The Devil Rides Out (1968 film)
The Devil Rides Out, AKA The Devil's Bride (1968)
Summary
"All the demons of hell - summoned to earth to claim the Devil's Bride! The beauty of woman - the demon of darkness - the unholy union of the Devil's Bride! A Black Magic Story." An occult detective (Christopher Lee) and his skeptical friend discover to their horror that a young couple in the detective's charge have fallen under the spell of the leader of a satanic cult, and must disrupt the cult's plans to baptize the young couple into the cult, before it is too late!
Details
- Release Date: 1968
- Country/Language: UK, English
- Genres/Technical: Horror (Folk Horror), Suspense, Fantasy
- Setting: 1920s United Kingdom
- Runtime: 1 hr 35 min
- Starring: Christopher Lee
- Director: Terence Fisher
- Writer: Richard Matheson (screenplay), based on a novel by Dennis Wheatley
- Producer/Production Co: Hammer Films
- View Trailer: (link)
- TVTropes: (link)
- IMDB Page: (link)
Ratings
MPAA Ratings
- Rated: G (equivalent to a modern "PG", as it contains mild violence, light profanity, and adult themes)
Though rated "G", it's actually equivalent to a modern "PG" for mild exploitation horror content.
Tentacle Ratings
A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:
- Ss___ (Two Tentacles: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)
A 1960s Hammer horror film set in the 1920s UK, about a conventionally Satanic cult with supernatural powers, with no detectable links to Lovecraftian fiction. Still, it contains conventional versions of many of the tropes of "Mythos" horror, and the basic idea could readily be converted into a fine Jazz Era UK "Mythos" horror scenario simply by switching the grimoire for a Lovecraftian tome, the "Goat of Mendes, the Devil Himself" for Nyarlathotep or Shub-Niggurath, and the summoned Diaper Demon and Giant Spider for the usual "tentacle monster" creatures, and the resulting "Mythos" tale about an older academic's efforts to rescue a younger friend from the diabolical influences of the young man's fiance's cult might come off as a stripped-down, poor-man's "Thing on the Doorstep (fiction)" (and one suspects this movie's plot may have been ripped off by more than one published Call of Cthulhu RPG scenario!)
Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.
Reviews
Review Links:
- (review needed)
Synopsis (SPOILERS)
Notes
Comments, Trivia, Dedication
Associated Mythos Elements
- author: Dennis Wheatley
- film: see also To the Devil, A Daughter (1976 film)
- character: supernatural detective/adventurer Duc de Richleau and sidekick Rex van Ryn
- character: Damien Mocata, evil cult leader
- race: Human Cultists
- entity: The Goat of Mendes, the Devil Himself!
- entity: various other demonic spirits
Keeper Notes
