It's not Halloween until I've seen at least one Christopher Lee movie. Usually, I love him as Dracula in the hammer horror films, but I'll take what I can get. Interestingly enough, out of his some 282 (I think that's right?) movies he did over the course of his career as an actor, he said this particular movie was his favorite. Lee had wanted to play this character again at some point, with more modern filming techniques, but sadly, that never came to pass.
The Devil's Bride (1968, also known as the Devil Rides Out) is mostly about Duc Nicholas De Richleau, a Duke in 1920's London who is trying to attend an anniversary of his friend's death. With him is Rex van Ryn, but suspiciously absent is his friend's now-adult son, Simon. Rex and Nicholas head out to see what's keeping Simon from attending their annual meeting, and soon discover that simon has a bunch of new friends, and is in the midst of a party at his new home. Rex seems completely bewildered by Simon's actions, but senses nothing out of the ordinary. Duc De Richleau, on the other hand, has discovered that Simon is now a member of a cult of Satan-Worshippers! :-o To save his friend and another initiate (Tanith, the titular Devil's Bride), Duc De Richleau must pit his meager knowledge of the occult against the dark forces of evil! Can Rex and Nicholas save Simon from himself, before he attends his own dark baptism, and forever joins the ranks of the dark lord's minions?
I can see why Christopher Lee liked this film, because it's one of the few movies were he's actually the good guy for a change. Pitted against him is the evil Mocata (Charles Grey, aka Blofeld from the James Bond movies), an accomplished practitioner of the black arts. There's some other old veteran actors in this film, but I don't really know any of them. I caught this one on Turner Classic Movies (cable TV), and it's a sure bet they will replay it again next October at some point. The ending is a little hinky (I won't give it away, but you'll see why I don't like it), but the movie itself is pretty superb, and the ending is well done even if I don't like the way it was done. Not really any nudity, but there is a scene where a woman is tied up, if you like that kind of thing. Hey, I neither judge, nor kink-shame, you filthy pervert. ;-)
That's all for tonight, I'm hurting a little bit tonight (aggravated an old injury), so I'm going to cut this short. Only a few more days to go! :-D
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