CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

MamaGravity good back-story, and good acting

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Leofwine_draca TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER, another Hammer adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel, is one of the most maligned films put out by the studio. It's well known as their final horror film, one which flopped and helped to sink them, but at the same time I find it unusually effective. Sure, the storyline is a little garbled here and there and there are issues with THAT ending, but for the most part this is a neat little '70s devil worship thriller.You have to feel sorry for Hammer. For decades they'd ruled the box office at home and abroad with their full-blooded Gothic horror movies, but by the '70s audiences were turning to the likes of THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN for their scares. TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER imitates those films only semi-successfully, but it does have plenty of good stuff going for it.There's Christopher Lee, playing one of his sleaziest villains as a defrocked priest dedicated to bringing Satan back to this world, alongside Denholm Elliott who does the "going out of his mind" schtick like few others. Richard Widmark's tough protagonist adds a slice of Hollywood talent to the mix, and a youthful Natassja Kinski shows she's inherited her father's skill for the acting craft. There's also a wonderful supporting cast that incorporates the likes of Anthony Valentine, the ever-lovely Honor Blackman, Michael Goodliffe in his last film appearance, and even TV's Brian Wilde into the mix.Director Peter Sykes was a seasoned Hammer veteran by this stage and he invests his production with plenty of eerie and creepy moments which don't disappoint. Yes, those scenes with the "demon baby" might be bad taste, but then so is a lot of stuff both from this genre and this decade. TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER is an oddity indeed, a Hammer Horror film that actually feels like a tough, contemporary Hollywood thriller and is all the better for it.

utgard14 Hammer's last horror film is another adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel. They had previously done The Lost Continent, which sucked, and The Devil Rides Out, which also starred Christopher Lee and had a slightly similar plot to this. In that film, Lee rescues the son of a friend from a Satanic cult. In this film, Richard Widmark rescues the daughter of a friend from a Satanic cult. This time Lee's the villain. Playing the young nun pursued by Satanists is a teenage Nastassja Kinski. Also in the cast are the great Denholm Elliott and former Bond girl (here a sexy MILF) Honor Blackman.The Devil Rides Out was a superior movie in every way, not least of which was the script by Richard Matheson. This script is a mess and suffered through several rewrites. Dennis Wheatley was so disgusted by this movie that he told Hammer he no longer wanted them to adapt his work. Not that it mattered much as Hammer went out of business a few years later. Since this was released post-Exorcist, Hammer tried to get on that bandwagon and be as outrageous as possible. Most of this will seem pretty tame to modern audiences but was pretty shocking at the time. Hammer always had sex and violence as part of its horror formula but here with full-frontal nudity, some nasty sex scenes, and quite a bit of bloodiness, it makes most previous Hammer films seem like they should be rated G. Taking all of this into account, it's a watchable second-rate 'devil movie.' A good cast helps a lot. It's not the worst Hammer horror movie but it's far from their best. Look out for the stupid abrupt ending. Favorite quote: "98% of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks out of dancing naked in freezing churchyards and use the Devil as an excuse for getting some sex." Sounds about right.

gavin6942 An American occult novelist (Richard Widmark) battles to save the soul of a young nun (Nastassja Kinski) from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest (Christopher Lee), who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.As a White Zombie fan, I was thrilled to hear the Latin of the excommunication scene and finally know where one of their best songs took its clips from. That alone makes the movie satisfying (though it hardly carries the entire film).Despite being a Hammer film and featuring Christopher Lee, the film does not seem well-liked by many people. IMDb rates it below a 6 and Rotten Tomatoes has it holding a 17% approval rating. I feel obligated to defend it, if even just a little bit. I mean, wow, what a truly creepy and disturbing birthing ritual -- the blood, the bondage, Lee's diabolical grin... Oh, and that other ritual...I would say this film is a winner, despite the harsh criticism people seem to have for it. Some parts are a bit slow or bland, but the overall story is interesting and the imagery is fascinating. A lot of work was put into this one.

Paul Andrews To the Devil a Daughter starts as Father Michael Rayner (Christopher Lee) is excommunicated, several years later & Father Rayner runs a Cathoic order named The Children of the Lord in Bavaria. A young nun with the order named Catherine (Nastassja Kinski) is soon to be turn eighteen, Catherine is allowed to fly home to London to spend her birthday with her father Henry (Denholm Elliott). However as Catherine's eighteenth birthday approaches father Raynor & The Children of the Lord have special plans for her, plans that terrify her father Henry who manages to persuade occult writer John Verney (Richard Widmark) to pick her up from the airport & look after her. Henry hopes this will be enough to protect Catherine from Father Raynoe & his Satan worshipping sect of followers but supernatural powers beyond their grasp are being used to prepare for the arrival of a Satanic demon named Astaroth & Catherine is vital to their plans...This English German co-production was directed by Peter Sykes & was Hammer Studios final theatrically released horror film, their last theatrically released film was actually the remake of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Lady Vanishes (1979) three years later & while To the Devil a Daughter may not be the most fondly remembered Hammer horror film I thought it was an interesting little occult thriller. The script was based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley (who apparently flat out promised that Hammer would never make another one of his books into a film after seeing it) & although I have not read Wheatley's book by all accounts it's meant to be totally different in very aspect apart from the title. To the Devil a Daughter is a little too complicated for it's own good, it also has lofty ambitions which Hammer couldn't accomplish on it's budget restraints with the extremely weak ending a prime example. Instead of a climactic battle between good & evil with Catherine's life at stake Richard Widmark throw's something at Christopher Lee, the screen turns a funny colour, there's a little bit of evil wind & that's it. The whole film, as complicated & sometimes confusing as it is builds up to absolutely nothing which is a pity. The script starts out promisingly with various things happening in both England & Germany that at first seem unconnected, of course the script tries to weave everything together in a tale of Satanists & their search for Catherine. At just under 90 minutes long To the Devil a Daughter is fairly slow, it concentrates on build-up & developing the story as it unfolds but it never quite sparkles, it never quite captivates or engrosses like the best films do. To the Devil a Daughter could have used a bit more fleshing out, some of it doesn't make that much sense & it feels a bit random at times & unfocused. Part thriller, part horror, part mystery To the Devil a Daughter is an unusual film that is maybe not the swansong for Hammer it could have been but is an interesting & watchable film despite it's flaws.I did like the story for To the Devil a Daughter & there's some striking images throughout, from blood soaked mutant babies to nude Satan worshipping to some very dated 70's fashions & hair styles. Hammer seemed to want to leave it's Victorian Gothic horror films behind & set it's films in the contemporary world, The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) & this were prime examples but it didn't really work for them. I guess US occult horror like Rosemary's Baby (1968) & The Omen (1976) were just better & more effective & convincing than To the Devil a Daughter. This was also lacking in any real blood or gore or scares, there's devil foetus thing & a bit of blood but nothing else, in fact there's more nudity than horror with Nastassja Kinski, who had only fourteen or fifteen at the time of filming, going full frontal.This looks nice enough with decent production values, shot on location in Germany & England. The acting is a mixed bag, Christopher Lee is excellent as you would expect, Kinski is alright & looks nice while Widmark seems bored with some of his reactions unintentionally funny. Denholm Elliott, Honor Blackman & Anthony Valentine have nothing more than extended cameos.To the Devil a Daughter is an odd film that I am in two minds over, while it's confusing & narratively all over the place I liked the story & thought it was watchable with a very good cast. It's just a shame the end is such a let down after sticking with it for over an hour & twenty minutes. Probably not the film Hammer wanted to be remembered for.