Christopher Lee plays an expert in the occult who's out to save his friend from the clutches of a devil worshiping clan in this run-of-the-mill product spit out by the Hammer studio factory.
The most interest to be had in "The Devil's Bride" is comparing it to "Rosemary's Baby," another film about devil worship that came out in the same year. Of course it's almost criminally unfair to do so, since Roman Polanski's film is a near masterpiece and this one....well....isn't. But it's clear that in both cases the filmmakers were working from the same general principles.
There's not a real fright, or even anything close to a chill, to be had in "The Devil's Bride." There might be if everything, even the night scenes and interiors, weren't filmed in high noon lighting and saturated color, and if the special effects -- in this one a giant tarantula -- were even close to being special. But, as with all the Hammer films, there's some dumb fun to be had if you're in the right mood, and there's a cozy kind of comfort to be had from a fright film that you know isn't really going to be scary.
But all that said, I'll still take "Rosemary's Baby" any day.
Grade: B-
The most interest to be had in "The Devil's Bride" is comparing it to "Rosemary's Baby," another film about devil worship that came out in the same year. Of course it's almost criminally unfair to do so, since Roman Polanski's film is a near masterpiece and this one....well....isn't. But it's clear that in both cases the filmmakers were working from the same general principles.
There's not a real fright, or even anything close to a chill, to be had in "The Devil's Bride." There might be if everything, even the night scenes and interiors, weren't filmed in high noon lighting and saturated color, and if the special effects -- in this one a giant tarantula -- were even close to being special. But, as with all the Hammer films, there's some dumb fun to be had if you're in the right mood, and there's a cozy kind of comfort to be had from a fright film that you know isn't really going to be scary.
But all that said, I'll still take "Rosemary's Baby" any day.
Grade: B-