The Devil Rides Out- 50th Anniversary
Hammer's classic adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's novel, The Devil Rides Out, is now 50 years old. Both the book and film tell the story of a group of old friends who deal with a Satanic cult. The novel, first published in 1934, is part of a series based around the character the Duc de Richleau. The earlier novels in this series deal with an elderly Duc and his adventures with the group of friends featured in The Devil Rides Out, while later on, the novels told about his younger days.
Hammer would later adapt another of Wheatley's black magic-themed novels, To the Devil-- a Daughter, with the film differing so far greatly from the source novel that the two are virtually unrelated. There do still remain a few elements that the film has in common with the novel, but to call this one an adaptation is using the term extremely loosely. Hammer also adapted one of Wheatley's non-occult oriented tales, Uncharted Seas, as The Lost Continent, but I am focusing on his black magic stuff, so I am not going to discuss that one.
When Hammer got the rights to The Devil Rides Out, there were apparently plans to do three or more films based on Wheatley's black magic tales. This never really happened, although there was that previously mentioned To the Devil-- a Daughter adaptation. I do think this is a loss for classic horror, as one of the planned films was supposedly The Haunting of Toby Jugg, which I personally think is one of Wheatley's greatest works and would make an excellent film, if done correctly (see a little flick called The Haunted Airman to see what happens if done incorrectly).
Despite what could have been, the two black magic adaptations Hammer did were both quite good, despite any differences between the film versions and their respective novels. While To the Devil... a Daughter (1976), notice the slight change in the title from its novel counterpart, bore little resemblance to the source material, The Devil Rides Out (1968), saw the story more or less intact. That being said, there are still many differences between the film and book versions of The Devil Rides Out, which is what I would like to focus on.
First off, the changes were not all made for the same reasons. Some of them would largely be related to the task of condensing the more complex narrative of the book into some form that would work for a normal length film, which usually leads to secondary plots being eliminated, minor characters being condensed into one more important character, and development of characters and story being heavily truncated. Other changes were likely to adhere to the sensibilities of the time and what was considered acceptable within a film. Yet, other changes were probably just because somebody involved with the making of the film felt it necessary.
I won't go into every single difference, as that would take quite some time and I am not likely to remember every single one of them, anyway. I really just want to discuss the ones I find the most interesting.
Naturally, some of the changes are related to the appearances of characters. The Duc in the book, as I mentioned, is elderly, while in the movie, he is played by the great Christopher Lee, who was in his mid-forties at the time. Also, the story's antagonist and leader of the Satanic group the Duc and his friends fight against, Damien Mocata, has a much different appearance as described in the novel. In the film, he is played by Charles Gray and looks like a normal, pleasant, even if somewhat sinister, fellow. In the novel, he is bald and unattractive, speaking with a lisp. Some of this may just be down to casting, more than anything else. Lee was an excellent choice, as was Gray. They both embody their roles very effectively.
One of the biggest differences, in my opinion, is the removal of Mocata's goal in the story. In the movie, Mocata attacks the group with his satanic powers because they interfered with his group and even took away a couple of its members, Simon Aron and Tanith. His goal in the movie is pretty much just to recover his lost pupils and that is about it. In the novel, this is all leading to something. Mocata has been working towards a ritual which will allow him to locate the Talisman of Set. He needs both Simon and Tanith for this task, as Simon has the magical knowledge/training plus the appropriate birth date and Tanith is Mocata's medium through whom he works his magic. In the movie, the removal of this element leaves Simon as largely meaningless to Mocata. He wants to recover Simon, but has no actual need of him. He does still need Tanith, as the film does retain the idea that Mocata works his magic through her.
Why was this element removed? I can't be sure, but I think it may be at least partially to do with the fact that the Talisman of Set is a mummified penis. While you could have that in a novel, I think showing or just mentioning something like that in a English film at that time might have been too much for the film censors. Of course, they could have just made the talisman some other object and retained the plot element of Mocata's search for it, but they didn't.
Another change is the black mass at Salisbury Plain. In the film, both Simon and Tanith are present and the participants are clothed in various robes. In the novel, the participants are nude, at least most are and Tanith is not present, although she is en route to the gathering and arrives right about when things go sideways, due to the Duc's interference along with another in his group of friends, Rex van Ryn.
The novel follows this up with a scene that features the Duc, Simon, and Rex spending the rest of the night at Stonehenge, the mystical powers of which protect them from Mocata and his minions. There is also a bit of levity around this point, as Simon having been nude during the ritual, has no clothes and all they end up being able to get for him is a humorous ensemble of mostly sports-related gear. I am doing this all from memory, so I don't remember all the details.
The last section of the book and movie differ quite a bit, but each works fine within context of the rest of the respective work. The novel's last part is more involved, with the main characters chasing after Mocata by plane, having to deal with obstacles he puts in their way, such as fog to obscure their vision during their flight.
Despite the numerous differences between the novel and the movie, I really love the movie and it is one of my favorite Hammer films. The is the direction by the great Terence Fisher and the intense (and very sinister) score by James Bernard. There are some weak special effects, but that is nothing that ruins the movie, for me at least. There is actually a more recent UK DVD/Blu-ray release of the film featuring some revamping to the special effects. Some people disagree with doing that, which I generally am, unless the original version remains available. The revamped effects are a mixed bag. Some of them work well and others are still a bit wonky. Whichever version you get, it is well worth a watch either way.
Hammer would later adapt another of Wheatley's black magic-themed novels, To the Devil-- a Daughter, with the film differing so far greatly from the source novel that the two are virtually unrelated. There do still remain a few elements that the film has in common with the novel, but to call this one an adaptation is using the term extremely loosely. Hammer also adapted one of Wheatley's non-occult oriented tales, Uncharted Seas, as The Lost Continent, but I am focusing on his black magic stuff, so I am not going to discuss that one.
When Hammer got the rights to The Devil Rides Out, there were apparently plans to do three or more films based on Wheatley's black magic tales. This never really happened, although there was that previously mentioned To the Devil-- a Daughter adaptation. I do think this is a loss for classic horror, as one of the planned films was supposedly The Haunting of Toby Jugg, which I personally think is one of Wheatley's greatest works and would make an excellent film, if done correctly (see a little flick called The Haunted Airman to see what happens if done incorrectly).
Despite what could have been, the two black magic adaptations Hammer did were both quite good, despite any differences between the film versions and their respective novels. While To the Devil... a Daughter (1976), notice the slight change in the title from its novel counterpart, bore little resemblance to the source material, The Devil Rides Out (1968), saw the story more or less intact. That being said, there are still many differences between the film and book versions of The Devil Rides Out, which is what I would like to focus on.
 |
| North American DVD release (left) and UK DVD/Blu-ray Edition (right) |
First off, the changes were not all made for the same reasons. Some of them would largely be related to the task of condensing the more complex narrative of the book into some form that would work for a normal length film, which usually leads to secondary plots being eliminated, minor characters being condensed into one more important character, and development of characters and story being heavily truncated. Other changes were likely to adhere to the sensibilities of the time and what was considered acceptable within a film. Yet, other changes were probably just because somebody involved with the making of the film felt it necessary.
I won't go into every single difference, as that would take quite some time and I am not likely to remember every single one of them, anyway. I really just want to discuss the ones I find the most interesting.
Naturally, some of the changes are related to the appearances of characters. The Duc in the book, as I mentioned, is elderly, while in the movie, he is played by the great Christopher Lee, who was in his mid-forties at the time. Also, the story's antagonist and leader of the Satanic group the Duc and his friends fight against, Damien Mocata, has a much different appearance as described in the novel. In the film, he is played by Charles Gray and looks like a normal, pleasant, even if somewhat sinister, fellow. In the novel, he is bald and unattractive, speaking with a lisp. Some of this may just be down to casting, more than anything else. Lee was an excellent choice, as was Gray. They both embody their roles very effectively.
One of the biggest differences, in my opinion, is the removal of Mocata's goal in the story. In the movie, Mocata attacks the group with his satanic powers because they interfered with his group and even took away a couple of its members, Simon Aron and Tanith. His goal in the movie is pretty much just to recover his lost pupils and that is about it. In the novel, this is all leading to something. Mocata has been working towards a ritual which will allow him to locate the Talisman of Set. He needs both Simon and Tanith for this task, as Simon has the magical knowledge/training plus the appropriate birth date and Tanith is Mocata's medium through whom he works his magic. In the movie, the removal of this element leaves Simon as largely meaningless to Mocata. He wants to recover Simon, but has no actual need of him. He does still need Tanith, as the film does retain the idea that Mocata works his magic through her.
Why was this element removed? I can't be sure, but I think it may be at least partially to do with the fact that the Talisman of Set is a mummified penis. While you could have that in a novel, I think showing or just mentioning something like that in a English film at that time might have been too much for the film censors. Of course, they could have just made the talisman some other object and retained the plot element of Mocata's search for it, but they didn't.
Another change is the black mass at Salisbury Plain. In the film, both Simon and Tanith are present and the participants are clothed in various robes. In the novel, the participants are nude, at least most are and Tanith is not present, although she is en route to the gathering and arrives right about when things go sideways, due to the Duc's interference along with another in his group of friends, Rex van Ryn.
The novel follows this up with a scene that features the Duc, Simon, and Rex spending the rest of the night at Stonehenge, the mystical powers of which protect them from Mocata and his minions. There is also a bit of levity around this point, as Simon having been nude during the ritual, has no clothes and all they end up being able to get for him is a humorous ensemble of mostly sports-related gear. I am doing this all from memory, so I don't remember all the details.
The last section of the book and movie differ quite a bit, but each works fine within context of the rest of the respective work. The novel's last part is more involved, with the main characters chasing after Mocata by plane, having to deal with obstacles he puts in their way, such as fog to obscure their vision during their flight.
 |
| Hardcover edition of the novel from the 1970s (left) and recent paperback edition with modified text (right) |
Despite the numerous differences between the novel and the movie, I really love the movie and it is one of my favorite Hammer films. The is the direction by the great Terence Fisher and the intense (and very sinister) score by James Bernard. There are some weak special effects, but that is nothing that ruins the movie, for me at least. There is actually a more recent UK DVD/Blu-ray release of the film featuring some revamping to the special effects. Some people disagree with doing that, which I generally am, unless the original version remains available. The revamped effects are a mixed bag. Some of them work well and others are still a bit wonky. Whichever version you get, it is well worth a watch either way.
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| CD release of the film's score by James Bernard, also featuring an interview with the late Christopher Lee |
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