Product Details
ASIN : 6305063486
Editorial Reviews
From Amazon.com
Christopher Lee, long Hammer Studios' house villain, takes a rare heroic turn as scholar and occultist Duc de Richleau, the kind of role that Peter Cushing had made his métier. Lee plays Richleau with a dark elegance and intensity--he's a commanding figure with a trim goatee who discovers that the son of a war buddy has joined a satanic cult lorded over by the quietly malevolent Mocata (Charles Gray, best known as the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Director Terence Fisher, working from a literate script by genre scribe Richard Matheson, creates a strikingly handsome period piece (set in 1920s rural England) dripping in dread as Richleau and Mocata battle for the souls of two young lovers on both physical and spiritual planes. The action scenes are well handled and the towering Lee cuts quite a figure leaping through hoards of robed devil worshippers to save a sacrificial victim, but the film peaks in an eerie supernatural battle in which Richleau and his skeptical party confronts Mocata's demons while protected in a giant pentagram. The effects are coarse and dated by today's standards, but the gorgeous period detail, vivid color, and unsettling imagery create a sinister ambiance, and Fisher's mix of psychodrama and swashbuckling action makes for an engrossing thriller, a life-and-death struggle between two masters of the forces of light and darkness. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
super Hammer tale! (2004-03-28)  My favourite movie of Christopher Lee is the knockout Wickerman (also happens to be his favourite film!!), but this one is my second favourite and a really super non-Dracula tale from Hammer,Adapted from the book by Dennis Wheatley. Lee is even the good guy! Lee (in a role that generally went to Peter Cushing) plays Richlea, a dapper man with deep knowledge of the esoteric, join forces with a war buddy to save the son of their old friend. The young man, played to perfection by Patrick Mower, has fallen into the clutches Oth Mocata(Charles Gray played with particular power and menace) is a high priest to a Devil Cult that has their sites set on Mower and his fortune. An excellent struggle of good vs evil that is tautly written, directed and acted, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat and one you will want to view again and again.
HAS EVERYONE GONE MENTAL! (2003-10-29)  THIS MOVIE STUNK IN SUCH A MAJOR WAY THAT I WANTED TO BLOW MY T.V. UP WHEN THIS PIECE OF JUNK FILM WAS OVER. AND FOR THOSE OUT THERE WHO THINK THIS IS GOOD. I HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YA. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SMOKING?
A Super tale of the devil with veteran Chris Lee (2002-10-16) My favourite movie of Christopher Lee is the knockout Wickerman ( also happens to be his favourite film!!), but this one is my second favourite and a really super non-Dracula tale from Hammer,Adapted from the book by Dennis Wheatley. Lee ( in a role that generally went to Peter Cushing) plays Richlea, a dapper man with deep knowledge of the esoteric, join forces with a war buddy to save the son of their old friend. The young man, played to perfection by Patrick Mower, has fallen into the clutches oth Mocata(Charles Gray played with particular power and menace) is a high priest to a Devil Cult that has their sites set on Mower and his fortune. An excellent struggle of good vs evil that is tautly written, directed and acted, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat and one you will want to view again and again.
The Devil Rides Coach - the Cast Rides First Class (2002-06-01)  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.
Christopher Lee as the Good Guy?!?! (2002-03-28) Yes, Lee stars has a dashing hero battling the sinister dark arts and Satan himself in this unusual flick.Lee and his companion are guardians of a young ward who gets mixed up in the occult and falls under the spell of Mocata (Charles Gray). Lee realizes his ward's danger and uses his considerable knowledge of the occult to battle Mocata and his minions. Set in 1920s England, this film is different from Hammer usual fare with low-budget special effects and a really cheesy Satan, who exudes bewilderment instead of evil. The orgy scene of the Black Sabbath is moderately amusing. The drive to save the enthusiasm and energy of the young from the false lure of sexual freedom and power promised by Mocata provides for plenty of action and scares. A good flick. Lee should have pursued this character further. The 1920s was awash with occult groups (crowley's comes to mind) and as a dark but heroic and suave protagonist, Lee might have done well. But then we would have lost the Definitive Dracula.
Look for similar items by category
Related Link
Powered by Amazon Web Services + Amazon Associates.
|
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_ca/00bar_top_right.gif){kind=small}
![]](http://resource.hanamoku.com/img/hanamoku_ca/00bar_bottom_right.gif){kind=small}
Goods, Product Information
