Eye of the Devil (1966)

"Look at her long enough and she may be the last thing you will ever see!"

Sharon Tate: her first part…

Here’s a stylish tale of witchcraft, adapted from Philip Lorraine’s novel, Day of the Arrow (1964), set in 1960s France with an amazing cast, a film, I suspect, which may remain yet unknown to many readers. I suppose you might call it a ‘folk horror’, altho’ it’s as much a black-and white psychological drama, with J. Lee Thompson’s arty direction and neorealistic hand-held cinematography.

‘Summoned to Bellenac…’

David Niven (Philippe de Montfaucon, Marquis de Bellenac) and Deborah Kerr (Catherine de Montfaucon, Marquise de Bellenac), to rhyme with star, are an aristocratic late forty-something Parisian couple, with two cutesy well-brought up children, a white E-Type Jag and a Mercedes convertible. Plus Bellenac, a creepy château in Bordeaux, which they rarely set foot in, and have more or less left to an aunt, the Countess Estelle (Flora Robson). Anyway. Worrying news arrives from Bellenac. The vineyards have failed for the fourth year running— prompting Nivs to jump into the E-type and drive down to Bordeaux. Which paves the way for all manner of rum goings on: step forward Donald Pleasance as a sinister Catholic priest (with funny eyes) and an occult ceremony in one of the château’s tower rooms, with robed and hooded acolytes led by local blonde weirdos, Christian de Caray (David Hemmings) and his enigmatic sister, Odile (Sharon Tate), and a toad wot gets turned into a white dove. And John Le Mesurier as the local doctor.

‘Occult rituals, David Niven and an E-Type Jag…’

Immediately, we’re in Wicker Man territory. This sort of thing was terribly trendy in the late 60s and early 70s. The influence of Sir James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (1890) and Robert Graves’ The White Goddess (1948)—and Margaret Murray’s entertaining—but wacky—theory that the mysterious death of King William Rufus in the New Forest on the 2nd August, 1100 (most probably a hunting accident) was actually, to those in the know, a pagan ritual—with the king sacrificed in a Lammas Harvest rite (The Divine King in England (1954)). All this is in the best tradition of ‘Folk Horror’ (a description, I think, invented fairly recently by Mark Gatiss in one of his excellent horror documentaries). For to the urban mind-set, the countryside is a deeply sinister place with ancient secrets, populated by secretive, suspicious, conspiratorial locals.

‘A highly civilised and aristocratic nightmare…’

Eye of the Devil (1966) is a strange, languid, off-beat film. With a terrific architectural French location (Château de Hautefort). I like it very much indeed. Although, admittedly, it took several viewings to come to this conclusion. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that it was a box office failure, at least in the United States, ignored by the mainstream critics, despite Anthony Boucher’s (The New York Times columnist) appreciation of Day of the Arrow (1964), comparing the book to the work of Daphne du Maurier: "it tells very much the same kind of brooding, atmospheric story, in very much the same kind of setting (an ancestral castle in the Auvergne).”

‘Deborah Kerr, to rhyme with Star…’

The production ran into difficulties. Kim Novak was originally cast as the Marquise de Bellenac, but was replaced by Deborah Kerr half way through filming, after Novak fell off her horse, sustaining serious injuries. And it was the last black-and-white film to be produced by MGM. I think this was more or less Sharon Tate’s first part, and she’s terrific, with a genuine presence, I mean, she’s the one you remember. Both Niven and Kerr hailed Tate as a ‘great discovery’. It’s an indication of what might have been, if the poor girl had lived. So with golden boy, David Hemmings, who plays Sharon’s brother, the pair drift around the château looking mysterious, sinister and beautiful. I’m not even sure if Hemmings, on the cusp of success with Blow-Up (1966), actually says anything, altho’ he’s pretty nifty with a bow and arrow and his hair ain’t natural.

Sharon Tate: ‘a great discovery…’

I watched Eye of the Devil (1966) on YouTube. And it’s also available on DVD and Blu-ray, although, surprisingly, I couldn’t find it on Amazon Prime Digital Video. I suspect the black and white cinematography is going to look especially good on Blu-ray.

That was film no. 124 and as it’s a Sunday, free to read by everybody and anybody. Friday’s posts are for the paid subscribers. Become a ‘paid’ subscriber (£5 a month or £50 a year) and you’ll get an extra, exclusive post on Friday mornings, plus further ‘bonus’ posts on High Days and Holy Days and access to the entire WEEKEND FLICKS. archive which now includes 124 film recommendations. Worth thinking about. Either option’s a good bet.

I’ll be back on Friday. I hope you enjoy Eye of the Devil (1966). It’s a perfect Sunday evening film. Bloody Marys for this one…