Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #71475 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-07-25
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
Christopher Lee, long Hammer Studios' house villain, takes a rare heroic turn as scholar and occultist Duc de Richleau, the kind of role that Peter Cushing had made his métier. Lee plays Richleau with a dark elegance and intensity--he's a commanding figure with a trim goatee who discovers that the son of a war buddy has joined a satanic cult lorded over by the quietly malevolent Mocata (Charles Gray, best known as the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Director Terence Fisher, working from a literate script by genre scribe Richard Matheson, creates a strikingly handsome period piece (set in 1920s rural England) dripping in dread as Richleau and Mocata battle for the souls of two young lovers on both physical and spiritual planes. The action scenes are well handled and the towering Lee cuts quite a figure leaping through hoards of robed devil worshippers to save a sacrificial victim, but the film peaks in an eerie supernatural battle in which Richleau and his skeptical party confronts Mocata's demons while protected in a giant pentagram. The effects are coarse and dated by today's standards, but the gorgeous period detail, vivid color, and unsettling imagery create a sinister ambiance, and Fisher's mix of psychodrama and swashbuckling action makes for an engrossing thriller, a life-and-death struggle between two masters of the forces of light and darkness. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

super Hammer tale!
My favourite movie of Christopher Lee is the knockout Wickerman (also happens to be his favourite film!!), but this one is my second favourite and a really super non-Dracula tale from Hammer,Adapted from the book by Dennis Wheatley. Lee is even the good guy!

Lee (in a role that generally went to Peter Cushing) plays Richlea, a dapper man with deep knowledge of the esoteric, join forces with a war buddy to save the son of their old friend. The young man, played to perfection by Patrick Mower, has fallen into the clutches Oth Mocata(Charles Gray played with particular power and menace) is a high priest to a Devil Cult that has their sites set on Mower and his fortune.

An excellent struggle of good vs evil that is tautly written, directed and acted, guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat and one you will want to view again and again.

Excellent Hammer Thriller
Excellent Hammer version of Dennis Wheatley's fine Gothic novel. Christopher Lee stars (in a rare heroic role) as Duc de Richleau an occult scholar battling a Satanic cult in 1920s Europe.

Director Tarrence Fisher and Screenwriter Richard Matheson create a wonderful period atmoshphere; and the supporting cast, including genre favorite Charles Gray, give terrific performances. The film, however, belongs to Christopher Lee who brings much pathos and dignity to his role. It is a shame more filmmakers have not tapped into Lee's unlimited acting potential.

Anchor Bay's VHS edition looks great and sounds better with a new Dolby sound track. The DVD version also from Anchor Bay (Due July 11) looks to be even better as it includes a Dolby Digital (5.1) track and a commentary from Christopher Lee.

The Devil Rides Out is a classic Hammer thriller sure to please fans.

"Hammer horror meets Dennis Wheatley..what more can you ask?
This is in my opinion Hammer's best film of the sixties and definately Christopher Lee at his very best. Refreshing to see the screens greatest villain in a heroic role for once and to appear in a film which he survives without being staked,disintegated or burnt to death. Hammer's star director Terence Fisher is back on fine form with this taut satanic thriller which is the best adaption of a Dennis Wheatley novel to be translated to the screen. Chris Lee plays the Duc de Richeleau a nobleman out to protect his young protege Patrick Mower from falling into the clutches of a group of satanists led by the excellent Charles Gray (remember him as Blofeld in Diamonds Are Forever and as Henderson in You Only Live Twice). Excellent set pieces troughout including a classic scene in which the Angel of Death turns up on a horse to claim a soul and cannot return empty handed. Superb acting throughout from all paties including Leon Greene and Nike Arrighi but this film is a landmark in the careers of both Christopher Lee and Terence Fisher and its the only Hammer film where both of them can really excel themselves makes one wonder why the studio didn't use them more wisely before. This is a classic film and although a little dated in parts still remains one of the best satanic horror films ever made.