The Devil Rides Out

The Devil Rides Out is a Hammer Film Production made in 1967 and released in 1968. The film was X rated, which is similar to the 18 certificate we see now. The film is 95 minutes long, which is substantially longer than Frankenstein which is 71 minutes long. The film was adapted from 'The Devil rides Out,' by author Dennis Wheatley. Christopher Lee reoccurs in this film as Duc de Richleau, alongside Charles Gray, Patrick Mower and Paul Eddington. The film was distributed by EMI Films in the UK and 20th Century Fox in the USA. The film was proposed in 1963, but due to censorship worries of Satanism, the film was put back 4 years. The film has Satanic themes and references to black magic throughout and the whole film is revolved around a Satanic cult. This was a rare subject to make a film about in the 60s.

The titles of the film are in colour, as if the rest of the film, and the background is an image related to Satanic themes. Set in the 1930s any relation to Satan would've been seen as unusual and looked down on. In the opening titles there was details of copyright, the actors involved, the sound crew which was RCA, there was also dramatic music and black magic iconography. The titles then faded out from flames into the film.

After the fade we see a long shot of Simon's house. The mise en scene makes the house look creepy although it was shown in dim lighting, the music for this part keeps you on edge. We see that Simon has joined an Astronomical Society, which links the film into a Sci-Fi genre. The camerawork has more movement than Frankenstein, the camera follows the actors rather than just panning, I also think that the camera would've been on a track to create these flowing movements. The transitions are also smoother in this film compared to the choppyness of Frankenstein. Rex and Nicholas, who are friends of Simon, are asked to leave his house as they are not 'members' of the 'Astronomical Society.' Simon, Rex and Nicholas all walk into a room accompanied by some slow violin or maybe some oboe. As they walk into the room there is a tiled pattern on the floor which looks like a black magic sign. The music gets louder as tension builds, as Nicholas has suspicions of Simon and what he is up to. Nicholas opens up a cupboard to find some chickens, animals which are related for black magic. The music gets louder at this point, giving the build up to a climax to when he opens up the cupboard. There seems to be a use of a handheld camera when Simon is punched, this is the only piece of handheld camera in the film, and it gives the sense of action. Nicholas then sends Simon into a deep sleep, like he is hypnotised, Simon is then told to look into a mirror and listen very carefully to Nicholas.

Nicholas tells Simon to wear a pendant with a cross on to keep give him protection. As Nicholas is putting the pendant on Simon, the music gets louder again and there seems to cymbals clashing. When something important is being said, the camera zooms into Nicholas's face, giving what he says an emphasis. Simon then goes to sleep and is told that he will wake up at 10am the next morning, as he is in bed, the pendant seems to suffocate Simon. The butler Max then checks up on Simon and takes off the pendant, after Max tells Nicholas what happened Simon disappears out of the window. The music in the background changes volume depending on when the actors are talking, this is what most films do. Nicholas and Rex then walk towards the stairs where they start to get colder. This is a common feature of black magic and it gets even colder still even when they walk into the room with the devil floor. Nicholas then looks around and finds the 'Clavicle of Solomon,' book. Something which sounds related to black magic. After they find this the lights dim and it gets even colder still.  SFX is then used in the film, when the floor seems to let off smoke. A man then appears wearing red, a colour associated with the devil, at first he has a silver lining around him and then he fades into being real. A close up is then used on the man's eyes which is followed by a close up of Rex's eyes. They then cut back and forth with close ups and Rex seems to get hypnotised of possessed by the man. To counteract this, Nicholas throws the cross pendant that was on Simon into the man, whilst chanting and the man disappears.

We are then told that Simon could become very dangerous if they do not find him in 24 hours. Rex is then told to go and get a woman named Tanith. SFX is used when they are n the car, green screen technology had not long been introduced, and they used it when they possibly could. There are less shadows in the film, as the technology in lighting is more advanced and the use of technicolor hides the shadows. The woman is talking to Rex and says that she is scared of a man named Mocata. An interesting part of the film is that Tanith tells Rex that she hasn't been re-baptised, as this film is based on Satanic views and religion, this is a key part of the film. All of a sudden Tanith looks in the rear view mirror and a man's eyes appear. Here we have an enigma as we don't know who's eyes they are, and the man starts talking to her. Tanith and Rex then arrive at Mr and Mrs. Eaton's house (Mrs Eaton is Nicholas' niece). Tanith then drives off in the car and Simon gets into another car and follows her. Here we have some POV shots as the camera is placed in the driver's seat (again showing that a green screen had been used). The eyes come back to the woman again when she is driving on her own, and the eyes tell her to 'listen and obey,' after this the eyes tell her what to do as Tanith is nodding her head, although the audience cannot hear what he is saying. This leaves an enigma as we do not know what is about to happen. After this we see Rex crash into a ditch, this being the work of the man from the mirror. Rex comes out to see a car drive into a housing estate. Rex follows and out from the building comes a lot of people wearing black robes, and they looked like they were part of a cult. There is then a transitional fade out.

We fade up into the next scene where all the black robed people have driven into a dark woodland area. Somehow all of the people wearing black robes are wearing white. Rex and Nicholas turn up moment later. The leader of the cult is recognisable as he is wearing purple with a symbol of black magic on the front. At this point here is a lot of dramatic music,and the man starts to chant spells. The camera pans and you see Simon and Tanith next to the robed man. A goat is then brought on as a sacrifice, the blood from the goat is then poured into a bowl and held up, symbolising power. The lighting inthis part of the film could be faulty or the scenes were filmed at different times because when you see the cult the lighting is very dark and sinister, whereas it looks like daytime when we see Nicholas and Rex. The next shot we see is of the people in the cult dancing around covered in goat blood. Then SFX are used again when the 'Goat of Mentis,' appears.

Again Nicholas throws the cross pendant into the goat and there is an explosion of smoke, another use of SFX. Rex and Nicholas then take Simon and Tanith back to Mr and Mrs Eaton's house. Tanith explain to Mrs Eaton that she has to leave before nightfall, this gives you an enigma that something will happen to her later on at night. The way Rex and Tanith look at each other give the impression that there is a romance between them, giving us a multiple narrative. Neither Simon or Tanith are allowed to be left alone, so they are accompanied by Rex and Mr Eaton. The man who wore the purple robe then turns up at the house. We find out that his name is Mocata, and he is here to take back Simon and Tanith. Mrs Eaton talks to Mocata and gets hypnotised by him, he controls her with his eyes, the eyes being what the whole film is based on, Mocata then tells Mrs Eaton that she is going to let Simon and Tanith go, at this point there is a mass emphasis on Mocata's eyes and the camera zooms in. As Mocata is hypnotising Mrs Eaton, there are many close ups of both of their eyes. I have noticed that throughout all of the close ups that neither of them blink, so they do not break the bond between them. Mocata is controlling Tanith using his eyes as well as when he looks up, Tanith wakes up being possessed by Mocata picks up a knife and goes to kill Mr Eaton. Simon also awakens and tries to strangle Rex. He then flick back to Mocata who is disrupted by Mrs Eaton's daughter, Simon and Tanith then stop what they are doing and Tanith drops the knife. Tanith then escapes into the woods as she realises what Mocata is trying to do. Mocata explains before he leaves that something evil is going to happen tonight. Rex runs after Tanith and ties her up and gags her in a barn. Back at the Eaton household Nicholas has drawn a safety circle out of chalk, that is surrounded by words of black magic. It is definitely an icon of Black Magic, but sadly we don't get to see what form of magic it is. Back at the barn, Tanith has hypnotised Rex, the camera follows Tanith's movements with Rex and he unties her and lets her go, she then uses so much force that she makes Rex unconscious. Nicholas notices that the lights in the house have started to get dimmer (a use of SFX as the lights are part of the set rather than lighting equipment) and it gets colder. A wind machine then blows out the candles in the room making the ambience unsettled and it makes everything feel a lot creepier. One of the most interesting pieces of camerawork is when a track has been used to go around the circle of people, this is the only part in the film that is a long piece of continuous camerawork. The biggest part of SFX is when a spider appears, there are many extreme close up's and a faint sound of spider's feet. Then the Eaton's child walks in, trying to save the child Nicholas throws water on her as he knows that the child isn't real. He also throws water onto the spider which starts to melt and smoke comes up from it. We then hear faint sounds of horses, a man on horseback then comes into the room , with a slight glow around him to make him look supernatural. They then showed many slow motion shots of the horse rearing, which were quite scary as the noises of the horse were really loud. Nicholas then chants another spell and the horseman disappears, Nicholas then walks out of the circle to the door and see's Rex carrying Tanith's body back, the Angel of Death (the horseman) has killed her. The child then disappears and Simon drives off to find her, the only way of finding the child is to make Mocata think that Tanith is still alive. Nicholas hypnotises Mrs Eaton, casts a spell and Tanith's voice comes through Mrs Eaton. Tanith explains that she loves Rex and she will help him to find the child. There is then a lengthy conversation between Tanith and Nicholas, using many close ups going back and forth. The woman then screams and Mrs Eaton collapses. Smoke then comes out of the lights in the house, Simon runs out and into another room where Mocata is with the child and there are 13 people wearing white robes, this again has links to black magic as 13 is considered an unlucky number. There are then many track shots of the child being brought into the room, Mocata takes a knife, just as the camera cuts away to the arrival of Nicholas and the others. Mocata says another chant just before he goes to stab the child, Mrs Eaton screams just before the blade hits her. Nicholas then uses the same hypnotising charm he used on Mrs Eaton on the child, and brings Tanith back through the child. The child starts chanting and SFX are used again. They let off explostions, fire and also the green screen of Mocata looking scared in the fire. We then cut back to the Eaton household where Nicholas and Mr + Mrs Eaton are, and Rex walks back through with Tanith, who was previously dead. This is all a moment of deja vu, as it seems what happened to Mocata wasn't real. Although that instead of the Angel of Death taking Tanith's life, it took Mocata's instead. The film then fades to the credits where it shows all of the cast and crew, as well as where it was made.

Black Magic is portrayed as a horrible thing in The Devil Rides Out, none of the scenes that include Black Magic are showing it doing any good, for example when Mocata keeps hypnotising Mrs Eaton, and nearly kills their child. This is also the case in Frankenstein, as both Frankenstein and Mocata are shown as evil creatures. Frankenstein's Monster however does have a slight sense of guilt about him though as if he can't help what happens. The representation of social groups is clearly shown throughout the film, as the Black Magic cult are shown as horrible people that can do nothing right, and that Rex, Nicholas and Mr + Mrs. Eaton are the victims in the film. There are certain violent points in the film, that back when Frankenstein was created, probably would've been edited out. The most violent parts of the film include the near death of the child, and also the sacrifice of the goat in the middle of the film.

Hammer Films Productions are the creators of The Devil Rides Out, and was distributed in the UK by Warner-Pathe Distributors when the film was first released and then by Studio Canal in 2010. The film would've been promoted by theatrical posters such as this:

In 1968, the film was given an X rating by the BBFC, and now since 1993, the film has been given a rating of 15. The last review of the film was 2006 and the classification stayed the same with no cuts being made.