Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		2.5

Challenge the Devil Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 25, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee Collection.

According to the typically semi-reliable IMDb, Christopher Lee amassed an almost astounding 282 acting credits over the course of his long and venerable career. If many younger viewers tend to understandably associate him with films like The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy and/or Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and if somewhat more seasoned audience members may link him to his long run of so-called "Hammer Horror" outings which account for over twenty of those acting credits and include films like The Curse of Frankenstein, there is obviously by dint of the sheer number included on the IMDb's list a veritable glut of roles with which even diehard Lee fans may not be all that familiar. Severin Films has come to the rescue of Lee fans on the hunt for some rarer titles featuring the actor, amassing five feature films and all the surviving episodes of Lee's anthology series Theatre Macabre, along with a treasure trove of supplementary material.

Challenge the Devil was evidently a next to no budget Italian offering that seems like it might have been cobbled together from some radically different ideas. The back cover of this release states that this is "the most obscure film of [Christopher Lee's] early 60s Italian period - if not his entire career. The description on the back continues to saliently point out some of the wildly disparate plot points at play in the story, including being a "combination of neo-realist crime thriller, tawdry Christian melodrama, fizzy cabaret musican and trippy gothic horror, culminating in a gang of bongo crazed delinquents". If that isn't enough to pique the interest of "discerning cineastes", nothing probably will be, but despite the patent oddity of the film, it's really kind of sadly a disjointed, at times near incoherent, affair.

Lee is on hand as the keeper of a Gothic castle, with a shock of white hair and a story that suggests he has either sold his soul to the Devil or may in fact be Satan himself. There's almost a juvenile delinquent angle with regard to some of the out of control teens who turn up at the castle, but perhaps because of editing issues or other production trauma, there are huge gaping holes in the narrative and instead the film works mostly in terms of a somewhat creepy if campy mood. Perhaps somewhat hilariously, at least for those with jaded, politically incorrect, senses of humor, this was the only screen credit for writer and director Guiseppe Vegezzi, who reportedly attempted suicide shortly before the film was released.

Challenge the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Challenge the Devil is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. The back cover of the keepcase insert states this has been "scanned in 2K from the Italian negative for the first time ever", and as with several other transfers in this set, the results are often very impressive. Contrast is mostly secure, with only a few slightly milky shots intruding, with often sumptuous blacks and nicely modulated gray scale. Detail levels are generally excellent across the board as well, hampered only slightly by the film's emphasis on barely lit scenes, something I suspect may have been done to hide less than opulent production elements. There is one extended sequence in a hall of mirrors that kind of echoes elements in The Lady from Shanghai, and a few moments in this longish scene have somewhat degraded video quality for whatever reason (see screenshot 19).

Challenge the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Challenge the Devil features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono mix in the original Italian. While Lee fans will no doubt be disappointed not to hear the star's redolent speaking voice, this is one of the stronger tracks in this set, with solid fidelity supporting score (including some musical performances in the film) and effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Challenge the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One: Challenge the Devil

• Dance with the Devil (HD; 35:33) is another interesting analysis by Roberto Curti, author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema. Kind of interestingly, this featurette is in Italian with English subtitles, whereas Curti speaks in English in the featurette included on Castle of the Living Dead.


• The Importance of Being Giorgio (HD; 16:21) is culled from two (very strange) interviews with Giorgio Ardisson. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Trailer (HD; 3:10)

Disc Two: Relics from the Crypt

• Horror!!! (HD; 16:29) is a 1964 Swiss documentary short by Pierre Koralnik. In English as well as French with English subtitles.


• Behind the Mask (HD; 35:05 ) features Christopher Lee in 1991 reminiscing about Boris Karloff.


• Cinescope 1976 Belgian TV Interview with Selim Sasson (SD; 54:38) is in French with English subtitles.


• Colin Crimshaw Interviews Christopher Lee in 1975 (SD; 16:23)


• 1985 Audio Interview with Christopher Lee (HD; 27:16) features David Del Valle asking the questions and appearing in some introductory material as well.


• Monsters & Vampires (HD; 18:11) is an interview with movie horror movie historian Alan Frank.


• The Crypt Keepers (HD; 35:01) is a nicely produced piece which documents the making of Crypt of the Vampire. This features interviews that are in Italian with English subtitles.


• O Sole Mio / It's Now or Never (HD; 3:52) is a duet with Gary Curtis and Christopher Lee, and features an optional commentary by Curtis.


• She'll Fall for Me (HD; 4:31) is another music video with Gary Curtis which also features an optional commentary by him.


• Outtakes from To the Devil. . .A Daughter and Theater of Death (HD; 19:16) feature snippets from 2001 interview sessions with Lee by Severin's David Gregory.


• University College Dublin 2011 Q & A with Sir Christopher Lee (HD; 18:19)

Challenge the Devil Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Challenge the Devil seems to have been a victim of unfortunate circumstances surrounding both its production and its post-production, and it certainly is not the best film in this set. That said, there's an almost circus like atmosphere to the proceedings at times, and some of the faces in the story are positively Fellini-esque. Technical merits are generally solid, especially video, and the supplementary package (especially the bonus disc) very enjoyable, for those who are considering a purchase.