'' is a
1968 Hammer Horror film directed by
Terence Fisher and starring
Christopher Lee and
Charles Gray . It also starred ''
Emmerdale '' actor
Patrick Mower and
Paul Eddington . The screenplay was adapted from the
Dennis Wheatley novel of the same name by
Richard Matheson . In the
United States the film was retitled as ''The Devil's Bride''.
First proposed in
1963 , the film eventually went ahead four years later once censorship worries over
Satanism had eased. Production began on
7 August ,
1967 .
Set in 1920s London, Duc de Richleau and Rex van Ryn rescue their friend Simon Aron and another young initiate,
Tanith , from a devil worshipping cult. During the rescue they disrupt a ceremony on
Salisbury Plain in which
Satan himself appears. They escape to the home of Richleau's friends and are followed by the group's leader, Mocata, who has a psychic connection to the two initiates. After visiting the house to discuss the matter, and an unsuccessful attempt to influence the initiates to return, he forces Richleau and the other occupants to defend themselves through a night of black magic attacks.
