving the situation.

Fisher is easily recognized for being one of the commonplace directors…

4

May we all have a friend like the Duc de Richelieu (Christopher Lee), who, upon seeing you again after a long absence and noticing that you are cavorting ignorantly with Satanists, knocks you out with a quick fist to the jaw then Fireman carries you the hell out of there to a place of safety. A friend like Rex (Leon Green), who, when you spot the physical manifestation of Satan appearing in the midst of a blood drinking coven, hops on the running board of the vehicle you're driving straight at it and chucks a cross right in the face of old Nick himself. Friends like Marie and Richard Eaton, who let you smash their car, hide people inside their…

10

Perhaps the most striking thing about Terence Fisher's The Devil Rides Out is its utter sincerity. Amidst the shoddy effects and the outrageous, brightly colored rituals is found a deep faith in the Christian God, a faith so complete that even the slightest deviation from it — even the smallest question — risks the loss of one's soul. And it's a faith that holds that God truly can do anything, including bending time and space for those who truly believe in Him.

The lack of wise humor and suggestive sexuality sets the film starkly apart from many of Fisher's other offerings for Hammer but, as Wheeler Winston Dixon wrote in his study of Fisher, The Devil Rides Out reflects the…