The Devil Rides Out: 30 of 31 Horror Movies I've Never Seen

I have this terrible habit of trying to watch a movie when I should be going to sleep.  Usually this happens after I get home from an incredibly late shift from work and I'm all wind blown from riding in the cold on my motorcycle.  I can't sleep quite yet so I always figure, "Well, I'll just watch a movie and by the end I'll definitely be tired."  It always ends up the same way, about 20 to 30 minutes in I pass out on the couch and wake up three hours later realizing that I passed out, stumble to bed, and go back to sleep.  This has happened to me with some movies a number of times, enough times that I feel like maybe I'm cursed not to finish them.  Tonight I broke the curse for The Devil Rides Out and I'm quite glad to have done it.

The plot of the film centers around a reunion of three friends, Duc de Richleau (Christopher Lee), Rex van Ryan (Leon Greene) and Simon Aran (Patrick Mower), except that Simon appears to have missed the reunion.  Richeleau and Rex decide to drop in on his house where they uncover a group of Black Magic practicing Satanic Worshipers led by a coldly calculating Mocata (Charles Gray) planning to Baptize Simon and a girl named Tanith (Nike Arrighi) in the name of the Dark Lord.  Through many set backs they take it upon themselves to halt this baptism and put an end to Mocata's sinister plans.

The script is penned by Richard Matheson, based off of a Dennis Wheatley novel.  The dialogue is quite good, but some of the character decisions made little sense.  For example, if a character has proven themselves time and time over to be correct why would anyone question them after a certain point?  It's a behavior common to horror movies that I've always felt was a rather weak device to steer an event.  Luckily the film makes up for these weak points by a great use of special effects and cinematography.

All in all, the acting ensemble represented in the film was quite strong and supported each other greatly through the story.  It's hard to hold a candle to Christopher Lee but Leon Greene played off of him quite well and Charles Gray's Mocata is such a downright sinister man that Lee's usually dark imposing quality is lightened by contrast.  It's no secret that I have a soft spot movies about Black Magic and Witch Craft so it should also be no surprise that I liked this movie quite a bit, regardless of a few of the strange choices on the writing side of the script.

It felt like quite a bit of research into the scientific side involving the power of suggestion had been done as well as the Seance Rituals of communicating with the spirits.  Such research served to really heighten the mood of the film, steering the audience to wonder just how much could be possible and how much is farce.  At the end of the day, it's a tale of good and evil, and good most certainly trumps evil in this case.

4 out of 5 skulls.

Horror Of Dracula: 29 of 31 Horror Movies I've Never Seen

The Hammer Horror films have been on my mind for quite some time now.  There's something peculiarly unique and so very British about them, that even at their worst they tend to have some sort of redeeming quality that sits with me.  As I wrote earlier, me and vampire movies don't usually agree, but there are occasions where I overcome my bias and get to watch a few gems.  It was completely shocking to my friends that I had never seen Horror of Dracula, so I've decided to set it straight.

Based on Braham Stoker's Dracula, the film stars Christopher Lee in the role of the titular character and Peter Cushing in the role of Dr. Josef van Helsing.  While certain elements, like the boat of dead bodies and the Renfield character are removed, the film purportedly maintains a fairly close resemblance to the novel.  It sports a bit of a slow pace for the majority of the film, but the climactic battle between Helsing and Dracula is so commanding that it makes up for other places lacking in the pace department.

Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee work so well off of each other that it's no wonder they would become best friends and co-starts on a number of Hammer productions including, but not limited to, the Dracula series.  The color, for 1958 is nicely saturated and it seems that not a single color on the spectrum is missed in the production design, which is also rife with the Gothic imagery that made Hammer famous in the first place.

Easily, this is one of the most enjoyable versions of the Dracula story and is every bit of a classic in it's own right.  It brought sensuality to the otherwise monstrously cold Lugosi Dracula and even though Lee is an imposing 6'6" of gaunt British awesomeness, he still brings a charm to the character that is unmistakable.  Cushing's eyes alone are so arresting that you want to slap every other character in the film for ever doubting him!  A wonderful treat for the old and new fans alike, Horror of Dracula is not to be missed.

5 out of 5 skulls.