Fantastic!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This is a 1968 film. So living the majority of my life in the 21st century, it's not always easy for me to watch super-old films. But, this was one of those that I enjoyed and I could say was quite creepy. It had elements of Satanism, the Occult, and general murder vibes. Christopher Lee was fantastic as always. It's worth watching if you like the genre.

Christopher Lee (Duc de Richaleau) and Leon Greene (Rex Van Ryn) visit Patrick Mower (Simon) and find him embroiled in a satanic cult led by Charles Gray (Blofeld in 007 James Bond films but Mocata in this). They try to save Simon and also Tanith (Nike Arrighi) but in doing so they anger not just Mocata but the devil himself. Along the way Mocata summons the Angel of Death as well as the Goat of Mendes to help battle to interfering forces. This is a brilliant Terrence Fisher film as much of his Hammer films usually are but it's miles apart from the usual monster films. Some of the effects may be a little dated by today's standards but the tension and aesthetics of the film make for an enjoyable ride. The use of satanic symbolism adds to the film greatly, the untrained eye may struggle to spot it but don't fear because Christopher Lee is on hand to explain all which helps the audience see the juxtaposition between something which may look ordinary and ornament but which carries significant meaning at the same time. For me the ending was a little weak and could have maybe been better had it unfolded differently but I can't remember that many films of that era using time paradoxes at all, let alone explaining them effectively so not to bamboozle innocent audience members. 7 out of 10.

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.

The Devil Rides Out, also known as The Devil's Bride (although there isn't much riding, and the bride's a minor character at best) is an above-average devil-worshipper movie, with the twist of the eminent Christopher Lee playing the good guy. It's appropriately menacing and worthwhile.Lee plays the Duc de Richleau (good name), who, along with Rex van Ryn (played by Leon Greene) is the ward of a certain Simon Aron (Patrick Mower). Rex and the Duc drop by Simon's pad (it's 1968, after all), only to discover that Simon's throwing a party with 12 of his friends, all of whom seem a bit shady. One of the friends is Tanith Carlisle (Nike Arrighi), who catches ol' Rex's eye.The Duc suspects that Simon has been recruited to join a Satan-worshipping cult (hence 13 at the party), and luckily for all of us, he knows a little of the black magic himself. So it's a race to save the soul of Simon and of, naturally, Tanith from the evil clutches of the high priest, Mocata. Mocata is played by Charles Gray, who later would appear as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever and as The Criminologist in the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show, and he has a truly nefarious glare that he makes frequent use of. Lee, of course, also played a Bond villain - in The Man with the Golden Gun. Nice coincidence.There's sacrifices, mutilation, possession, kidnapping, mind control, astral projection. Hey, for a lesser-known Hammer film, it's a pretty impressive production. For the first half of the movie, at least one person steadfastly doesn't believe in devil worshippers, but in the second half everyone's cool with the idea. They'd even buy into time travel or midget giraffes dealing Ecstasy. Wacky and weird, just not zany.