Product: The Devil's Bride [VHS] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
THE DEVIL RIDES OUT is an outstanding movie...
This is one of the greatest horror movies of the 60's. The critic above who stated that this film 'wouldn't appeal to modern horror fans' is, sadly, probably right. There's no MTV heavy metal music droning during some 'cool' escape sequence. Jennifer Love Hewitt does not get to trill and squeal. Even more painfully, most teenage viewers would be coming to this film without the benefit of a 24-hour MTV ad blitz to tell them that it was a 'cool' film to see at the local multiplex before going out for a pizza with their respective 'babes' and 'dudes'. Hey - it gets worse. Terence Fisher's directorial technique actually assumes some capacity for imagination and intelligence on the part of the viewer, Christopher Lee's performance burns with vigour and committment (as opposed to moping around in a state of apathetic irony, whilst occasionally deeming listeners worthy enough to thrill to some oh-so-witty Gen-X pop culture comment laboured over by Kevin Williamson - so witty, dude), and composer James Bernard actually seems to take this story seriously.Hammer Films reached various peaks in their two decades of film production, but THE DEVIL RIDES OUT is easily near the top of the bunch. The film unfolds, step-by-step, like a great story, and Anchor Bay's disc, with Christopher Lee on the commentary track, is a treasure.