Devil Rides Out (Blu-ray + DVD) [1968]

The Duke de Richeleau becomes suspicious when his young friend Simon fails to attend their annual reunion. He discovers that Simon has become Involved with a Satanic cult and that his very soul is at stake. The Duke and their mutual friend Rex are forced to use all their knowledge and courage to prevent the loss of Simon’s immortal soul to the forces of darkness, led by evil coven leader, Mocata. I read the book of the same name when I was still in my teens (long before I realised they had even made a film of it) and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that most of the characters looked more or less as I had imagined them. Funnily enough, when I read the book all those years ago, I actually envisioned the Duke as looking and sounding just like Christopher Lee: who is the coolest man that ever lived, by the way! The acting is pretty good, especially by Hammer standards, and Mr Lee’s representation of the Duke de Richleau has all the appropriate gravitas required for the character. The other stand out performance in this movie is by Charles Gray (the film’s antagonist, Mocata ) who is able to convey plenty of menace through a most well-mannered voice. Obviously, as you would expect from a film of this age and low budget, the special effects leave a bit to be desired in places, and you need to be able to suspend disbelief to a certain extent. There are actually a few points in the film where they have attempted to tidy up some especially ropey-looking optical shots. Film purists need not be too concerned about this though as these ‘fixes’ are subtle and in keeping with the original effects. The film itself has been painstakingly restored from the original negatives (in 4K) and looks absolutely glorious. The colours retain the look of the period in which it was made and are beautifully deep and rich – especially the primary colours. The image is crisp and free of imperfections, with great contrast, and the original grain is kept intact despite the comprehensive restoration. In the special features we have four documentaries: a making of, a brief explanation of how they went about restoring the film and why they chose to fix a handful of the special effects, another short film about author Dennis Wheatley’s somewhat shaky relationship with Hammer Films and, finally, a history of Hammer Films narrated by the late Oliver Reed. Sadly the last documentary is almost unwatchable due to the sound from the film clips totally drowning out Mr Reeds narration. In addition to the documentaries there is the usual stills gallery and a voice commentary featuring the late, great Christopher Lee. The commentary is without doubt the highlight of the disc, as Mr Lee’s insight into every aspect of The Devil Rides Out is impressive, to say the least; he knows the ins and outs of each character, setting and magic ritual, and he calmly educates you on every facet of the film in his distinctive baritone voice. Overall, I’d definitely recommend it – especially if you have a fondness for classic horror/thrillers. As an adaption of Wheatley’s book this is about as faithful as you could realistically expect, and the few visual changes that had been made were clearly done for budgetary reasons. Some of the effects look dated but that’s to be expected for a film from 1967. Overall, highly recommended.

Having received my blu-ray copy today and watched it, lets get the major bone of contention out of the way first. The New CGI. This is no George Lucas revision. All they have done in 99% of the effects is tidy up and clean the bad optical work so that is no longer jars. I have to admit it was weird watching the film without being thrown out of it by the original bad optics. There is only one instance in which new effects have been added and it works. I didn't once feel as if I was watching a new version of the film. The restoration is excellent and sound very crisp and clear. I would have loved the option of the 5.1 track that was available on the Elite laserdisc but I'm assuming that's a rights issue more than anything else. Overall very good package and after the disappointing Dracula Prince of Darkness, the restoration is back on form.For the purists who wanted the original version, I suspect the reason for no branching is that there were thousands of tidy ups done (according to the documentary) so I think it would have needed two blu-ray copies to allow both options. Again I could be wrong but someone else could enlighten me.Overall a very enjoyable 1 hour 35 minutes and still the classic it always was but I do understand the annoyance of the purists. The original version is on the DVD.Don't let the "New CGI' put you off. You don't notice it. I wasn't even aware of most of it until I watched the documentary. What you "Notice" is "Where have all the "bad effects" gone if you've watched the film loads of times over the years.Well done to all concerned. It must have taken serious work to tidy up the bad optics in places especially the car chase and still made the film look of it's time.Lastly the running commentary is imported from the 1997 Elite laserdisc.Roger Shore

I have always liked The Devil Rides Out, believing it to be one of Hammer Films best productions, particularly in the latter part of the 1960's. And it is definitely the best of Hammer's "Denis Wheatley Trilogy", although I do confess to having a soft spot for The Lost Continent. There have been some negative comments concerning the updated scenes in The Devil Rides Out blu ray edition, but I can't say that they really bothered me that much. As stated in the documentary on the making of the film, the original version was released without the special effects for the angel of death scene being completed, and the updated version simply attempts to address this. Also, they have simply tried to clean up the film, so that it looks cleaner and fresher. However, it seems a little strange to me that whilst thay have "tidied up" some scenes, there are still a few that could have done with a little touching up. Most notably, for me, are the scenes with Rex and Tanith in the car - and why, oh why, if they can add special effects (the angel of death, the holy water being thrown over the spider etc.), why couldn't they have removed the film crew member, clearly seen and standing out like a sore thumb in his fawn sweater at the end of the baptism scene. It's a definite case of six of one and half a dozen of the other when it comes to the effects in this updated version.Other than that, I like the look of the updated version, but thought the sound was a little off (slightly tinny and with very little bass notes at times) and at one point there is a definite sound/picture sync issue when Rex and Tanith first arrive at the Eaton's home.The extras, which include a new "making of..." documentary, and Denis Wheatly at Hammer, are informative, without being overly long.As I have a decent DVD version of the original film, I'm not that concerned about the updated effects and personally feel that The (new) Devil Rides Out looks fairly good. But I know that absolute Hammer purists would not agree and therefore believe that it may have been a wise idea to have both versions of the film on the blu ray edition.So, all in all, I can recommend this Blu ray edition of The Devil Rides Out, but if you are an absolute purist, then you may want to stick with you DVD edition... for the time being anyway.

Blitzlieferung Top Ware Danke

Ottimo dvd sigillato di alta qualità

Excelente película entretenida, pero desafortunadamente no es del estándar Blu-ray, no la vi hasta después de que expiró el tiempo para devolverla, no es posible verla sin subtítulos, este es un DVD barato con Blu-ray impreso en el disco. , una vergüenza absoluta

This review is for the Blu-Ray edition of 'The Devil Rides Out' released in October, 2019.*****NOTE***** - This movie is also known as 'The Devil's Bride'.WHY THE CHANGE IN TITLE? This movie is also known as 'The Devil's Bride', its U.S. title. The title was changed in the U.S. because some people involved thought the title made it sound like a Western. For those who are new to this movie, it is certainly not a Western. It is one of the first movies ever made about witchcraft and it is set in Europe in 1929.BLU-RAY: The picture is a new 2K scan of the 20th Century Fox interpositive. The picture is very good but is not perfect. There are a few imperfections if you look for them but they are very minor and barely noticeable. The picture itself is fairly sharp. This is probably the way the movie always looked. A lot of the Hammer movies don't have the sharpest of pictures and brightest of colors. The saturation looks just about right. The colors look natural. The movie is shown with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The run time is 95 minutes for 'The Devil's Bride' version of the movie which is shown as the feature version. There is another version which uses 'The Devil Rides Out' credits that is 25 seconds longer. I'm not sure what the difference is, if any, other than the credits.EXTRA'S:-There is an alternate French movie poster in the inside sleeve.-Audio Commentary with actors Christopher Lee, Sarah Lawson and film historian Jonathan Rigby - I always prefer commentaries with the stars involved. Better yet, the director is usually the best to have around. But in this case, Lee is more enthusiastic than usual about the movie because this was his 'baby', so to speak. He was instrumental in getting the movie made and it is one of his favorite movies. Lee studied Dennis Wheatley's novels and witchcraft in general, so he has a lot to add.-Audio Commentary with film historians Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr - These two do many of thesecommentaries on classic horror releases. Haberman usually takes the lead and Nasr focuses on the actual script and compares it to what came out on screen. Ricard Matheson's son joins the two and gives his input. Otherwise this commentary wouldn't really be that necessary. Since the writer's son is here he adds information about his father on the production that isn't already common knowledge.-Documentary: Satanic Shocks: Film Historian Kim Newman recalls 'The Devil Rides Out' - This is a 30 minute documentary with Kim Newman, an enthusiastic Hammer Horror fan gives his take on the movie. Newman discusses the novel this movie was based on and it's author. He discusses the character of Nicholas Duc de Richleau.-Documentary: :Folk Horror Goes Haywire: Film Historian Jonathan Rigby (misspelled on sleeve) on 'The Devil Rides Out' - Rigby is a well known horror historian and has published several books on the subject. This is a 24 minute documentary in which Rigby gives his take on the movie. He focuses on the production aspect of the movie.-Documentary: Black Magic: The Making of the 'Devil Rides Out' - This is a 35 minute documentary. There are a bunch of people interviewed. Included are the screenwriter, Richard Matheson, actor and writer Mark Gatiss, actor children of special effects technician, Michael Stainer Hutchins, historians, Marcus Hearn, Denis Meikle, Phil Baker and Jonathan Rigby. Also included is actor Patrick Mower, who plays Simon Aron. They discuss how the movie got made at a time when witchcraft was considered taboo to movie companies. Every aspect of the movie is discussed. The author's books and the screenplay, production, acting, music, etc. are all discussed in depth.-Dennis Wheatley at Hammer - This is a 13 minute documentary about the writer of 'The Devil Rides Out'.Phil Baker, Wheatleys biographer and historian Jonathan Rigby discuss Wheatley and the three book adaptions that Hammer filmed.-World of Hammer Episode "Hammer" - This is one of the World of Hammer episodes that is about Hammer in general.-Still Gallery - Included are over 60 images from the movie that include still photo's, movie poster, lobby cards, etc.-Theatrical Trailer - There are 5 minutes of trailers.-SubtitlesPLOT/SUMMARY: The movie is set in England in the year 1929. Nicholas, Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) and his friend Rex, head to the house of another of their friends, Simon Aron. They are worried about Simon and de Richleau believes he is getting mixed up in witchcraft. They find him having a part for his new friends. After searching the house, they find all kinds of symbolism of witchcraft. While there, Rex meets a young woman named Tanith.Simon has come under the influence of a very powerful devil cultist named Mocata. Rex and de Richleau return to the house when Simon is away to search it more thoroughly. While there, Mocata sends a demon to stop them. De Richleau manages to defeat the demon. Rex contacts Tanith and at the behest of de Richleau, he takes her to his friends, the Eatons, so that they can help protect her from Mocata. Neither Tanith or Simon have been baptised yet. However, there is to be a ceremony in which they will be. De Richleau leaves to go do some research. Unfortunately, Tanith is under the control of Mocata and she runs off in Rex's car as soon as they get the Eaton's. Rex follows but Mocata manages to use his will on Rex and causes him to crash. Rex manages to get to Mocata's lair and hitches a ride on the back of one of their cars. They head to the ceremony. Rex calls De Richleau and he heads out to meet them. At the ceremony, Satan is called up and Rex springs into action. Rex, with de Richleau as backup manages to resuce Tanith and Simon from their fate. They bring the two of them to the Eaton's. Richard and Marie along with Rex are to watch over the two until de Richleau returns from doing research at the British museum.Mocata pays a visit and Rex is almost killed by Tanith after he hypnotizes Marie Eaton. Mocata's spell is broken after Marie's daughter walks in on Mocata and Marie. Rex takes Tanith to a secret location to try and protect her. De Richleau returns and makes a holy circle and places himself, Simon and the Eaton's inside. This is to protect them all from an attack he knows is coming from Mocata. Mocata tries everything he can and ultimately sends the Angel of Death after them. De Richleau manages to repel all the attacks, however the Angel of Death cannot go back without a victim. Mocata has managed to abduct the Eaton's daughter, Peggy while the attacks are going on. Simon is furious and heads out to Mocata's lair to confront him and try and get Peggy back. Rex returns to the house with Tanith, now deceased. She is the victim of the Angel of Death. De Richleau manages to use Marie as a medium to contact Tanith's soul in order to gather information on how to find Mocata. The group heads out to find Peggy. An unexpected turn of events occurs once they find Mocata.PRODUCTION: This movie was released in America in 1968 by 20th Century Fox. It was released the same year in the U.K. with the title 'The Devil's Bride'. The movie was not a box office success. It cost a little over a million dollars to make and took in only about a half million in rentals.-This movie was directed by Hammer Horror legend, Terence Fisher.-'The Devil Rides Out' is based on the novel, published in 1934, of the same name. It was written by the prolific author, Dennis Wheatley.-This movie took several years to get made. Initially, it was put on the back burner due to fears of censorship because of the Satanic material.-Richard Matheson, of Twilight Zone wrote the screenplay. Matheson had originally written a screenplay for 'Night Creatures', a film that was not made even though they used the title as an alternate title for 'Captain Clegg'. Matheson wrote many screenplays, including many of Roger Corman's 'Edgar Allan Poe' series of movies. He also wrote many other stories that were turned into movies. Matheson wrote a boatload of short stories and screenplays. His novel, 'I am Legend' was turned into a movie 3 times.-Even though De Richleau uses 'Duc' in this movie, he really is a 'Duke'. He is an English character in the novels.-In the scene which Duc de Richleau tells Rex to "take any of them", in reference to his cars, there was originally scene planned in which Rex walks out and sees a row of expensive cars and picks one. I'm guessing they didn't do this because later on they used many classic cars in a scene in which the cultists show up to Mocata's home.-During the outdoor ceremony, the characters should have been nude, but for obvious reasons, they chose not to do this.-Leon Greene, who plays Rex, has his voice dubbed even though he was an opera singer and had a great voice. Hammer Productions was well knows for doing this sort of thing. They dubbed many actors and actresses. CHRISTOPHER LEE'S INPUT:-Christopher Lee has made the claim that this is his favorite movie. He says that he is the reason that the movie was made. He was friends with the author, Dennis Wheatley, and convinced him to let Hammer make a movie from the novel.-Lee's stunt double, Eddie Powell, plays 'The Goat of Mendes'.-Lee also points out in the commentary that the heroes are not supposed to see the Angel of Death's face. It is revealed and they see it. This should have been fatal.-Lee points out that thanks to the production designer, the movie's production values look a lot more expensive than what they were.-Since he has studied, witchcraft, Lee pointed out that all of the symbols used in the movie are authentic and accurate. WHO IS DENNIS WHEATLEY? Dennis Wheatley was a prolific novelist from the U.K., who wrote most of his stories from the 1930's through the 1960's. He wrote mainly thrillers and stories of the occult. In his day, he was one of the best selling author's in the world. He became best known for his novels dealing with the occult. He became an expert in that field. He wrote a total of 11 novels that were based on the occult. As popular as Wheatley was in his day, he was not tremendously popular in the U.S. This is explained in the documentaries. Wheatley had a reputation for making all the British characters gentlemen and perfect while he made all the foreigners out to be villainous. Thus he was not as popular abroad. WHAT OTHER MOVIES WERE BASED ON WHEATLEY'S BOOKS? Hammer Films made two other movies based on his books. They are 'To the Devil... a Daughter', and 'The Lost Continent' (based on 'The Uncharted Seas'). 'To the Devil... A Daughter' was extremely disappointing to Wheatley. The movie does not follow the novel and is merely based on it. Wheatley was so upset that he vowed never to allow Hammer to film one of his novels again. Wheatly dies soon after that movies production. Wheatley did not much like 'The Lost Continent' either. Screewriter, Richard Matheson, says that Wheatley wrote to him to thank him for his screenplay of 'The Devil Rides Out'.Other movies that have been based on his novels are:Forbidden Territory (1934)Secret of Stamboul (1936)The Haunted Airman (2006) WAS THIS CHRISTOPHER LEE'S BEST ROLE?: Whenever the name Christopher Lee pops up, many people instantly think of Dracula. Lee played this role many times for Hammer Productions. Of course, he appeared in over over 100 movies. Lee didn't have to do a lot of acting in many of his 'Dracula' movies. In the second one, 'Dracula: Prince of Darkness', he did not even have a speaking line.I have listened to Lee in many interviews and he seems top point out a few of his roles as his favorites. He considers his role in 'The Wicker Man' to be one of his best. His roles in 'The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll' and 'Rasputin - The Mad Monk' are also among his very favorites. Lee says he is the reason that 'The Devil Rides Out' got made. He was friends with the writer, Dennis Wheatley.I tend to be partial toward characters I actually like. So I prefer his role in 'The Devil Rides Out' to some of his other favorites. Other than the first 'Dracula' movie, I never really thought much of his performances in the other 'Dracula' movies. But that has more to do with the material he was given, not his acting. WHAT OTHER MOVIES DID TERENCE FISHER DIRECT? The great Terence Fisher directed many movies. He got the ball rolling for Hammer Horror 'The Curse of Frankenstein' in 1957. He had directed other movies for Hammer previously, including the science fiction movies, 'Four Sided Triangle' and 'Spaceways', both in 1953. Fisher filmed 4 Frankenstein sequels. Among others films he made for Hammer...-Horror of Dracula (1958)-The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)-The Mummy (1959)-THe Man Who Could Cehat Death (1959)-The Brides of Dracula (1960)-The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (House of Fright) (1961)-Phantom of the Opera (1962)-The Gorgon (1964)-Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)He also made for other studio's...The Earth Dies Screaming (1964)Island of Terror (1966)Island of the Burning Dead (Night of the Big Heat) (1967)COMMENTS/THOUGHTS: SHOULD THIS MOVIE BE REMADE?: In the commentary, Christopher Lee repeatedly says that he would have liked to see this movie re-made in modern times. With modern special effects, he believes the movie would look terrific. All of the supernatural creatures could be made to look more 'realistic'. I agree, especially with the scene involving the Angel of Death. This scene doesn't look all that great but could look fantastic with CGI. IS DUC DE RICHLEAU A COWARD?: As heroic as he is, he does, at times, seem cowardly. Christopher Lee himself points this out in the audio commentary during the scene in which the ceremony is disrupted. Lee isn't all that enthusiastic about this. De Richleau seems afraid and Rex is the one who takes charge. This is not the only time this happens. De Richleau seems cowardly near the end when it comes time to confront Mocata and rescue the young girl, Peggy. Again De Richleau hangs back as others go to rescue Peggy. The scene makes it unclear if this is because he had the plan of using Marie Eaton as a medium for Tanith or if he was truly cowardly. OTHER COMMENTS:-As others have pointed out, Charles Gray, as Mocata, was perfect for the role. He had the 'look' and the acting ability to make the character seem real. I think he had the best performance in the movie.-For me, the best scene in the movie was Mocata comes to the house and has his conversation with Marie Eaton.-The rear projection in this movie leaves something to be desired. Of course this was the case with many movies.CONCLUSIONS: This movie is one of the Hammer Horror's best movies. It was made right at the end of their peak as a company. I personally consider their peak to be between 1966-68. They still made movies after this, but the production values began to decline and some movies became repetitive.This is a movie that can be seen in any era even though the special effects are lacking.The release is superb. You get many extra's, which include two commentaries and three documentaries. The picture is very good and worth the upgrade. WHAT OTHER OCCULT AND/OR DEVIL WORSHIP MOVIES DID HAMMER HORROR MAKE? Hammer made the very good 'The Devil Rides Out' in 1967. They also made a movie called 'The Witches' in 1966. Another movie, 'Demons of the Mind' from 1972, is a psychological horror movie despite the title with the word 'Demons' in it. They also made another movie based on a Dennis Wheatley novel, 'To the Devil... a Daughter (1975)'. "I SHALL NOT BE BACK, BUT SOMETHING WILL": Historian Jonathan Rigby says that this is one of his favorite lines in a horror movie.RECOMENDATIONS/RATINGS:Highly Recommended for fans of witchcraft.Highly Recommended for fans of Hammer Horror.Highly Recommended for fans of Christopher Lee.Highly Recommended for fans of Dennis Wheatley.Highly Recommended for fans of classic horror.Plot: 9/10 or 4 1/2 stars - Excellent witchcraft story.Picture: 8/10 or 4 stars - Looking as good as it can.Extra's: 10/10 or 5 stars - Excellent, two commentaries and three documentaries plus more.SFX:5/10 or 2 1/2 stars - Not much budget for effects.Acting: 7/10 or 3 1/2 stars - A few excellent performances, a few sub-par performances.Overall: 9/10 or 4 1/2 stars which I'm rounding to 5 stars

Chris Lee plays the hero! As horror flicks go, this one is exceptionally literate and well-written, with a great cast who make the most of well-crafted dialogue. Charles Gray is excellent and an excellent balance for Lee. This film is not just better than the average Hammer flick, it's one of the very best and deserves a wider audience.The picture quality and transfer are good. I'm in Region 1 and the description doesn't say this is a Region 2 dvd, but it is according to the package labeling. However, it played fine on my PC's dvd drive. So whether you can view this in the US depends on your hardware. It's very hard to find this film in the U.S. at all, in any format, so I took a chance and it paid off.