Movies That Suck/Vampire Flicks: Devils of Darkness (1965)

Various sources claim that this was the first British-produced vampire movie set in contemporary times, rather than the typical Gothic period piece. I don't know for certain if that's true but, if it is, while it's a notable distinction, to be sure; it's just a shame that the movie itself is a total dud. I'd never heard of this flick until 2020, when I was finally able to get back to McKay's after the COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. There, I found an MGM Midnight Movies double feature DVD which coupled it with the 1964 movie Witchcraft, with Lon Chaney Jr. I got that DVD for the latter, which I hadn't seen before, and only watched Devils of Darkness out of obligation. Not only did it not take me long to regret that decision but, because the back of the DVD case erroneously claimed its runtime was over two hours, I slumped down on my little sofa, not sure if I was going to make it. Thankfully, it's actually 87 minutes, but it's a chore to sit through, even when you know that going in. In fact, because I hadn't watched it since that first time in 2020, I'd forgotten the reasons why I disliked it so much (I also forgot that it wasn't as long as the DVD claimed, so I had to experience that twice). But once I did re-watch it for this review, they came flooding back to me: uninteresting characters, including both the protagonist and the villain, a confusing and convoluted story that also drags terribly and is downright poorly-written in spots, an obvious cheapness, and, above all else, it's just boring as sin. Aside from a few very fleeting moments of atmosphere, some admittedly fine production design and location work, a bit of the "Swinging Sixties" baked into it, and some memorable, albeit inconsequential, imagery, there is nothing to recommend this.

In the 17th century, Parisian-born Armond du Moliere, also known as Count Sinistre, is put to death for being a vampire. Buried alive in the village of Pelak, Brittany, he's resurrected by one of his followers and immediately attacks a nearby gypsy camp, placing a death curse on a young woman named Tania. Following her burial, he resurrects her using a talisman which is the source of his power, and takes her as his vampire bride. For centuries, he has the village in his grasp, with various inhabitants part of his cult. In the mid-60's, a group of English tourists are staying at the local inn: Paul Baxter, his friends Keith and Dave, Keith's older sister, Anne, and Madeleine Braun, who's familiar with the area. While out exploring some caves, Keith and Dave are both killed when the former finds Sinistre and Tania's coffins inside. Meanwhile, Madeleine heads back to London, as Paul and Anne go to view a local tradition called All Souls' Eve. On the way, an old gypsy woman approaches them, warning that Anne has been marked with "the Black Death" and will fall victim to "the evil one." She also warns that the Black Death has already struck down a loved one. Hearing this, Anne becomes concerned for her brother and they head to the caves, only to get there as Keith's body is being removed. Sinistre and Tania, posing as a local couple who heard the sound of the cave-in, break the news that Keith is dead. That night, while Paul deals with the frustratingly flippant Inspector Malin, Sinistre attempts to "console" Anne, abducting her when he convinces her to go outside with him. However, in the struggle, she rips away his talisman and it falls to the ground, where Paul finds it. Reporting Anne missing, Paul, again has to deal with Malin, who suddenly gets a call that Anne has been found dead in a lake, having supposedly committed suicide. Not believing this, Paul arranges for Anne and Keith's bodies to be flown back to London for a second medical opinion. He also keeps the talisman hidden in his room, and when he meets with Sinistre a second time, he sees the same symbol on the handle of his walking stick, which also has a blade that can be deployed from its tip. Afterward, Sinistre meets with his cult, declaring that he and Tania will follow Paul to London to retrieve the talisman and kill him before he exposes them to the world at large.

For very tragic reasons, Devils of Darkness was the last film directed by Lance Comfort, who'd been a fairly prolific filmmaker in the British film industry, despite never receiving any true acclaim. Starting out as a camera operator, and having also worked as a sound recordist and even an animator, he made his directorial debut in 1941, and worked steadily up to the 1960's. This was also not his first foray into the horror genre, as in 1948, he directed the similarly-titled Daughter of Darkness. While he had a decent amount of success early on, his career took a massive blow when he made the 1950 film, Portrait of Claire, a massive flop that is said to have relegated him to making B-movies and directing television for the remainder of his career. The year after Devils of Darkness, Comfort died at just 58.

The only actor here I recognized was William Sylvester, and the only reason I know him is because he was in Gorgo. Trust me, it's not because I'm a particularly big fan of him as an actor, as his actual role in Gorgo is very so-so, and here, he plays an utterly ineffectual lead. Paul Baxter is suitably frustrated with Inspector Malin's flippant and dismissive attitude towards the deaths of his friends, prompting him arrange to have their bodies flown back to England for a second medical opinion, and he also correctly figures there's some significance to the talisman he finds, especially when he notices the same symbol on "Armond du Moliere's" walking stick. But, once the movie shifts to London, he does little more than some investigating on his own that amounts to virtually nothing. When the bodies go missing, Paul begins to feel there may be something to the belief in witchcraft and black magic he saw in Pelak, and consults with a friend of his, Dr. Robert Kelsey, who tells him about how such beliefs are connected to the real world. He then goes to see Madeleine Braun, due to her familiarity with the village, only to find she's having a party when he shows up. Despite trying to leave, she drags him into it and introduces her to Karen Steele, a new employee in her antique business, whom Paul hits it off with. After he returns to his apartment, he finds it's been ransacked, though they didn't find the talisman, which he's kept hidden within his typewriter. Also, when he speaks with Inspector Hardwick of Scotland Yard about it, he learns that Kelsey died shortly after he last saw him. However, when asked if he knows anything that might give them a lead, Paul says nothing about the talisman, afraid the inspector will think he's certifiable. He goes to the British Museum and does some research on the subject of witchcraft, but finds that the major book Kelsey recommended is currently unavailable, and when he returns the next day, he learns it's gone missing.

During the second half, Karen is abducted by Sinistre as part of a plot to force Paul to give back the talisman. This plan is ridiculous for many reasons, one of which is, because he only met Karen once before, you don't buy that this plan to work. You also don't buy Paul's concern for Karen when he's unable to get a hold of her, especially when he acts as though he knows her enough to declare this behavior out of character for her (even he later kind of comments on it, saying, "Crazy, isn't it? You meet someone only 

once..."). In any case, he tells Hardwick his suspicion that Karen was possibly abducted, as well as what he thinks is going on, giving him a description of du Moliere, and letting him have the talisman. That's when Sinistre commences with the ransom, as Madeleine shows Paul a portrait of Karen delivered to her antique shop, meant as a sign that she's being held hostage and the talisman, whose symbol is drawn on the painting, is what the kidnappers want in exchange. However, Paul admits he gave the talisman to the 

police, and Madeleine tells him that he's probably doomed Karen in the process. She also tells him that he has to get it back, but he instead takes the painting with him, saying he has to do things his way... and then, in the very next scene, he's asleep in his apartment. Tania, Sinistre's wife, sneaks in, supposedly to kill him, but due to her feeling betrayed by her lover, she instead leaves a half-burnt page from the missing book that proves Sinistre is du Moliere, as well as an unfinished message as to his whereabouts.

But even though Paul shows this to Hardwick, and they learn that Madeleine is on it, as well as where Sinistre and his cult have gathered, neither of them have any part in saving Karen or defeating Sinistre; rather, that happens due to a random and convenient set of circumstances.

Could you think of a more obvious and un-creative villain name than Count Sinistre (Hubert Noel)? The guy's name is actually Armond du Moliere, but he seems to have come up with that alternate name once he began dabbling in the occult. According to his entry in the book, Talismans: The Power of Magic (said entry titled Devils of Darkness, no less), which Paul searches for at the British Museum, he was born in 1588, was an artist, and, "Engaged in all manner of perversity and evil. He claimed his victims by hypnotic sorcery, until in the village of Pelak, Brittany, accused of him being a Vampire, and he was buried alive. To those who followed his pursuit of the diabolic power of Black Magic he was known as Count Sinistre, and the creed of his initiates was to gain limitless power over God, demon & man." He does not live up to any expectations you may have from that description. In the 17th century, he's resurrected from his burial place in Pelak by a member of his cult (the guy accomplishes this by setting a single candle by his grave!) and targets this nearby gypsy camp, cursing a young woman named Tania to death. He then resurrects her using his talisman, which he claims, "Sets me above everyone," and makes her his immortal vampire bride. Centuries later, he still holds sway over the village, and sees to it that Keith and Dave meet an untimely death when they go spelunking in the caves that house the vampires' coffins. Sinistre and Tania, using the former's real surname, pose as a local couple who heard the sound of the cave-in and found Keith's body. Sinistre later speaks with Anne at the inn, putting on a front of sympathy and claiming he wants to help her forget her grief. But, once he has her alone, he abducts her and carries her off, though not before she rips away his talisman and drops it on the ground. Later, after Anne's body is found in a lake, Sinistre meets with Paul at the inn, saying he's come to offer his condolences, though it's really a ruse so the innkeeper can search Paul's room for the talisman. While talking with him, Sinistre tries to convince him that all the villagers' talk of curses and the like are nonsense that he shouldn't listen to, and that flying Anne and Keith's bodies back to England for a second opinion is unnecessary. Afterward, during a meeting with his cult, he tells them that he and Tania will follow Paul to England in order to retrieve the talisman and kill him before he can expose them to the world.

If this talisman is so important, you'd expect Sinistre and Tania to immediately hunt Paul down and force him to tell them where it is, then kill him once they have it. But instead, Sinistre has his apartment searched while he's out, and also concocts this elaborate plot to abduct Karen Steele, who's modeling for him, and use her to force Paul to give up the talisman, again banking on the fact that he would care so much about someone he only just met. And speaking of Karen, Sinistre is intent on making her

his new bride, as he feeds on her blood at some point during their painting sessions, then abducts her away to Ferndale, an old, abandoned mansion where his followers assemble. Tania soon figures out his plans for Karen, and Sinistre not only doesn't deny it but slaps Tania in the face for shouting at him about it, then tells her in no uncertain terms that she will continue to do as he says. But by the time he finally puts his abduction plan into action, Paul has turned the talisman over to the police. When Sinistre overhears him tell Medeleine this at her antique shop,

he's about ready to kill him personally, but Tania asks that he allow her to do it. Never dreaming that she would go against him, he allows it, and Tania, sure enough, leaves several clues in Paul's apartment that outs Sinistre as the man he met in Pelak, and also hints where Karen can be found.

Other than that act of sheer cruelty towards Tania, the only other time Sinistre comes off as a true threat is when he has Anne and Keith's bodies burned, and when he has Dr. Kelsey killed, with his coffin later being dug up and brought to Ferndale, likely so he can destroy his body in the same manner. Besides that, he fails to make any sort of impression, no matter how much of an imposing and powerful leader he tries to come off during the scenes with his cult; in fact, his cane with a blade that comes out of the tip 

makes him feel more like a sorry Bond villain stereotype. And like I said before, none of that evil villainy mentioned in that book passage ever comes to bare. Hubert Noel does manage to project something of a feeling of suavity, with his nice clothes and upper-class French accent, and you can buy that he would be able to seduce both men and women, but that's about as far as that goes. And even worse than we've seen so far this month, he goes out in a manner that's both pathetic and confusing.

The character of Tania (Carole Gray) is kind of sad. When we first see her, she's this lively, cheerful, happily engaged young gypsy who's then immediately cursed by Sinistre and drops dead. He resurrects her from the grave using the talisman, makes her his vampire bride, and she remains utterly devoted to him over the centuries, aiding him in killing Anne after Keith and Dave have been dealt with, and traveling with him to London in order to get back the talisman and keep Paul from exposing them. She even goes as far as to steal the book, Talismans: The Power of Magic, from the British Museum before Paul can read it, intending to destroy it. But then, she begins to suspect Sinistre has other plans for Karen Steele apart from his hostage scheme. When she first speaks with him about it, he assures her that Karen means nothing to him apart from her usefulness in his plan, but when she confronts him again at Ferndale and says she knows he's trying to replace her, she gets slapped, shouted at, and ordered to continue obeying him no matter what. This prompts her to get revenge, first by leaving the page from the book that outs Sinistre's identity in Paul's apartment, along with a clue as to his current whereabouts (she's interrupted by Paul waking up before she can finish, only managing to write, "The O,"), and later by sabotaging the ritual Sinistre performs to convert Karen. Unfortunately, like Sinistre, Tania is killed in a disgraceful manner.

When he's first resurrected, Sinistre leaves his grave in the form of a bat... a very shitty-looking bat, as you can see, which he never becomes again, nor does Tania. In fact, despite being his bride, and resting in a coffin like him, Tania doesn't appear affected by certain things that repel Sinistre himself, and she's killed by some falling rocks during the climax (said rocks fall so pitifully that they shouldn't have even killed a normal human). As for other vampire tropes, Sinistre does feed on people's blood, tainting them,

and he also proves to have some amount of considerable supernatural power, given what happens in Kelsey's lab before he's killed. Also, before he spirits her away, Anne realizes Sinistre is a vampire when she sees he has no reflection on the surface of a pond, and he proves to be very adverse to crosses during the climax, no matter their origin. In fact, it seems to be what does him in, when he tries to escape with Karen, only to run into a cemetery, where a large cross's image is projected onto him by the rising sun (it's not the cross' shadow but, rather, a projection of

light in its shape, which makes no sense). I can't tell if it's just that alone that destroys him or if it's the cross' image combined with the sunlight (I couldn't even tell you if that affects him in and of itself, given how poor the day-for-night cinematography is) but, either way, it causes him to fall back and disintegrate, freeing Karen.

Even though I don't buy her and Paul's relationship one bit, and you don't get to know her that well, I do kind of like Karen (Tracy Reed), mainly for her somewhat cynical attitude about herself and how she's so aloof that she tends to wear dark sunglasses even while indoors. When she and Paul first meet at Madeleine's party and he starts to finally open up to her, they do have a nice back and forth (still not enough for me to buy that Paul would risk his life for her), with Karen proving to be quite witty. Noting that Paul is finally smiling, she jokes, "See the effect I have? Or is it Johnny Walker?" He then asks her about her sunglasses: "Why all this mystery bit?" "Oh, just part of the image." "Mind if I destroy the image a little?" "Don't be too destructive." Paul removes her glasses, saying she looks better, and she says, "Same goes for you. Now you're in focus." He then says, "I bet you live alone, like it, and are in show business, right?", to which she retorts, "I live alone, loathe it, and I'm a model, off and on." He asks, "And when you're off?", and she answers, "Oh, you name it, and I've done it." She eventually gives him her phone number and he invites her to breakfast some time, hinting at some restaurant, then clarifies that he means his own apartment. She also mentions that she's caught the attention of an artist whom she can't seem to figure out. Said artist, naturally, turns out to be Sinistre, and he slowly but surely seduces Karen, intending to make her his new bride. In the scene where he does so completely, she tries to resist him, even picking up a nearby knife when he forces himself on her, but in the end, she does fall for him. But, while she's being held at Ferndale Manor, something happens that later helps save her from the ceremony Sinistre plans to perform on her... though it makes little sense.

Another character whom I kind of like, despite his not having much screentime, is Paul's friend, Dr. Robert Kelsey (Eddie Byrne), whom he goes to after he learns Anne and Keith's bodies have gone missing. He proves to be a likable guy with a dry wit about him, and looks at superstition, belief in witchcraft, and the like in a practical manner. When Paul shows up at his lab, filled with animals he uses in his research, he tells him, "Welcome to the zoo," and continues working while talking with him. Paul asks him about the superstitions he's come across while traveling the world in his job, and Kelsey tells him, "You don't have to wear a loincloth or beat a tom-tom to be primitive, or, for that matter, superstitious." When then asked about the supernatural, he says, "Well, like they say, 'There are more things in heaven and Earth, etc., etc.' Scientists have only scratched the surface of the extraterrestrial. We have to rely on psychology rather than on the so-called material proof." Paul says that he knows witchcraft died off in the Middle Ages, but Kelsey tells him, "Do you know when the last witchcraft trial took place? 1926, France. There was another case in New York a few years ago. A man hired a character who supposedly had the evil eye. His job was to frighten the men working under him... Oh, I know. It sounds crazy, but it's absolutely true. Take my work here: snake venom and its effect on animals, poison to cure human beings. If I was in the jungle, I'd be a witch doctor, right?" Despite all that, Kelsey does take Paul's concern seriously, encouraging him to talk with Madeleine Braun about the village of Pelak. He also does some research of his own at the British Museum, coming up with a list of topics and related books for Paul to discuss with Madeleine. But, after Paul leaves, Kelsey meets his end when an evil force envelops his lab, and his body and coffin are later dug up by Sinistre's cult and carried down to the chamber beneath Ferndale Manor. The purpose of which is unclear, but Sinistre probably intended to destroy him in the manner he did Anne and Keith.

Inspector Hardwick (Victor Brooks) of Scotland Yard first calls on Paul about the missing bodies, then talks with him after he returns from Madeleine's party and finds his apartment has been ransacked. Hardwick is clearly suspicious about how nothing was actually stolen, and later admits to Paul that he began to suspect he was up to something, due to his having been the last person who saw Dr. Kelsey alive. Initially, Paul keeps both the talisman and his own idea about what's going on from Hardwick, but after Karen goes missing, and with no one else to turn to, he shows the inspector the talisman. When Paul then notes that both Anne and Keith had bite marks on their necks similar to those found on Kelsey, Hardwick asks him to tell him everything. Once Paul does, the inspector doesn't dismiss it outright, but also doesn't know what to make of it. Paul gives him a description of Sinistre as the man who found Keith's body, as well as his "alias" of Armond du Moliere, and allows him to take the talisman. After Paul shows him the page on Sinistre from the book that Tania left in his apartment, Hardwick becomes a firm believer. (I would say he does so on rather flimsy evidence, but the page does verify Armond du Moliere as having been Sinistre's real name, and Paul identifies his drawing as the man he met in Pelak, so there is that, not to mention the bizarre sight of the portrait of Karen having bled when it was cut into.) He also correctly guesses that this tip-off is a sign of dissension in Sinistre's ranks, and when they try to figure out what it means, they hit on The Odd Spot, Madeleine's antique store. They don't find any sign of her, but do learn something that tells them she's in on it, and eventually learn that Sinistre's cult is at Ferndale Manor. But, like I said, their rushing there amounts to little significance in the end.

During the opening in Pelak, two prominently featured members of Sinistre's cult are Bouvier (Gerard Heinz), who runs the inn where Paul and his friends stay, and the slimy Inspector Malin (Peter Illing). Despite his allegiance to Sinistre, Bouvier still has something of a conscience, as Malin admonishes him for having given the group a room the previous night, but Bouvier insists he couldn't refuse them, as they were caught up in a bad storm. Still, like Malin, he is eager for them to leave as soon as possible, but is much more polite about it; Malin, on the other hand, gives off an air of dismissive flippancy when Paul has to deal with him following the deaths of his friends. When they're examining Keith's body in the morgue, Malin puts the blame on the victims themselves, saying they shouldn't have gone into the caves, and also makes it clear that he's not going to do anything to try to find Dave, because of the cave-in. In addition, he quickly covers up the bite marks on Keith's neck when Paul notices them and sends him back to the inn. He especially infuriates Paul when he talks with him following Anne's disappearance, insisting that they sit down and have coffee, whereas Paul desperately wants to talk about what's happened. Malin adds that he's being far too rash and emotional, and is more intent on admiring the croissants Bouvier brings with the coffee than listening to Paul. Moreover, when Paul tells him of the scream he feels he heard before realizing Anne was gone, Malin suggests he may have imagined it due to his profession as a writer. Paul's telling him that Anne's clothes are still in her room does give him pause, but he immediately regains his composure. Then, he gets the phone call that Anne's body was found in a nearby lake and she apparently committed suicide, but refuses to let Paul come with him when he heads out to the site. That night, while Sinistre speaks with Paul down in the lobby, Bouvier searches his room for the talisman, but doesn't find it, prompting the Count and Tania to follow Paul to England. Later, you learn that Malin and some of Sinistre's other followers were arrested by the French police. They reveal everything, leading Paul and Inspector Hardwick to Ferndale Manor at the end.

Staying on the opening for a bit, the movie does a really poor job of establishing the characters, as it drops you in the middle of this group of British tourists without making it clear who they are or the nature of their relationships. I initially thought that maybe Anne (Rona Anderson) was Paul's wife, since it is established immediately that Keith (Geoffrey Kenion) is her brother, but I only gradually realized that wasn't the case. The same goes for how Paul is also only friends with both Keith and Dave (Rod

McLennan), and I initially thought the two of them were brothers as well. (Truth be told, if I hadn't known who William Sylvester was going in, I wouldn't have immediately pegged Paul as the protagonist.) Regardless, we barely get to know Keith and Dave before their untimely deaths in the caves, and Anne doesn't fare much better, getting to do little more than show interest in the local ceremony of All Souls' Eve, then be told by an old gypsy that she's been marked with the Black Death, before being faced with the death of her brother. And then, as 

Armond du Moliere attempts to help "alleviate her grief," she realizes he's a vampire when she sees he has no reflection in some water. While she's unable to save herself when he abducts her, she does rip off his talisman, which Paul later finds. During a ceremony, she proves to have been turned by Sinistre and is now loyal to him, but he has her and Dave's body destroyed due to her having "defiled the sacred symbol."

Given her own dismissive attitude about Paul's concerns over Anne and Dave's bodies going missing, as well as when he's unable to get a hold of Karen, and how well she knows the village of Pelak, it's not that surprising that Madeleine Braun (Diana Decker) turns out to be part of Sinistre's cult. When you look back on it in retrospect, it becomes clear that she put Paul and Karen together at her party in order to try to form enough of a bond between them so he would be willing to give the talisman back in exchange for her, which is why she's so elated when she later picks up on his concern for Karen's disappearance. She calls him over to her antiques shop when Sinistre's painting of Karen is delivered, and when he recognizes the symbol in its lower right-hand corner as that of the talisman, she suggests it's a warning that Karen has been abducted and the talisman is the ransom. That's when Paul breaks it to her that he gave the talisman to the police, causing her mask to slip as she becomes enraged and shouts at him for it, calling him a fool. She insists he get the talisman back, but he instead takes the painting and leaves. The message that Tania leaves in his apartment gives Paul and Inspector Hardwick the idea to confront Madeleine at her antique shop, but by that point, she's joined the rest of the cult at Ferndale. The man looking after the shop tells them that a truck took a pair of coffins from the shop the day before, which makes them realize that she is in on it. She ends up dying along with various other cultists during the climax.

Just about everyone who's at Madeleine's party is also involved with the cult, including this horny old colonel (Brian Oulton) who hits on Karen both at the party and when they've gathered at Ferndale for the ritual. There, he barges into the room where Madeleine is preparing Karen, completely drunk and trying to force the drink onto her. He pays for this when Sinistre appears and stabs him in the throat with the blade at the end of his walking stick. Other members include these two women, Midge (Avril 

Angers) and the Duchess (Marianne Stone). When she sees Karen at the party, Midge asks Madeleine how old she is and Madeleine answers, "Oh, just turned twenty." To that, the Duchess sneers, "Must have been a U-turn!" Madeleine playfully chides her, "Now, now, darling. No need to be bitchy." And finally, there's Derek (Burnell Tucker), this guy who works in Madeleine's antique shop, and who also tries to hit on Karen when she first shows up at the party.

This film is so shoddy, cheap, and poorly-written that trying to find any merits really is like looking for silk in a sow's ear. However, I wasn't lying at the beginning when I said there are some fleeting moments of atmosphere. In fact, it opens on one: a close-up of the talisman's symbol on Count Sinistre's gravestone, which then slowly pulls back and cuts to a wide shot of the misty cemetery in the woods where the grave is located (unfortunately, it's hurt by this cheesy voiceover that, I think, is meant to be reading aloud the epitaph carved into the grave's exterior). 

That, as well as the gypsy camp in the following scene, are so classic that I can't help but smile. Other such moments include the procession of singing, torch-carrying villagers during All Souls' Eve, and the quiet moment between Sinistre and Anne outside, leading up to when she realizes he's a vampire (in that instance, the day-for-night photography kind of helps to give it a surreal vibe). I sincerely loathe to make this comparison, believe me, but, like 1931's Dracula, the first act here in Pelak comes off better than when the setting changes to England, albeit to a much lesser

degree. That said, there are some effective moments when we move to London, like the lead-up to Dr. Kelsey's death. After Paul leaves his lab the second time, the atmosphere slowly changes, with the animals growing increasingly restless in their cages, and then, suddenly, there's a gust of wind and the lights go out. The camera then moves rapidly towards Kelsey, as he shields himself from something he sees up high, before the scene changes. And, when Tania

sneaks into Paul's apartment late in the film, she slices across the figure of Karen in the painting, and it inexplicably bleeds! I haven't the faintest idea of its significance, nor is any suggested, and Tania's using the blood to write her incomplete message also dilutes its impact somewhat, but it's still the film's most startling image, for sure.

Some other moments of effective direction on Lance Comfort's part include Tania's death and burial at the beginning. The whole scene comes off as genuinely somber due to how utterly devastated everyone is, especially Tania's fiance, who has to be comforted by the group's leader. Then, as the gravedigger begins filling in Tania's resting place, Sinistre makes his move. A sudden gust of wind announces his presence, and he reaches in from offscreen to strangle the gravedigger, while the other gypsies' horses are badly frightened and they attempt to ride off. Sinistre opens

Tania's coffin and uses the talisman to resurrect her, its image appearing across her eyes in the form of an unnatural light, similar to how it appeared on her earlier, when she dropped dead. Then, as she begins to rise from her coffin, it cuts to a close-up of Sinistre, which pans up into the treeline, swaying from the wind, and with a shot of her eyes superimposed over it, is when the opening credits role. The later scene where Sinistre personally destroys Anne is kind of unsettling, despite only being implied rather than

shown. Anne is dragged from her coffin, screaming, and then held down to the ground by two of the cultists, as Sinistre slowly moves in with a lit torch. When he goes to shove it onto her, you see a brief shot of Tania, who's watching nearby, and seems to get a perverse thrill out of it. And, while it segues from one of the movie's dullest and most uninteresting moments, the first reveal of Karen as she poses for Sinistre is elegantly done, starting on a close-up of her sunglasses by her left hand, then slowly moving up her perfectly still body, which is partially covered by a blanket, and pulling back and panning over to Sinistre as his easel, painting her portrait.

Unfortunately, there's little else in the way of inspired filmmaking, as the movie is shot in an adequate but standard manner, with awful day-for-night photography galore, to the point where, like I said earlier, I'm not sure if Sinistre is meant to be vulnerable to sunlight or not. As you've also seen, this is the definition of a cheap vampire flick of the era, with the awful fake bats at the beginning (made even worse when you see the real ones in Kelsey's lab), the small scope of certain scenes, like when Sinistre and his cult meeting up before he and Tania go to 

England, and, among the, admittedly, really good ones, some not so great sets, like the closed in, threadbare caves that Keith and Dave explore at the beginning, and the tunnels beneath Ferndale Manor where Sinistre attempts to escape with Karen at the end. Going back to the subject of the setting's transition, I initially wasn't sure when exactly the opening scene took place, as there's no caption or title card, nor do they specify how long it's been Sinistre was buried alive. Also, the only setting is the gypsy 

camp in the woods, and the gypsies' costumes change little from one time period to the next. The only tip-off is Sinistre's period-style clothing when he resurrects Tania, but if you're like me and were already kind of checked out, you might actually miss it. Even the movie's very look wreaks of microscopic production values and little care in terms of film processing and development, as it looks so dull and drab, and there's one shot of Madeleine during the third act that looks especially faded (likely due to some previously deleted material that follows).

Not only are there very few other instances of inspired direction, but there's one moment that's both lazy and pointless. After Tania has stolen the book Talismans: The Power of Magic from the British Museum and takes it back with her to the attic area above Madeleine's antique shop, she sets it down and then walks offscreen. The film cuts to a close-up of the book's cover, as a sudden gust of wind blows it open and rustles the pages, stopping on the entry about Count Sinistre himself. It cuts to a close-up of the page and slowly pans down the text, which details

who Sinistre was in life, his being buried alive at Pelak, and what his ultimate goal was. After enough time has passed for the viewer to read all of that, the wind blows the book closed. Talk about a very hackneyed way of delivering this information to the audience. Normally, you would have one of the main characters read the book themself; it may be cliche, but at least it gives an in context reason for the information appearing onscreen. Here, there was absolutely no reason for that to happen, except for the

audience's benefit. And even on that score, it's pointless, because it doesn't tell you much that you don't already know, and everything else it goes into, like how he claimed his victims, is irrelevant to the story at hand.

While it's nowhere close to being as amazing or spooky as Transylvania and Castle Dracula in the first act of Tod Browning's Dracula, the opening of Devils of Darkness does have some good location work in the fairly atmospheric woods and small cemetery around the village of Pelak, as well as the inn where Paul and his friends stay, the exterior of which was the Chateau du Rusquec in Finistere, France. Both the front of the building and the large, lovely courtyard in the back, with a small, stone bridge spanning across a little pond, are very elegant and nice to look at, and

some of the interiors are close to what you might expect from some of Hammer's sets (if not better, as stage work was done at Pinewood Studios). These include the large, lovely lobby (there's a kind of coat hanger on the wall that I actually thought was a Halloween-like fake spider, due to how the lighting makes it seem like it has multiple legs); the interior terrace in the back, with the dining tables in the midst of some elegant statues and various types of potted

plants, and the doors leading out into the courtyard; and Paul's room, which you don't see much of but are still able to tell that this place is pretty high class. By contrast, the mortuary, where Paul first confronts Inspector Malin about what happened to his friends, looks much more primitive and ancient than you what you'd expect to see in the mid-20th century, even in a remote place like this.

There are two major settings in London, with one being the Odd Spot, Madeleine's antique shop. The building has three levels to it: the actual shop on the first floor, which comes off more like a posh parlor, filled with all sorts of statues, decorations, and other such unusual items; her rather colorful living area on the second floor, where she hosts the party where Paul first meets Karen; and the attic area, where Sinistre does his portraits of Karen as she models for him, lying on a spot by the window that's lined with pillows and has a cover over it. When Paul and

Inspector Hardwick come searching for Madeleine near the end, they find a large, open area over to the right, filled with various objects, which is also where Sinistre and Tania's coffins were kept before they were moved to Ferndale for the ceremony. Going back to the living area on the second floor, the party that Madeleine throws gives you that unmistakable Swinging Sixties vibe, with the various dances, everyone's colorful clothes, the period-style furniture and architecture, and all the cigarette smoke hanging in the air. The other noteworthy location here is, of

course, Ferndale Manor, where Sinistre's cult gathers and where he plans to initiate Karen. It's more or less this film's version of Carfax Abbey, as it's an old, long vacant mansion, but comes off as more well-kept than what you typically get from how the Abbey is often depicted. The large foyer is fairly elegant, with a large table housing a couple of candelabras as its centerpiece, a big chandelier hanging above it, a large fireplace, a suit of armor by the foot of the staircase, and a large portrait on the wall behind it. The upstairs

bedroom where Karen is kept is similarly well-maintained and lovely, with a large bed with a canopy and curtains around its sides, a fireplace with a portrait above it, and a dresser with a vanity mirror over by the window. Going back to the foyer, it's the site of another party, this one for the cultists and involving a snake dancer (the shots of her were initially cut when the movie was shown in the UK), and there's also a trapdoor in the floor that opens to some stone steps which lead down to a torch-lit 

tunnel. Said tunnel leads to a ceremonial chamber, with a quartz table in the center, surrounded by chairs where Karen is to be initiated, while Sinistre stands in front of a spot that has a stuffed goat standing atop a large stone, in front of a pentagram drawn on the wall behind it. And finally, there's another tunnel here that runs beneath a nearby cemetery, which is where Sinistre attempts to flee with Karen at the very end.

While there's nothing that significant about it in the long run, Paul's apartment proves to be quite opulent, with light-green walls, a fireplace with a painting and two light fixtures above it, shelves of books over to its right, furniture like a couch, a couple of chairs, and a desk with typewriter on it out in the middle of the room, and Paul's nice sized separate bedroom (clearly, being a writer pays really well). By contrast, Karen lives in a boardinghouse, in a much smaller room. Dr. Kelsey's lab is also memorable due to all the caged animals he uses in his research, such as monkeys, 

snakes (none of which are venomous, despite Kelsey saying he's working with venom, and an escaped "venomous" snake initially thought to be the reason for his death), mice, and even one cage housing a pair of bats (of the harmless fruit-eating variety). And while you only see a bit of its library when Paul does some research on witchcraft and the like, the British Museum also plays host to a couple of scenes.

However, that's about all of the compliments I can give Devils of Darkness, and even then, I think I've been too generous. Someone else who I feel went too easy on it was Leonard Maltin who, in his Classic Movie Guide, gave the movie two stars out of four and, while he did call it, "Flat, slow, and ultimately trivial," also described it as "intelligent." It's anything but, believe me, not to mention sloppily written. In a short video that Dark Corners Reviews on YouTube did on it, they mentioned that it was inspired by the European horror films of the time, which tended to

not have the strongest or even the most logical plots. But, even by that measure, this screenplay comes close to Ed Wood levels of ineptness. For instance, even though he goes about it in the most indirect way possible, it's clear that Count Sinistre's goal, besides taking a new vampire bride in Karen, is to retrieve the talisman that Paul took. But, once he hands it over to Inspector Hardwick, you never see it again, and Sinistre and the cult act as though it's totally lost to them, even though, again, it probably wouldn't be too

hard for a couple of vampires to get it back from Scotland Yard. What's more, even though Sinistre tells Tania early in the third act that he must have the talisman back by sunset the next day, we don't ever learn why. But the real kicker is that he and his cult go ahead with Karen's initiation without it! So, what was the point of all this, then? Sinistre does say he's going to use a knife to mark Karen with the talisman's symbol, but that still really cheapens the thing that's supposed to set Sinistre above the entire human race.

That moment where Karen's portrait bleeds is not the only time that something completely random and illogical happens. A little bit before that, after Paul gets off the phone with Karen's landlady, his doorbell buzzes. He opens it to find no one there, but then, what can only be described as a voodoo doll drops down in front of him. As if that wasn't weird enough, when he yanks it down and removes a pin that's stuck in it, Karen, who's again in the midst of a painting session with Sinistre, groans and sits up. Sinistre rushes to her side, asking if she's alright, and within

seconds, he decides to go and completely seduce her. Nothing else is made of the doll, which is never seen again or even brought up. I haven't faintest idea as to what that had to do with anything, but, unlike the portrait, it wasn't visually striking, so I'm just as frustrated as I am confused.

Speaking of nonsensical, the last thirteen or so minutes are the very definition of it, as well as anticlimactic. Waking up in Ferndale's upstairs bedroom after she's been brought there, Karen walks over to the window by the dresser, then turns and suddenly falls to the floor, knocking over a jewelry box. A crucifix pendant that was in there falls on the exposed backside of her left shoulder, and because she's tainted by Sinistre's influence, it burns its figure into her flesh. She stumbles out of the room and down the stairs to the foyer, where she collapses. 

Madeleine and some of the other cultists immediately cover the mark when they see it, saying they can't allow Sinistre to know about it. Then, shortly before the ceremony, Tania tells Madeleine she would, "Like to help," but instead, she uses the mark to get revenge on her traitorous husband. During the ceremony, she exposes it, making Sinistre unable to initiate Karen. Ignoring that Tania herself isn't repelled by the sight of the cross (the universe sure helped her out there), why in the hell would there have been a crucifix pendant somewhere in a building being used by a 

Satanic cult lorded over by a vampire? Assuming it belonged to whoever lived there before, you'd think the cult would've made sure that anything holy was removed before they decided to make it their hideout! Finally, when Paul and Inspector Hardwick make their way down to this underground chamber, there's a flash of lightning outside, and the large stone that stuffed goat is sitting on suddenly explodes! This is then followed by rocks and chunks of the ceiling violently collapsing, which is what kills Madeleine 

and Tania, along with a powerful gust of wind blowing through the chamber. Either God finally decided to intervene, or Satan got fed up with Sinistre's screw-ups but, either way, it's random as hell. And this leads into Sinistre and Karen escaping through the tunnel's ripped open ceiling and out into the cemetery, only for Sinistre to finally die in a similarly unclear manner.

Like I've been saying from the beginning, the movie's biggest problem is it's a slog to sit through, even when you know going in that it's only 87 minutes. Lame special effects and some cheap sets aside, you have an uninteresting and completely ineffective lead, a similarly unimpressive villain, and a story that's both over-complicated and drags horribly, with lots of dull and talky scenes, and stretches where nothing happens. For example, when Paul is doing research at the British Museum, there's a thirty-second stretch where he's looking through the books he's been 

given, but we never see what he's reading. And yet, it cuts to a close-up on his face where his expression, as well as an accompanying music cue, suggest he read something significant. The whole movie is also so stuffy and flat that certain details and moments that I think are intended to be big reveals, like how the loft-like space where Sinistre does his painting of Karen, and where his and Tania's coffins are kept, turns out to be Madeleine's attic went completely over my head, not just once but several times, including while

I was actually doing the review. (I completely forgot about that moment with the voodoo doll until I was nearly finished with the review.) And the ending, in case I haven't already made it clear, is a confusing and pathetic mess, with Paul doing nothing but slugging one cultist (Hardwick doesn't even do that), while Sinistre and his cult are foiled by what feels like a ridiculous run of bad luck and possible divine, or even demonic, intervention.

While some physical effects, like the strong gusts of wind and the crumbling ceilings during the climax, as well as Sinistre's grave breaking open at the beginning, are pulled off fairly well, others, as we've seen, don't hold up so well, such as those awful fake bats and the cheap-looking lightning effects you see when things go haywire at the end. In addition to the effective bleeding portrait, there's one other makeup effect that's just okay, and that's when Sinistre disintegrates after being exposed to the cross. It's the expected lap-dissolve sequence of his body slowly

decomposing, and even then, you don't it see all that much of it. What's more, the optical process itself kind of obscures some of the details. However, the final shot of Sinistre's partially rotted skeleton doesn't look too bad.

Devils of Darkness was only a small handful of films and TV shows that Bernie Fenton scored; in fact, like director Lance Comfort, this is the last thing on his filmography (though not because he died, as Fenton lived up to the year 2001, dying on his 80th birthday). And, man, you want to talk about a mixed bag. The first bit of score you hear in the movie, which is this sad piece that plays following Tania's death, is pretty effective, and the main title theme is okay but nothing to write home about. However, there are other times where the music not only doesn't fit the action but is downright inappropriate, like this overly chipper and playful theme that plays when Sinistre abducts Anne, or this sudden, loud flourish when Paul is pouring over books on witchcraft, even though we don't see what he just read. And when the music isn't being inappropriate, it's completely forgettable, and the same goes for the music that plays during Madeleine's party.

Two user reviews on the IMDB page for Devils of Darkness sum up my feelings on it perfectly: "Atmospheric at times... but overall weak and uninteresting," and, "For British Horror Film Completists Only." Some fairly well done instances of atmosphere, good bits of direction, nice-looking sets and location work, some okay characters here and there, and a few memorable images can't change the fact that this thing is miserable to sit through. You have an ineffectual, dull lead whom you don't care about, a villain who does little to make himself come off like a real threat, a plethora of awful day-for-night cinematography and a moment of very uninspired and lazy filmmaking, poorly done special effects, a music score that's typically either inappropriate or just plain unmemorable, and, above all else, it's a boring slog with various moments and images that make no sense, including during the ending, and in the third act, it completely drops what was a major plot-point beforehand. Unless you are either a diehard admirer of British horror films or a hardcore bad movie aficionado, don't ever subject yourself to this dreck.