To the Devil a Daughter

An American occult novelist (Richard Widmark) battles to save the soul of a young nun (Nastassja Kinski) from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest (Christopher Lee), who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.

As a White Zombie fan, I was thrilled to hear the Latin of the excommunication scene and finally know where one of their best songs took its clips from. That alone makes the movie satisfying (though it hardly carries the entire film).

Despite being a Hammer film and featuring Christopher Lee, the film does not seem well-liked by many people. IMDb rates it below a 6 and Rotten Tomatoes has it holding a 17% approval rating. I feel obligated to defend it, if even just a little bit. I mean, wow, what a truly creepy and disturbing birthing ritual -- the blood, the bondage, Lee's diabolical grin... Oh, and that other ritual...

I would say this film is a winner, despite the harsh criticism people seem to have for it. Some parts are a bit slow or bland, but the overall story is interesting and the imagery is fascinating. A lot of work was put into this one.

"To The Devil A Daughter" of 1976 is on of the last films from the great Hammer studios, and, as it seems, it was a disappointment to many of my fellow Hammer fans. For understandable reasons, since this is the second of two Hammer films about Satanism and black magic based on novels by Dennis Wheatley. Both films star Christopher Lee and the first, namely "The Devil Rides Out" of 1968 is easily one of the most brilliant films ever released by this great Production Company. And "To The Devil A Daughter" can not nearly compete with "The Devil Rides Out", but, as far as I am considered it is still a creepy film that is more than worth watching for a Horror fan.

The performances are exceptional, and I am not only talking about the great Christopher Lee. Lee is brilliant as always, of course, but the cast includes quite a bunch of other great actors. Richard Widmark also delivers a great performance and so do Denholm Eliott, Michael Goodliffe and the great Honor Blackman. Young Nastassia Kinski is also exceptional in one of her very first roles. The cinematography is great, and the film is often very eerie, but it sadly lacks the wonderful Gothic atmosphere that Hammer fans love so much. The film has atmosphere, no doubt, but sadly not the typical Hammer-style. This may be the main reason why many fellow Hammer fans are disappointed with the film. And it was also the lack of Gothic elements that I disliked about the film. But even though it is definitely one of the lesser films from Hammer and it may disappoint on a certain level, the film is definitely a creepy flick that fans of the studios should not miss. If you expect a shining finale to 20 years of brilliant Hammer rule, you run risk of being disappointed. Just expect a creepy little film with a great cast and enjoy!

In London, the occult novelist John Verney (Richard Widmark) is contacted by a stranger named Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott) during a lecture in a private gallery of his friends David Kennedy (Anthony Valentine) and Anna Fontaine (Honor Blackman). Henry asks John to meet his daughter, the nun Catherine Beddows (Nastassja Kinski), in the airport since she is coming from Munich and lodge her in his apartment since Henry has had a problem with Satanists and he would like to protect his daughter. In return, John could write a book with his experience with the Satanists.

John brings Catherine to his apartment and sooner he learns that she belongs to the church "The Children of Our Lord" from Germany, and she will be eighteen years old on the All Hallows Eve. While she is sleeping during the night, John realizes that Catherine, and not her father Henry, is actually in danger. Sooner he finds that the excommunicated Catholic priest Father Michael Raynem (Christopher Lee), who is Catherine's godfather, and a group of Satanists that worship the Devil plan to use Catherine to become Astaroth through a ritual. John visits the bishop, who is his friend, and asks permission to read the same pages of The Book of Abramelin that Father Michael had read in the 50's. Now John battles against the powerful Father Michael to save the life and soul of Catherine.

"To the Devil a Daughter" is the last film from Hammer with a promising story and a great cast with Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Nastassja Kinski and Denholm Elliott. Unfortunately they are wasted in a lame screenplay with many flaws and a disappointing conclusion. The gorgeous Nastassja Kinski (officially born on 24 Jan 1961, but sources tell that she was born in 1959) naked does not seem to be only fifteen years old; seventeen would be more acceptable. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Filha para o Diabo" ("A Daughter to the Devil")

The reputation of Hammer’s last horror film has always been fairly maligned (for a variety of reasons) but, when I finally watched it – via a pan-and-scan PAL VHS – some years back, I recall being reasonably impressed by it. Somewhat perversely, I chose it to end my month-long tribute to the recently deceased Richard Widmark – given that he was notoriously cantankerous throughout the film’s shooting and would subsequently single it out as the one regret of his 44 year-long film career!

Re-acquainting myself with TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER by way of the Anchor Bay R1 DVD, I was pleased to discover that my initial reaction to it remained pretty much intact – though, obviously, I no longer felt that initial shock to some of its more intense and bizarre sequences. Anyway, the film was a companion piece to Hammer’s previous Dennis Wheatley adaptation – THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1967) – in which Christopher Lee had atypically played the hero; however, the author wasn’t as enthused this time around – since his novel was considerably bowdlerized in the transition – and declined the company further access to his works (they had previously acquired the rights to yet another of Wheatley’s occult tales, “The Satanist”)! Lee co-stars in this one as well – but, here, he reverts to his favored (on-screen) element i.e. The Dark Side: his character of Father Michael is actually among the most believably sinister he ever played (going about his diabolic business with a thoroughly calm demeanor and, often, a chilling smile on his lips!). As for Widmark, I’m glad he was sensible enough to understand that, whatever his personal feelings (the Hollywood star clearly seemed to consider the material beneath him), he still owed the public a good performance – and there’s no denying the fact that his no-nonsense occult novelist emerges as a most fitting opponent to Lee.

The convoluted plot involves the rebirth of the demon Astaroth in human form – its vessel being a nubile girl (played by the luscious Nastassja Kinski), brought up in seclusion as a nun! Lee is a priest who has been excommunicated for challenging the belief that Man depends on the ‘presence’ of God to guide him through life – contending that Man is perfectly capable of making his own Destiny (with a little help from the Forces of Darkness). Aiding him in his scheme is veteran Michael Goodliffe, the wonderful Denholm Elliott is featured as Kinski’s recanting wimpish father, and Derek Francis as the Church official who has barred Lee from service. In Widmark’s corner are his husband-and-wife agents, played by Honor Blackman and Anthony Valentine – both of whom eventually find themselves on the receiving end of Lee’s evil powers.

Among the film’s notable sequences: the unnatural birth of the demon child (displaying a harrowing intensity quite uncommon to Hammer’s usual output), the two scenes depicting the monstrous appearance of the baby itself (one in which it slobbers all over 17-year old Kinski’s bloodied naked body Lee slams as “obscene” in the accompanying documentary!), the would-be depraved rite/orgy (presented as a nightmare in the vein of the not-too-dissimilar ROSEMARY’S BABY [1968]) and, of course, the much-debated climax (nowhere near as godawful as many seem to think, the scriptwriters having at least put an extra effort into coming up with a mystical explanation for the denouement, but the rushed execution of it is decidedly limp!). In essence, then, this is not at all a bad send-off for Hammer Films – and, easily, among their better offerings of the decade (incidentally, I’ve just acquired the obscure Sci-Fi/Western hybrid MOON ZERO TWO [1969] from this legendary brand, which promises to be fairly goofy)…

To get to Anchor Bay’s DVD edition, the one quibble I have with it concerns the ‘processed’ quality of the sound effects (background noise, gunshots) in a couple of sequences. Whilst serving as a moving valediction to a bygone era, the 24-minute featurette is a great account of the nerve-racking making of the film (with its last-minute revisions to the script, problems securing a director, and Widmark’s temper-tantrums). Apart from over-hyped trailer, extensive poster/still gallery and detailed biographies for both Widmark and Lee, one is able to access a hilarious Easter Egg from the “Extras” menu – an excerpt from an interview with leading Hammer Films stunt-man Eddie Powell, wherein he discusses his multi-purpose duties on this particular title (which included doubling for Lee in a scene requiring his character to appear in the nude!).

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*

Father Michael Rayner (CHRISTOPHER LEE) was ex-communicated from the Church of England for attempting to bring a personification of the devil to Earth. Twenty years on and Rayner has settled in Germany with his devil-worshiping followers under the facade of the "Children of the Lord" cult. Rayner sends his godchild Catherine Beddows (NASTASSJA KINSKI) to England to join her father Henry Beddows (DENHOLM ELLIOT) for her 18th-birthday. Rayner intends to fulfil his old ambition and rebaptise Catherine into the service of evil. Henry who was forced into the cult's evil-doings because his wife was a member of the cult attempts to recant and places his daughter in the care of occult novelist Jim Verney (RICHARD WIDMARK) who must confront and destroy Rayner before he succeeds in making the devil walk the Earth in the form of an innocent girl.

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER was Hammer's final horror film and the company's second attempt to bring one of Dennis Wheatley's occult novels to the screen. Wheatley was overjoyed by the company's filming of his novel THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968), but was apparently less pleased with Hammer's version of his popular TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER novel which Hammer had considered adapting for the screen as early as 1963. The film took a very respectable £13, 375 on it's opening week at the Odeon Leicester Square and it reached number three in the London Film Charts. On it's general release the film's takings were estimated at about £200,000.

Yet despite this success, Hammer's plans to film Wheatley's THE SATANIST were sadly scrapped. Thus continued Hammer's trip into oblivion which came to a head with an ill-advised remake of Alfred Hitchcock's THE LADY VANISHES in 1979.

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER is a most enjoyable film. The script may be a little confused but the gore scenes are suitably erotic (more so than in most other Hammer films) and it benefits from good production values and an exemplary cast. Lee is excellent as the disgraced priest, a complete contrast to his portrayal of the Duc De' Richeleau in THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, while Richard Widmark shines as the hero. His performance is up to the standard of the Hammer heroes portrayed by Peter Cushing and Andre Morell even though his character only conflicts with Lee's once. The direction of Peter Sykes is good even if his other feature film credits like STEPTOE AND SON RIDE AGAIN (1973) may cause some initial doubts. Hammer purists consider this to be the company's worst film. It is more graphic than the earlier Hammer horrors and more or less ignores all the traditions of the company's earlier films, which makes it all the more better.