Through my excursions through the horror underground, I've heard many a praise of this movie, so I was excited to finally get a chance to see it. Perhaps all those years of praise had heightened my expectations just a bit too much because I found the film to be enjoyable, though far from classic.
The movie differs quite a bit from Hammer's most famous output. There are no Gothic castles or spooky cobwebs, no classic monsters or great creature effects. Instead, the story takes place at the end of the 1920s and involves a black magic cult and plenty of somewhat informed mystic mumbo jumbo (the sort where the writer throws in a bunch of occult terms and Latin phrases and assumes the viewer doesn't know any better anyways). It is directed by Terence Fisher, who created most of Hammer's most famous works and is, sadly, never given the credit he is due as one of the foremost horror directors of all time.
The story revolves around a reunion of 3 friends, one of whom is Christopher Lee in a rare "good guy" role, as Duc. However, the youngest of their trio, Simon, is missing, so our two heroes, Duc and Rex, go in search of the young man. They interrupt a coven of occultists planning something evil for the evening and kidnap Simon to save him from the group, incurring the wrath of Charles Gray as Mocata, the cult leader and maybe the best role in the film. Naturally, Mocata is not going away without a fight and we the rest of the film unfolds as a battle between Duc and Mocata for the souls of Simon and a young lady, Tanith whom they try to save from the cult.
There are some really good scenes in the movie, which are memorable indeed. The initial rescue of Tanith sees Duc and Rex disrupt a satanic baptism complete with reveling worshippers and one of the coolest devil's ever put on screen (surely inspired by the Church of Satan's images of Baphomet). I found myself reminded a great deal of the Tom Hanks comedy DRAGNET in this scene. After refusing to give up Simon and Tanith to Mocata, he summons the forces of evil against our heroes, leading to a tense scene as they hide inside a Circle of Protection while being assaulted by a giant spider and the Angel of Death. The finale of the film is also a good scene where the forces of good finally show up to assist our group of heroes against Mocata.
There is a lot that's really dry here, too. Though Lee and Gray are both excellent, most of the other actors are just role players stumbling their way through the lines. We get one of those silly love angles where two characters fall madly in love after knowing each other for all of about 12 hours, but it becomes an important device for the finale. I could have done with some more shadows and torchlight and something closer to an ominous setting. Instead most of the occult scenes involve a lot of hypnotism, hand wiggling and kitchen sink occult gibberish.
All in all, I found it worth the watch if only to see a stellar performance by Christopher Lee and a movie that deviated quite a bit from the norm for Hammer Studios.
The movie differs quite a bit from Hammer's most famous output. There are no Gothic castles or spooky cobwebs, no classic monsters or great creature effects. Instead, the story takes place at the end of the 1920s and involves a black magic cult and plenty of somewhat informed mystic mumbo jumbo (the sort where the writer throws in a bunch of occult terms and Latin phrases and assumes the viewer doesn't know any better anyways). It is directed by Terence Fisher, who created most of Hammer's most famous works and is, sadly, never given the credit he is due as one of the foremost horror directors of all time.
The story revolves around a reunion of 3 friends, one of whom is Christopher Lee in a rare "good guy" role, as Duc. However, the youngest of their trio, Simon, is missing, so our two heroes, Duc and Rex, go in search of the young man. They interrupt a coven of occultists planning something evil for the evening and kidnap Simon to save him from the group, incurring the wrath of Charles Gray as Mocata, the cult leader and maybe the best role in the film. Naturally, Mocata is not going away without a fight and we the rest of the film unfolds as a battle between Duc and Mocata for the souls of Simon and a young lady, Tanith whom they try to save from the cult.
There are some really good scenes in the movie, which are memorable indeed. The initial rescue of Tanith sees Duc and Rex disrupt a satanic baptism complete with reveling worshippers and one of the coolest devil's ever put on screen (surely inspired by the Church of Satan's images of Baphomet). I found myself reminded a great deal of the Tom Hanks comedy DRAGNET in this scene. After refusing to give up Simon and Tanith to Mocata, he summons the forces of evil against our heroes, leading to a tense scene as they hide inside a Circle of Protection while being assaulted by a giant spider and the Angel of Death. The finale of the film is also a good scene where the forces of good finally show up to assist our group of heroes against Mocata.
There is a lot that's really dry here, too. Though Lee and Gray are both excellent, most of the other actors are just role players stumbling their way through the lines. We get one of those silly love angles where two characters fall madly in love after knowing each other for all of about 12 hours, but it becomes an important device for the finale. I could have done with some more shadows and torchlight and something closer to an ominous setting. Instead most of the occult scenes involve a lot of hypnotism, hand wiggling and kitchen sink occult gibberish.
All in all, I found it worth the watch if only to see a stellar performance by Christopher Lee and a movie that deviated quite a bit from the norm for Hammer Studios.