Thanks for the memories!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I love Hammer, grew up watching them. I also read Dennis Wheatley's black magic novels during my early teens, so this, on paper, is a perfect combination. Christopher Lee is great as the Duc, nice to see him delivering much dialogue (in contrast to his Dracula movies), but it is Charles Gray as the evil Mocata who steals the show. Beautifully filmed with great production values this is Hammer at their best.

Gathering together in a large mansion, a group of Satanists use the friend of a Duke to finish their ritual, unaware that the Duke has powers of the occult as well and uses them in a war with the Satanists to save his friend and stop their plan to bring Hell on Earth.This was quite enjoyable and offered some enjoyable scenes throughout here. What really gives this one a lot of good points is how much fun this one has with its demonstration of the occult throughout here, from the initial opening party where their rude treatment spurs the discovery of the symbols that dictate the discovery of the group and their return visit where the demonic figure appears to them and nearly corrupts them before some last-minute rescues and the influence asserted over the follower during a hugely enjoyable car chase where he uses his powers to first break free and then escape his clutches following the high-speed pursuit through the woods which is a fantastic highlight. These displays here are given a really impressive amount of time here through these scenes that there's a really fine amount of action in here, not only the fine car-chase but also a rather fun black mass ceremony where the rituals and decorations are performed for the raucous crowd, the invocation of the goat-headed man appearing and leading into the frantic rescue attempt that makes for quite a fun time here. The attempts to break their circular protection field are quite fun as well with the howling, freezing cold winds and frightening apparitions that continuously approach them which is quite the enjoyable effort here as they all continuously battle them in an extended, one-on-one sequence. As well, the finale back in the cult's den is quite impressive with the powers again on display and really giving a fun overall sense of action with the fire crawling up along the walls which lets this one come along at a fine scene to close this out nicely as these positives all make up for the few flaws. The main issue here is a serious continuity error over the weakness of the coven area, as despite the conjurations and spells he produced it seemed that all he could do was hypnotically control people as long as they were looking in his eyes, so if you look away, he really has no power over you which is quite a silly change that drops this somewhat. The other flaw here is that it has a tendency to employ one of the most hated traits in a film where the one character who knows what's going on never explaining anything to the outsiders when performing rituals or actions of great importance that are going to save someone, so when they do something logical in a situation, you get a feeling he'll kill them right then and there for messing up the situation when it all could've been done away with had he simply shared his knowledge so they know what's going on and what's happening as they have no experience in the subject matter. Still, it wasn't a bad film at all.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and intense satanic themes and rituals.

When the Duc de Richleau discovers that a young friend of his has become caught up in Devil worship, he reveals that he has been studying the subject for years, and so he knows just what to do, because he has it all memorized. Now, in a movie involving the supernatural, it is important that there be a small number of rules, and that the audience learn early on what those rules are (e.g., in the traditional vampire movie, we know that a vampire must avoid exposure to the sun, cannot see himself in the mirror, cannot stand the sight of the cross, and can be killed by driving a wooden stake through his heart). Then the audience can be engaged in what is going on. But in this movie, there must be fifty-seven varieties of rules, rituals, and incantations you have never heard of, which we learn about only when Richleau pulls them out of his hat. As a result, there is no suspense, for we are reduced to waiting to find out about the next new rule.

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT caught me by surprise the first time I saw it, for a number of reasons: First, the screenplay by Richard Matheson, which is tighter and more logical than the scripts in all too many Hammer films. (It's interesting to note that Hammer Studios rejected Matheson's own script for a theatrical version of I AM LEGEND before it devolved into THE LAST MAN ON EARTH with Vincent Price...) (That original script is available from GAUNTLET PRESS.) Second, the effects, which are surprisingly well done for the period and include a man with a goat's head (Satan); with the possible exceptions of HAXAN and THE DEVIL'S RAIN, I don't recall very many "satanic" films that ever bothered to actually SHOW this particular image of Old Scratch. Third, the direction, which is as tight as the script- and the performances, as well. One of the better early Hammer films.