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#370 The Devil Rides Out

Watched: October 22 2025

Director: Terence Fisher

Starring: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene, Patrick Mower, Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington, Rosalyn Landor, Gwen Ffrangcon Davies

Year: 1968

Runtime: 1h 36min

We’ll just come right out and say it: The Devil Rides Out is the perfect double feature companion piece with Rosemary’s Baby. While wildly different in execution, they are two sides of the same coin thematically, with ethnically diverse devil worshippers happily sacrificing others for their own benefit.

Sure, still predominately white, but still more diverse than your average high society gathering in 1968. We swear some of these people wore clothing from other countries in a previous scene!

Nicholas, Duc de Richleau (Lee) and his old friend Rex van Ryn (Greene) are worried about their departed friend’s son Simon (Mower), who they have promised to look after. They take a ride (in a very cool car) to Simon’s place, only to find him in the company of twelve strange guest. De Richleau immediately recognizes them as devil worshippers (after using British politeness to finangle his way to the observatory), and the two friends embark on a mission to save Simon’s soul. And also the soul of Tanith (Arrighi), because Rex thinks she’s hot.

There’s a bit of a consensus on that. She has that certain je ne sais quoi that appeals to both satanists and useless sidekicks.

Satanic cults were apparently all the rage in 1968, but while Rosemary’s Baby is subtle in its execution, leaving most of the devil-related stuff to the imagination, The Devil Rides Out goes completely in the opposite direction. There are actual goat-faced devils, huge ass spiders, orgies, and at one point the Angel of Death himself (herself..? We’re not sure if it’s Death or Susan) rides into the living (ironically) room. We loved that Fisher went very visual and literal about it – both approaches work really well for their respective films.

He looked at subtlety and laughed right in its face

Christopher Lee is simultaneously giving Vincent Price and Rupert Giles as the no-nonsense expert on the occult, and he is such a magnetic presence on screen that it’s hard to focus on anyone else whenever he is on. Rex is however fucking useless… They both make some questionable choices though – who thought it was a good idea to bring your Satanic “date” to a house with a young child? And then perform a ritual in the same house, with all the adults safe and sound in the protective circle, but just leave said child asleep in her room? With no protection save the butler??? It’s almost as though they wanted to get rid of Peggy (Landor). Even after she saved them all by breaking the spell/hypnosis placed on her mother by the big bad himself, Mocata (Gray). Still, the two men are extremely good and loyal friends to go through all of this to save the son of their departed homie.

“What was that? You think we should put Peggy in the protective circle with us? Oh, I’m sure she’ll be perfectly fine in her bedroom. Whoever heard of devils and fiends going up the stairs?”

This movie is a tense, fun and scary ride. We loved the sets and the vibe, the performances and the special effects – sometimes it’s nice to see such a classic depiction of the devil himself. We’re also intrigued by the upper classes’ obsession with the occult in the ’60s, particularly the destructive occult, that both this and its sister movie (RB) portray. Are these people rich because they worship? Or do they worship because they are rich..? Perhaps you can only be in a Satanic cult if you have the budget to get a custom made mosaic seal built into your floor? These are the questions that beg answering.

Can we DIY it? How accurate must it be? If we end up summoning a heckhound from one of the minor circles, we honestly wouldn’t mind to be completely honest with you…

We love the British politeness in this as well – the whole “she woke up and tried to strangle me” reminded us a bit of In the Earth (2021), when the main character is trying to persuade the maniac in the woods not to cut off his foot. IYKYK. And we always, always love a good ritual. Love, love, love this!

We’d pay good money to attend this slumberparty

Quote of the day: “I think we’re behaving like a pack of idiots!”

What we learned: Every friend group needs the Nurturer, the Entertainer, the Advocate and the One Who Knows About Devil Worship and Rituals For When a Satanic Cult Inevitably Comes After Someone You Love (the OWKADWRFWSCICASYL).

MVP: Nicholas, Duc de Richleau. And Peggy.

Next time: The Great Silence (1968)

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#365 Planet of the Apes

Watched: August 13 2023

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison, Robert Gunner, Jeff Burton

Year: 1968

Runtime: 1h 52min

Three astronauts crashland on an alien planet 2000 years after leaving earth. Luckily, hibernation pods have kept them from aging despite the years spent in deep space. Even more luckily, this random planet’s atmosphere is sufficiently earthlike for them to survive. That’s pretty much the end of their luck, though. They soon learn that a fourth crewmember, the only woman on board, did not survive the crash. In addition, their clothes are stolen and destroyed by what appear to be primitive human beings. And then the hunt begins…

Men. Absolutely no sense of danger or concept of personal safety. “Oh, look at us, stranded on an alien planet. Let’s abandon our things and go skinny dipping. I’m sure those life size Blair Witch monster thingies on the hill are completely harmless and not a bad omen of things to come. And while we’re at it, why don’t we eat this random fruit. La la la!” Please…

Gorillas on horseback raid the fields full of people, kill one of the survivors, Dodge (Burton), and capture the other two, Taylor and Landon (Heston and Gunner, respectively). Taylor is shot in the throat, impeding his speech, and then taken to a research facility in Ape City where he is made into a lab rat by intelligent chimpanzees Zira and Galen. It’s a world gone topsy-turvy!

“OK, since we’re both here, how about we propegate the species? It’s for the greater good, I assure you.”

Once the scientists discover that Taylor can talk, their entire world view changes. Perhaps human beings are not just savages after all, but capable of culture and reason? (They’re only about halfway right…) Soon, Taylor finds himself in the middle of an ape culture war. And Landon finds himself lobotomized.

It was either that or join a gorilla barbershop quartet. The choice was easy

The success of Planet of the Apes sparked a whole series of sequels, prequels and other -quels. And while many of them are worth watching (there are definite variations in quality), the original remains the best one, in our opinion. The score is great, the costumes, make-up, sets and landscapes are all very impressive, and the plot is compelling and intriguing.

The characters are fine as well, but again, as mentioned. who in their right minds would see these things, on an alien planet nonetheless, and then proceed to just frolic in the water?!? We question their judgment and the clearly lax screening process for becoming (fictional) astronauts in the sixties.

The first hunt is chaotic, brutal and shocking, as are several of the revelations throughout and the treatment our main character receives. Does Taylor make for a sympathetic protagonist? Well, not necessarily. He’s a bit of a cynical douchebag with seemingly no qualms about rape, for instance. Still, even he has some very good points to make about humanity and the society he left behind as well as the one in which he now finds himself. In addition, Heston had ridiculous presence on screen, which makes you root for him despite some of his character’s less desirable qualities…

Believe it or not, in this instance beastiality is a major positive step in his character development! (Discussion point: Is it still beastiality if the “beast” in question shares your level of intelligence and communication skills? Taylor’s so-called relationship with Nova, the mute and primitive human woman he “courts,” seems a lot more problematic than this one, for sure.)

We love horror and sci-fi as social commentary and (unfortunately) the themes in Planet of the Apes are still (or again?) current and relevant. The people in power, and pretty much everyone over a certain age, are conservative zealots who’d rather erase anything and anyone that do not support their world view than be open to changing their minds. Thank the gods we as human beings have moved on from this and are now governed by reason, compassion and altruism.

They would be so proud of us

What we learned: Religion has no place in science. Or in politics. Or in law making. In fact, like genitals, your own are best kept private until asked to share.

MVP: Zira

Next time: Pretty Poison (1968)

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#364 Once Upon a Time in the West

Watched: August 14 2023

Director: Sergio Leone

Starring: Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, Harmonica’s harmonica

Year: 1968

Runtime: 2h 45min

Mrs McBain (the recently departed Claudia Cardinale) arrives in Utah to find her brand spanking new husband and stepchildren dead. The main suspect: notorious local bandit Cheyenne (Robards). But is he being framed? Other dodgy characters in this classic western include drama queen Harmonica (Bronson) and gun-for-hire Frank (Fonda).

Claudia Cardinale in all her glory. We seem to remember enjoying her character immensely!

So, full disclosure: we watched this over two years ago, but then never got around to actually writing the blog while it was still fresh in our minds. And now, due to everything leading to us taking a hiatus from the list in the first place, we have a little bit of amnesia. We did, however, take notes while watching it! Thus, we present to you: Our Impressions Of And Thoughts On The Film Based On Cryptic Notes Written Two Years Ago (or OIOATOTFBOCNWTYA for short):

Pictured: characters from the film. About 99% sure that’s Henry Fonda up front. And they definitely look like the bad guys, so that tracks. Probably about to do some serious mischief.
  • Very good at creating tension! (we’re pretty sure we’re talking about Leone here)
  • Love when people make their own soundtrack! (referring to Harmonica, probably?)
  • #Harmonica4Lyfe! Such a drama queen. Love!
  • Absolutely love the “vastness” of the production – epic scale. Good world building.
  • He (probably Leone again) just loooooooves people staring at each other.
  • Beautiful, epic, suspenseful and possibly a tiiiiiny bit too long… But hey – if you wanna be dramatic about it and make an absolute epic, you go girl! (We guess we’re referring to Leone here as well…)
Harmonica doing god’s work providing (more or less) appropriate ambient sound to a dramatic scene. Again, we suspect that’s what’s going on based on vague, watercolour memories.
  • With the notable exception of the Lord of the Rings-movies, very few films need to clock in at almost three hours…But this stays interesting and engaging throughout, so it kind of pulls it off.
  • So. Much. Staring.
  • Ok, even on Blu-Ray, film is definitely different from digital. The texture of this! Hard to describe… It feels substantial and kind of gritty.
  • Was this movie sponsored by the oil industry? The car industry? Never seen so much vilifying of railways.
  • Sometimes it’s best to just stay a single, rich widow.
“I know you’re developing some Stockholm syndrome feelings for me, but I’m saving all my sexual tension for my new best bud Cheyenne. Besides, Clark Olofsson won’t be born for half a century yet, so I don’t even know what Stockholm syndrome is.”

What we learned: Never trust Big Railway™

MVP: Ennio Morricone, Cheyenne and Harmonica’s harmonica.

Next time: Planet of the Apes (1968)