Product: The Devil's Bride [VHS] (1968)
Rating: 4.0
The Devil Rides Coach - the Cast Rides First Class
Faithful adaptation, by screen vet Richard Matheson, of Dennis Wheatley's typically talky book of the same name.If you've ever read Wheatley, you already know what to expect. If you haven't, The Devil Rides Out is a period melodrama (1920s) involving black magic and a Satanic cult. Christopher Lee, in a rare go-round at playing the hero, is a cultured Duke who is an accomplished mystic and expert on the occult. The son of a friend has been hypnotized and drawn into an unsavory Satanist bunch, who plan to steal his family fortune and do the poor fellow in. Lee rescues the lad, and crosses swords with superior wizard Mocate (Charles Gray), a suave cad and powerbroker. Trances, abductions, summoned demons and spells galore result.This is as simple a melodrama as you're ever likely to see, more in the nature of a mediaeval morality play than anything else, though it performs like Agatha Christie. What elevates it above the norm is the splendid production (though the effects are cheap) and a great cast. Matheson is an experienced scriptwriter, who pares down Wheatley's verbosity to its fundamental components without losing any of the charm.A great piece if you like this kind of thing, but average viewers may be bored by it.