118) To the Devil... a Daughter (1976)

"Excommunicate! It is not heresy, and I will not recant."

Director

Peter Sykes

Cast

Richard Widmark - John Verney

Nastassja Kinski - Catherine Beddows

Christopher Lee - Fr. Michael Rayner

Denholm Elliott - Henry Beddows

Honor Blackman - Anna Fountain

Anthony Valentine - David Kennedy

When it comes to horror, I generally don't like movies involving possessions, demons, the occult, and Satanists. I find movies in this subgenre made in the last ten or fifteen years to be stale and unoriginal. Many of them have nothing to offer. 

The demonic aspects are made to look more powerful while the good - namely, God - remain hidden away somewhere unapproachable and aloof. 
Possession movies specifically are a dime a dozen these days. And a lot of these films simply portray what Hollywood thinks the devil is capable of. I understand that movie producers are trying to maintain suspension of disbelief for the sake of entertainment. There are a few movies that are really well made and worth watching. Films such as "The Exorcist" and "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" certainly offer the audiences a lot more than most of these spooky-for-spooky-sake exorcism movies so common these days. 

"The Exorcist" for instance is a grand performance. It's a film meant to be seen in a filled theater. It leaves the audience with something very heavy and very real to think about. It's a movie depicts what God can do rather than only what the devil can do. 

Otherwise, all these other cheap, plainly dumb exorcism/cult/Satanic movies leave the audience with the erroneous idea that we're all at evil's mercy. Don't bother relying on God to help. All you need is intelligence, or at least cooperation, and maybe you'll survive. It's everyone for themselves. 
I've seen the title "To the Devil... a Daughter" before. I've passed over it while browsing through horror movies on various streaming services. But I didn't know much about it. All I did knew was that it stars legendary actor, Christopher Lee, and that it's produced by the British film company Hammer Film Productions. Hammer is especially known for their remakes of Universal Monster movies back in the 1950s and 1960s - Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, etc. Many of those movies stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

I happened to stumble upon a copy of "To the Devil...a Daughter" at work while shelving movies. Surprised to see it, I decided to borrow it. 

The plot centers around a nun named Catherine Beddows (Nastassja Kinski) who belongs to a heretical religious order called "Children of the Lord" based in Bavaria. The order was founded by a heretical excommunicated Roman Catholic priest named Fr. Michael Rayner (Christopher Lee).  
Catherine's father, Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott - "Raiders of the Lost Arc," "Trading Places"), asks an American occult writer, John Verney (Richard Widmark), to pick her up at London's Heathrow Airport upon her arrival. Henry wants her to stay with Verney while she's in London. 
Verney learns that Catherine's late mother was also in the same religious order, and had arranged to place Catherine there as well. 
Rayner wants Catherine back and to take part in a cult ritual like her mother had.

Verney does what he can to protect her from Rayner, who uses black magic to influence Catherine to come to him. He doesn't understand why Rayner is after Catherine in the first place. 

Christopher Lee as Fr. Michael Rayner.

But he quickly figures out that the religious order has among them practicing Satanists who worship a demon named Astaroth. And they want to use Catherine as an avatar for the demon. The ceremony is required to be performed on the victim's 18th birthday. And Catherine happens to be 18.
Verney is armed with knowledge of the occult, and this particular ceremony. He uses this knowledge to face off against Rayner, and try to rescue Catherine.

Lee is a natural at being an intimidating and daunting presence on screen. He manages to create such a presence in so many of his movies, from Hammer's Dracula films, to his villainous role as Francisco Scaramanga in the 007 movie "Man With the Golden Gun," and especially his portrayal of Saruman in the "Lord of the Rings" movies. This is just as true in "To the Devil... a Daughter."

Some of the imagery in this movie is disturbing. That's especially the case in two scenes were Catherine has visions of a blood-covered human fetus. At first she sees it in a mirror. Later, she has a dream that this fetus is crawling up her bed sheets, and then nestling on her bare stomach as she adores and pets it like a mother would do to her child.

Another scene depicts Rayner killing a newborn baby as part of the ceremony with Catherine. He smiles as the blood pours into a chalice. It's quick, but it's there. 
Unfortunately, I think what stands out most about this movie is its absolutely terrible ending. Aside from the cast, that might be its claim to fame. 
At the end, Rayner has Catherine lying on a stone alter as he conducts his blasphemous Satanic ritual. He pours the blood, which one of the cult members completely drained out of her own body earlier in the movie, in a circle around the ritual site.
When Verney comes to stop him and save Catherine, he uses a rock to knock out one of the cult members standing guard at the gate of the property. 
As Rayner is about to "baptize" Catherine in blood, Veyner attacks him and knocks him out with the same rock that has the blood of the cult member still on it. Apparently, the blood on the rock allows him to break through the circle. When the camera pans back to where Rayner was lying unconscious in the grass, he's gone. 
Veyner rescues Catherine and then the credits role. It's incredible how poorly edited and underwhelming it is. 
Evidently, the original ending resembled an earlier Hammer movie called "Scars of Dracula" from 1970 which also stars Christopher Lee. 
So, producers pieced together a different ending with footage they already shot. I guess this is why Rayner is suddenly and mysteriously gone after being knocked unconscious. 
Based on the novel of the same name by famed thriller and occult author, Dennis Wheatley, "To the Devil...a Daughter" certainly has blasphemous, Satanic, and sensual imagery. Honestly, the general story line is captivating and daring with a few ridiculous and silly scenes here and there. But this movie doesn't strike me as a promotion or glorification of the occult nor Satanism. 

There's a line in "To the Devil... a Daughter" that summarizes the Satanic cult setting well enough. 
In one scene, John Verney tells two of his colleagues, "Ninety-eight percent of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks outta dancing naked in freezing churchyards and using the devil as an excuse for getting some sex. But then there's that other two percent. I'm not so sure about them."

Nastassja Kinski as Catherine Beddows.

This is Hammer's third horror film based on the works of Wheatley. "The Devil Rides Out" (also known as "The Devil's Bride") and the adventure movie "The Lost Continent," both from 1968, are also based on his works. And it came out in the midst of this horror subgenre's popularity. 

The horror genre is sprinkled with cult-themed movies throughout its past. Titles such as "Häxan" (1922), "The 7th Victim" (1943) and "Curse of the Demon" (1956) are early examples. But cults and Satanism as a theme and as a scare tactic seems to take off in the sixties and seventies. 

So, it was well established by the time "To the Devil... a Daughter" was released.
Tigon British Film Productions had some popular films with an occult theme as well - "Witchfinder General" (1968) and "The Blood on Satan's Claws" (1971).
But, for Hammer Productions, movie studios in Hollywood got to this horror subgenre first with successful flicks such as "The Exorcist" (1973), "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) - a movie I didn't care much for - and "The Omen" (1976). 

It's worth mentioning some well-made films in the subgenre came out of the U.K. "The Wicker Man" (1973) for instance, which also stars Christopher Lee, is highly praised by film critics. Cinefantastique magazine calls it the "Citizen Kane of horror movies."

As I stated in a previous post called "The Haunting of Everything and Everyone, Everywhere (And Some Horror History)" this became a popular theme in horror back then (and continues to be) as good versus evil, faith and religion versus materialism, anti-establishmentarianism and atheism surfaced a bit more predominantly in society. 

The counter-culture's opposition of social norms became way too mainstream in the 1960s, carrying through to the 1970s. This extended into the religious sphere. The "Death of God" movement sprung up at this time, attempting to push God out and allow "alternatives" to fill the void via religious cults. The time was unfortunately ripe, and continues to be, for "unholy" films to emerge. Back in the sixties, Christianity was at a cusp not seen in the lifetime of anyone living in this decade. Major changes, especially in the Catholic Church, were taking place, the likes of which hadn't been seen in anyone's lifetime. Societies all around the world still haven't overcome it.

In many of this era's occult/demonic-themed films, the devil or pagan spirits seem to get the upper hand. If God is brought into the story, He's portrayed as remaining mysterious and hidden...not necessarily eager to intervene. 

In his book "Top 100 Horror Movies" writer Gary Gerani discusses the Hammer movie "The Devil Rides Out." 

"While not in the same relatable, culture-impacting league of mainstream hits like 'Rosemary's Baby' or 'The Exorcist,' 'The Devil's Bride' stands as an important entry in the occult movie pantheon, true to its literary inspiration and stylish in all departments. It is also the best demonology-themed thriller ever produced by Hammer," Gerani says. (p14)

The special feature mini-documentary on "To the Devil...a Daughter" DVD claims the movie was a financial success in the U.K. But Hammer Productions didn't see much of that money as it went to financiers. 

Known primarily for their remakes of Universal Monster films, Hammer soon found itself becoming a thing of the past after its release. 

Hammer has since made a bit of a come-back starting in 2007 with some well known horror titles such as "Let Me In" (2010), "The Woman in Black" (2012), and "The Lodge" (2019).  

Christopher Lee says in that documentary, in regards to when he was asked to star in the film,

"My argument was this particular subject [the occult] is a subject about which the public knows very little. It is incredibly dangerous. It is obscenely powerful. It is literally soul destroying. And if we make this film, we show the dangers of this kind of worship and belief."
Later in the interview, he says, "So, you're not making a film which people will find very exciting and thrilling and entertaining, you'll also be making a film which, in a very minor way, will be a form of propaganda."  

Richard Widmark as John Verney.

I don't know much about Wheatley nor his novels. From what little research I've done before writing this post, I get the impression he uses the devil and Satanism in his stories to show readers that the devil has a lot of influence in the world. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I don't get the impression Wheatley glamorizes or endorses Satanism nor the occult. A quick Google search brings results that he was Christian, had a Conservative world view, and opposed Nazism and Communism believing both were controlled by Satanic powers. 
As far as "To the Devil...a Daughter," it has a classic horror movie feel. That's certainly enjoyable. It doesn't want to pull any punches while trying to show the audience the gravity of the occult and its practices. This truly dark movie leans into ridiculousness and shock, though the effort is clear, to get the point across.