Devils of Darkness

The Gravesite of the infamous Count Sinistre

The story begins with a narrator informing us that Count Sinistre (a key figure of evil of this film) was buried alive in a crypt for his barbaric crimes. Here a disciple visits his decrepit crypt and soon the long buried count will be allowed to rise again.

A disciple bows before the crypt of Count Sinistre

As the crypt crumbles, Sinistre, in bat form, flies off to a ceremonial marriage festival of gypsies to claim the bride as his, with the people understanding that the evil count has returned.

Sinistre's "chosen bride"

Cut to the village as two young men plan to excavate caves and a Londoner named Baxter wonders if "anything ever happens" in his current location...be careful what you wish for.

Count Sinistre (Hubert Noël)

The ceremonial of “All Souls Eve” as the villagers commemorate the dead with their torches and special lit candles, all for the possible rising souls of the dearly departed. Our sophisticated bunch staying at the inn is witness to the villagers as they, with serious, mournful faces, walk the path to the graveyard for this special ceremony. Baxter has an air of interest although he’s obviously a skeptic of these “old world religions”, but he’ll be in for a rude awakening thanks to Count Sinistre.

What I truly enjoy regarding Dracula and centuries-old vampires coming in contact with contemporary times is that whole old world intersecting with the new. I was pleasantly surprised to discover Devils of Darkness in a double feature with the highlighted film with Lon Chaney, Jr. called Witchcraft. Sometimes, the film that is considered of top priority for buffs because of Chaney’s name attached can lead to the second feature surprising even more. For me, Devils of Darkness is old fashioned “the Gothic meets the Modern” horror I embrace with affection and joy.

Those familiar with the use of Maria Ouspenskaya as the gypsy foretelling the unfortunate "mark of the wolf" pentagram that curses Lon Chaney, Jr. in The Wolf Man, Devils of Darkness similarly goes down this route with a gypsy proclaiming to Anne (Rona Anderson) that she is fated something deadly. Later in the film, she will meet Sinistre who is dressed as a local man of sophistication and culture who is a wolf in sheep's clothing, eventually biting her and taking her off before Baxter (William Sylvester) can rescue her after hearing her scream (she discovers his real identity when his reflection doesn't show in a lake).

Hammer did intermingle Dracula and Satanism in later Cushing/Lee Dracula films, like Dracula, The Satanic Rites, and Taste the Blood of Dracula, and Devils of Darkness also does this. Sinistre is a vampire count that has Satanic followers. Sure, the crucifix is a very well-used device to thwart the efforts of vampirism, hinting at a connection to Satan through Christian iconography.

The disciples gather as Sinistre arrives to attend a ceremony with them.

Tracy Reed as Karen Steele, chosen to be Sinistre's bride

You know, while watching Devil’s of Darkness, I thought about The Devil’s Bride, starring Lee as the hero and a masterful Charles Gray as his nemesis in a war of good versus evil in regards to Christianity versus Satanism. I get that certain sections of horror fans will just bemoan all this, but it does have its place in the genre nonetheless. I think if you can just brush aside disbelief and simply regard it as an entertainment of good versus evil (quite prevalent in horror whether God and Satan are involved or not) then these horror movies may go down easier. The use of Satanic iconography, and the obvious red and black color hue in tune with devil worship, and just the atmospherics of the village which looks stuck in time besides the inn and its outsiders that tourist through from time to time, there’s plenty for classic horror fans, I think. This film, for me, is directed with a very keen eye for setting up shots from a distance and close up that are quite impressively stylized. Like Karen (and her vibrant red locks) in a trance conducted by the power of evil thanks to Sinistre, lying on the Satanic alter in a cavern in London, and her hair is spread out, resembling a pool of blood. There’s another magnificent shot of a penetrating sun lit behind a cross that seems as if a monolith of great power. I get a graveyard with aged tombstones, red-caped Satanists and their black candles in a cavernous worship hall for the devil, and the incredible beauty of Tracy Reed as someone that is quite convincingly fetching and worth the attention of a vampire desiring her as his bride of choice. Provided as a conflict that works against Sinistre, he, at one time, had supposedly chosen a different pick for his bride—Carole Gray as Tania (the gypsy girl as she was about to wed)—but Karen catches his eye and so Tania is jealous and can’t resist interfering and arguing her case as the one he should wed in a Satanic ceremony.

Speaking of Hammer, the ending of Devils of Darkness is exactly as you might expect from a Lee Dracula film. A heavy bolt of lightning strikes, at an appropriate place, sending the cavern into an avalanche, with the scattering Satanists finding little refuge as the rocks, fall, crumble, and crush them. All who have provided Sinistre with a bride they desire him to have (Karen) see themselves trapped in the worship chamber with nowhere to run, only Sinistre able to rush Karen out of one of few available exits. Still, Sinistre simply escapes one travail only to face an even worse fate as daylight disembarks from the darkness of night. Like Dracula does so memorably and repeatedly in Hammer films, Sinistre is reduced to skeletal form, the dawn his worst enemy. Baxter crashes the party but he’s given two big assists…lightning and sunlight.