DEVILS OF DARKNESS (1965)

In 1600s rural France, Count Sinistre was buried alive for his decadent behavior. Some time later (the timelines in this film are unclear), an acolyte in a red robe helps facilitate the resurrection of Sinistre as a vampire (again, how it's done is unclear). During a gypsy wedding in the woods, Tania and Bruno have a blood commingling ceremony during which a huge bat flies in and Tania falls dead. After her burial, Sinistre awakens her and claims her as his vampire bride. In the present day, a group of tourists are staying at an inn in Brittany. Paul, a writer, pals around with two spelunking lads (Dave and Keith) and their friend Anne (Keith's sister), and a visiting antiques dealer named Madeleine encourages them to witness a local All Souls' Day ritual. In the caves, they run across a stone coffin; Keith is left dead and Dave is never seen again. We see the mourning Anne meet up with the suave and caped Armond (actually Sinistre) as she walks by a lake, and soon she is found drowned in that lake. The official consensus is that the she committed suicide, but between noticing bite marks on Keith's neck and finding a silver bat-shaped talisman near the lake, Paul is suspicious. Back in London, Paul keeps up ties with Madeleine, who runs a hip antiques shop called the Odd Spot where she is inclined to throw decadent parties. Sinistre, as Armond, is also in London as an artist, with the gypsy girl Tania as his wife, and he wants his talisman back. Paul meets and is taken with the voluptuous Karen, an employee at the shop, and Sinistre decides to hold Karen as a hostage to get his talisman back. Oh yeah, Sinistre, in league with Madeleine, is the head of a Satanic cult who throw their own decadent parties, at one of which, held at a country estate, things come to a climax that ends in fire and destruction.

Many critics don’t like this B-film from Planet Productions because they assume it's trying to be Hammer lite (no gore or heaving bosoms). Well, it is and that's fine. I like that it has a Dennis Wheatley (THE DEVIL RIDES OUT) feel, as it throws vampires, Satanists, black magic and even voodoo into the mix. The film has a drab visual look except for the wild parties, and the acting is a bit all over the place. One of my B-movie favorites, William Sylvester (Paul), is maybe a bit too low-key for the proceedings, and Hubert Noel (Sinistre) is not terribly charismatic and rarely as threatening as he should be. But the women are fine (and sexy): Carole Gray as Tania, Tracy Reed as Karen, and Diana Decker as Madeleine. Eddie Byrne is a doctor, and the handsome Burnell Tucker appears briefly as Derek, another antiques shop employee who looks good in a devil worshipper robe. I don't think it’s ever made clear why Sinistre needs the talisman so badly—he says it protects the vampires though how is not explained—or even why Paul hangs onto it, just plot demands, I guess. The director, Lance Comfort, could turn out B-movies in his sleep, and it’s true that a Hammer director like Terence Fisher or Roy Ward Baker might have made this a better looking film with stronger atmosphere. For what it's worth, some claim that this was the first British vampire movie set in the modern day, Not top-rank horror, but worthy of at least one viewing. Pictured are Rona Anderson (Anne) and William Sylvester. [YouTube]