Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

christopher-underwood Fabulous and thoughtful, near delirious madness and mayhem from Hammer. Not at all your typical Hammer movie, this has no respectful and predictable plot and instead a wild and roaring reality of its own. We struggle to keep pace with the craziness and the violence as this gradually reveals itself to be a most demonic monster. Helped enormously by near hysterical performance from Robert Hardy offset by Patrick Magee doing marvellously what he always does and out in the woods is Michael Hordern portraying a deranged priest to the hilt and beyond. Unlike some viewers I loved every second of this until the end when, for me, there was just too much time with everyone running around in the forest. But it least it gave time to get your breath back before the final outrage. Truly excellent stuff comparable with the very best giallo.

Scott LeBrun The folks at Hammer Studios take one of their usual Gothic environments and use it for a more cerebral and subtle film than what their fans are used to. The title really does make it quite clear: the "demons" here are those that dwell in the human mind, affecting mental stability and having a profound effect on the next generation. It does take the time to include some more exploitable elements - namely, gore and nudity - but these moments feel gratuitous given the nature of the balance of the film.It takes place in Bavaria where a Baron named Zorn (Robert Hardy) is afraid of his children, afraid that they have inherited the madness of their predecessors. They do seem to be showing the signs. More than anything, the Baron is convinced that they are possessed. A self styled psychiatrist named Falkenberg (Patrick Magee) and his young associate Carl (Paul Jones, formerly of the band Manfred Mann) arrive on the scene, using radical methods to probe the psyche of father and children (Gillian Hills, Shane Briant). Meanwhile, the local villagers are convinced of the existence of demons, and spurred on by a wandering priest (Michael Hordern), they determine to take care of the problem."Demons of the Mind" does appear to divide the audience, but this viewer would consider himself in the camp that considers this one of the more interesting and hence more effective of the latter day Hammer productions. Australian director Peter Sykes creates a suitably eerie atmosphere, which is enhanced by wonderfully spooky music composed by Harry Robertson. The script by Christopher Wicking is heavy on symbolism, and it offers meaty roles to a sterling bunch of actors, with the under-rated Hardy delivering the goods in a particularly great role. Magee is fun as always as the hard-driving psychiatrist, and good looking pair Hills and Briant are affecting as the troubled kids.The film does end on a very Hammer-esque note with angry torch bearing villagers set for a final confrontation, but getting there is every bit as enjoyable. Those horror fans looking for different offerings from Hammer are advised to give this one a look.Eight out of 10.

BA_Harrison Baron Zorn (Robert Hardy) is obsessed with the idea that his children may have inherited the family traits of madness and incest, and so locks his daughter (the rather lovely Gillian Hills) and son Emil (Shane Briant) away from the world, keeping them in a weakened state with regular bleeding. However, Zorn's extreme preventative measures against insanity and deviancy in his offspring do not seem to be working as well as he had planned...I'm a huge fan of Hammer, but with Demons of the Mind, I was more horrified by the approach taken by director Peter Sykes than the actual content of the film. Displaying a hallucinogenic vibe more akin to continental movies of the period, the film regularly strays into iffy art-house territory, and the free-floating narrative, which is at first intriguing, soon becomes confusing, and ultimately irritating.Sensing the director's willingness to dabble with the avant garde, some of the cast experiment in over-acting, with Hardy hamming it up at every opportunity and Michael Hordern showing zero restraint in his portrayal of a crazy priest. Meanwhile, Shane Briant, who was being groomed by Hammer to be their latest leading man, is content with giving an unenthusiastic performance which makes one wonder how the hell the studio ever thought he could compete with their other up-and-coming star, the marvellous Ralph Bates.Those looking for the more sensational elements that one generally associates with later Hammer movies will be disappointed by the lack of gore—there is very little in the way of bloodletting (the most violent scenes being slightly obscured in a flashback)—but should be pleased with some full-frontal nudity from the gorgeous Virginia Wetherell (as a comely village maiden) and a brief flash of a bare breast from Hills.As always, the production values are high, and the cinematography is great (with lovely use of colour during a couple of murders), but Demons of the Mind's plodding pace and irksome 'progressive' style make this a difficult film to watch, even for a total Hammer addict such as myself.

The_Void Well I went into this with high expectations, but unfortunately Demons of the Mind failed to deliver. I'm a big fan of Hammer Horror, and since I've seen most of the big ones; this one has been at the top of my 'must see' for quite some time. It has to be said that Demons of the Mind represents one of Hammer's most ambitious projects, but that can't be seen as a compliment to the film as it just doesn't work. Demons of the mind does benefit from some good production values, and actually reminded me a lot of Ken Russell's The Devil's because of the way that it fuses good acting and cinematography with a purely B-movie plot. The plot is overly complicated, and focuses on a pair of children who are kept locked up by their father, a man who fears that the children may have been 'infected' by their insane mother. The boy keeps escaping, and coincidentally a lot of dead girls are turning up in the woods. The father keeps them separate as the boy is attracted to the girl, and the plot thickens when a doctor who stands to make a fortune if he can 'cure' the children turns up...Demons of the Mind was directed by Peter Sykes, who also directed one of the studio's worst efforts in the form of To the Devil a Daughter two years later. Clearly, he is not Hammer's most adept director. The film features a handful of British horror stars - most notably Patrick Magee and Shane Briant, both for different reasons. Magee is one of the most underrated and unique British horror actors, and he always manages to increase the credibility of anything he stars in - even if it is something like this. Briant, on the other hand, starred in a handful of Hammer Horror flicks during the early seventies and failed to make much of an impression after the first one. Briant was noticeable in Straight on till Morning for his ridiculous haircut, but since then failed to make an impression. The film really lacks what Hammer's big guns bring to the table - Cushing and Lee are sorely missed. The plot mumbles along for most of the duration, and by the end I wasn't too bothered what happened. I can give this film plaudits for the production values and for some notable sequences - but overall, Demons of the Mind isn't one of Hammer's finest hours.