Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #67 -
Eye of the Devil (1966) - I just saw this recently, and it's a perfect film for the Halloween season. A precursor to
The Wicker Man,
The Omen, and maybe even
Eyes Wide Shut, Eye of the Devil is an occult film that deals with witchcraft and the ancient rites of human sacrifice that have appeared through all mythologies and religions. Fans of Joseph Campbell, Robert Graves, and
The Golden Bough will recognize the familiar theme of sacrifice when the Marquis, Philippe de Montfaucon (David Niven) is called back to his ancestral home to save the vineyards that all of the inhabitants of Bellenac depend on for their survival. Much to his dismay, his wife Catherine (Deborah Kerr) decides to join him in the country with their two young children, Jacques and Antoinette. Catherine notices immediately that something is up with Philippe. She is also disturbed by two young locals, siblings Odile and Christian de Caray (Sharon Tate and David Hemmings), who are always hanging around the chateau and being generally creepy.
The black and white cinematography by Erwin Hillier is gorgeous. The Château de Hautefort in Dordogne, France is well utilized as the film's location — both interiors and exteriors are filmed beautifully and add to the overall sinister atmosphere of the film. Kim Novak was originally supposed to play Catherine, but she was injured while on horseback and had to withdraw from the film. She was replaced with Deborah Kerr, who does a great job unraveling as she watches her husband embark on (to her) an inexplicable quest to save the vineyard. Kerr is closer in age to Niven, but Novak might have been interesting, as she would have been closer in age to Tate (in her first film appearance), which might have put their rivalry on a more equal footing. David Hemmings is menacing (and gorgeous) as Tate's blonde archer brother.
It was interesting to see Kerr's character spend most of the movie concerned for her husband and his fate, but mostly oblivious to the threat a dynastic tradition of sacrifice equalling successful harvest might hold for her son. Ten years later in
The Omen the child would become the focus of evil in a film.
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| Odile is always hanging around the chateau |
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| The locals are happy to see the Marquis back in town |
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| Those de Caray kids sure wear a lot of black |
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| David Hemmings never looked dreamier |
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| Odile with Damien, errr ... Jacques |
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| Be careful who you meet in the woods |
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| Philippe is just tired and wants to get on with it |
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| Donald Pleasance as the local priest |
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| Sharon Tate looking very Mrs. Peel-esque |
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| Niven in a scene with Kim Novak before she had to leave the film |
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