![]() Beneath the stylish surface, Wheatley’s conservative politics remain in place – the young are foolish and require a paternalistic, aristocratic guide (Richleau), and good is very clearly delineated as white, male and Christian. His presence is largely embodied by Mocata, and by the range of supernatural threats menacing the heroes during the celebrated magic circle sequence. Despite his prominence in the title, ‘the devil himself’ only appears briefly, in the form of Baphomet at the sacrificial rite. Richard Matheson’s adaptation dispenses with Wheatley’s ponderous prose, and, under the direction of old Hammer hand Terence Fisher, the film belts along like an old-fashioned ripping yarn. Similarly, while Dr Holden is left shaken out of his certainties at the close of the former film, Richleau explicitly exhorts his fellow survivors to be thankful to God, seeing the conclusion as vindicating his beliefs. Gray’s gleeful, purring wickedness in the part is a marked contrast to MacGinnis’ more sympathetic interpretation of a similar character, with Mocata portrayed as unshakably committed to Satanic evil as an ideological choice, rather than for personal survival. Wheatley apparently partly based Mocata on the infamous real-life occultist Aleister Crowley (occasionally if unattributably also cited as the source for James’ Karswell). The hero, Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee) firmly believes in the existence of the powers of darkness summoned by Charles Gray’s Mocata, and the film is briskly dismissive of the faithless or agnostic. No such concerns hold sway in Hammer’s blood-and-thunder adaptation of Dennis Wheatley’s novel The Devil Rides Out (Terence Fisher, 1968). He indulges his eccentric mother even when she interferes directly with his deadly plans, while fearfully aware of the limits and the dangers of the powers he has unleashed, knowing that he will pay a terrible personal price if he does not continue to pass the runes.Ī central theme of Night Of The Demon is the battle of beliefs between rational science and the supernatural. He seems to genuinely enjoy using his more benevolent magic to entertain local children on his estate (even if the ensuing scene in which, dressed as a clown, he conjures up a ferocious storm to try and convince the doubtful Holden of his powers, is among the most chilling in the film). MacGinnis’ Karswell is a far more complex characterisation – erudite, cunning, ruthless and formidable, but not entirely unsympathetic. ![]() In James’ story, Karswell is presented as a straightforwardly unsympathetic villain, dedicated to using his dark powers to destroy those who dismiss his work on witchcraft (with the author snobbishly noting his bad grammar and lack of Oxford education as further evidence of his evil). Leaving aside the controversially visible demon, the main antagonist of the film is Dr Julian Karswell (beautifully played by Niall MacGinnis). The design of the creature, by Ken Adam (best known for his elaborate set designs for several James Bond films), was inspired by the suitably Jamesian source of medieval woodcuts depicting fire demons. Although James’ original is coy about explicitly naming or depicting the satanic, the film is quite literally upfront about it, with the titular demon seen in the opening sequence (to the infamous displeasure of director Jacques Tourneur and screenwriter Charles Bennett, who both favoured a more ambiguous approach). James’ short story Casting The Runes and tells the tale of the sceptical Dr Holden (Dana Andrews), who finds himself stalked by sinister occult powers. Night Of The Demon ( Jacques Tourneur, 1957) was adapted from M.R. This article is a personal selection of some alternative portrayals of Lucifer and his minions in British horror cinema. This image of the diabolical still holds currency in the popular imagination today, but it is far from the only interpretation of the devilish committed to film. Up close, personal, and often accompanied by some deeply reactionary undertones, Satan and his demons apparently could not get enough of possessing unsuspecting innocents, and tormenting troubled priests by making salacious comments about their mothers. ![]() #RUNES OF MAGIC FORUM BENEVOLENT MOVIE#F ollowing the success of The Exorcist in 1973, demonic possession seemed to be all the rage in the horror movie world. ![]()
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