To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 13, 2020

Satan was the new black in the 1970s, and Hammer Films wasn’t about to let such a trend get away from them without a distinct cinematic offering. “To the Devil a Daughter” is an adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel, pitting a writer against forces of evil who want to have their way with a teenage girl. While Hammer is trying to compete with “The Exorcist” and its numerous rip-offs, they also try to play up their particular brand of British horror, with director Peter Sykes in charge of restrained emotions and eerie encounters, bringing in studio legend Christopher Lee to make some macabre magic for the then-ailing company. Unfortunately, there’s not enough shock value in “To the Devil a Daughter,” which definitely has select moments of superb illness and tension, but also comes across incomplete, watching as a complicated story involving rebirth, protection, sacrifice, and temptation slowly marches toward a rushed ending that isn’t the least bit satisfying. The greatest trick the Devil even pulled was convincing Hammer to enter production without a finished screenplay.

John (Richard Widmark) is a successful author of occult novels approached at a party by Henry (Denholm Elliott), a nervous man who wants the writer’s help picking up his daughter, Catherine (Nastassja Kinski), from the airport, asked to keep an eye on the teenage nun. Agreeing to the request, John takes possession of Catherine, hoping to use the experience for a potential book, only to discover she’s part of a greater problem in Germany, where excommunicated priest Michael (Christopher Lee) is preparing to welcome demon Astaroth back to life. Suddenly aware he’s dealing with powerful forces of evil, John tries to disrupt Michael’s apocalyptic plans, struggling to control Catherine’s manipulated mind as she’s prepped to deliver the Great Duke of Hell to the world.

It takes some time to get into the groove of “To the Devil a Daughter.” Screenwriter Roy Skeggs throws the viewer into the middle of the action without explicit explanation as to who the characters are, preferring to build suspense through initially hazy relationships as Catherine is sent to London to spend time with her father. Mercifully, focus begins to sharpen once John begin his mission to collect Catherine (he’s awfully trusting with a stranger’s request), with the author of Satanic stories beginning to recognize the presence of black magic, while in Germany, Michael and his minions are preparing to return Astaroth to power via human pregnancy. The two sides of “To the Devil a Daughter” are managed well by Sykes, with the first hour of the picture conjuring mystery and tension, while the ghoulishness of Michael’s power is periodically returned to, with the priest playing mind games with John and Catherine, trying to lure the disoriented girl back into his care.

To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.66:1 aspect ratio) presentation appears to be a very recent scan of "To the Devil a Daughter" from Studio Canal. The viewing experience is quite appealing, with a freshness to enjoy, especially with color, which makes an immediate impression with the opening shot of sunlight coming through stained glass. Primaries are protected, with deep reds and blues, and the general naturalistic appearance of the locations is preserved, offering lush greenery and blue skies. Skintones are natural. Detail is inviting, securing textured facial surfaces, which pick out elements of age, from Widmark's wrinkles to Kinski's pimples. Costuming is fibrous, doing very well with woolen suits and ceremonial robes. Locations are dimensional. Grain is fine and film-like. Delineation is satisfactory. Source is in excellent condition.

To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix does struggle with technical issues, with the first half of the feature plagued by intermittent dips in clarity, with brief stretches of the effort (starting around the 7:00 mark) going completely muddy. Such moments lose urban atmospherics and, later, acts of violence, but it's not something that carries throughout the listening event, though it does distract. The rest of the track is stronger, provided reasonably confident dialogue exchanges from a range of performances. Scoring is also adequately defined, with strange instrumentation adding to the suspense needs of the film. Sound effects are satisfactory.

To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features film historians Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr.

• "Dark Arts" (18:58, HD) is a 2017 featurette that explores the production history of "To the Devil a Daughter," offering interviews with film historians Kevin Lyons, John J. Johnston, Alan Barnes, and Jonathan Rigby. The interviewees examine the end of the Hammer Films horror cycle, with the company in need of a hit in the mid-1970s, rushing "To the Devil a Daughter" into production without a completed script. Budget woes are highlighted, as Hammer had difficulty finding investors. Casting and locations are detailed, supplying the picture with a slightly larger scope. Appreciation for author Dennis Wheatley is shared, but he didn't have a positive reaction to the completed movie, with the sight of a climatic demon baby a deal-breaker. The historians try to provide a celebration of the effort's creative successes, and lament the loss of Hammer's "new beginning."

• "To the Devil: The Death of Hammer" (23:52, SD) is a very entertaining featurette from 2002, which returns to the world of "To the Devil a Daughter," only here there's more of an inside perspective from production participants, with Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, director Peter Sykes, screenwriter Christopher Wicking, and producer Roy Skeggs joining the conversation. Project origins are recounted, with Lee handed the rights for author Dennis Wheatley's work, initially interested in turning "To the Devil a Daughter" into a segment for a Wheatley anthology show. Financing struggles are recalled, along with location details, offering Hammer Films an open world to play with for a change. Casting is the juiciest topic of the featurette, putting focus on star Richard Widmark and his terrible behavior on-set (Blackman calls him a "difficult monkey"), with the actor always complaining and aggressive with the cast and crew, prolonging the shoot. The movie's ending is also detailed in full, highlighting issues with the climax that hurt the endeavor. A brief summary of Hammer's professional end is also included.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:12, HD) is included.

To the Devil a Daughter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"To the Devil a Daughter" delivers a certain amount of strangeness with intermittent intensity, primarily found during outdoor pursuits when John struggles to snap Catherine out of her possessions. There's a wonderful cast as well, with Widmark a commanding lead, while Lee seems to enjoying himself for a change, playing Michael as a man who relishes the pain he brings to others. Elliott is also a tremendous asset to the endeavor, making panic and paranoia feel authentic. It's the second half of the feature where storytelling trouble arrives, as Sykes slowly loses control of the narrative, making the movie more about extreme sights than snowballing danger, while the introduction of a demonic puppet to represent slimy evil is all kinds of wrong, bringing unintentional laughs to a production that can't recover from such a conceptual mistake. And there's the ending, or lack of one, with the tale merely stopping instead of climaxing, ruining all the hard work to reach a confrontation between old men claiming Catherine's body. At least "To the Devil a Daughter" opens with some authority, giving off traditional Hammer Film fumes before it falls apart.