Eye of the Devil -- Gothic Mystery Airs on TCM

[Philippe Cordier]

A reminder that the 1967 B&W movie "Eye of the Devil" airs on TCM late night Saturday (actually 3:15 a.m. EST Sunday, 2:15 a.m. Central).  Several people have been interested in this movie in the past, which is why I'm posting about it again.  Despite the title, this is not a garish horror flick, but an atmospheric, nuanced story with mythic elements.  The top-notch cast includes Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Flora Robson, Donald Pleasance, and Emlyn Williams.

One aspect of the movie I like are the many variations of trance and dream states throughout.

Beware of the many negative but uninformed reviews of this movie.  Several state that the opening scenes are set in London, which tells you something about how closely some viewers (including professional reviewers) watched the movie (the opening scenes are set in Paris, where the opening shots were filmed).  Edgy camera work was panned in "Variety" as being influenced by TV commercials!  (I would like to have seen those TV commercials ...)

I believe the last scene to have inspired the ending of NODS (i.e., Quentin going back into the house for seemingly innocent purposes ...).  "Eye of the Devil" also seems to have provided inspiration for the idea behind "The Wicker Man."  Of the two movies, I prefer "Eye of the Devil," at least in part because of its Gothic atmosphere.

[Patti Feinberg]

Thank you Vlad...gotta go set the VCR!

Patti

[Patti Feinberg]

I went to TCM.com to make sure I get it right.

To let everyone know, at 8pm est Sat. eve., Wuthering Heights is on (sort of the current paramour set on DS).

Patti

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I went to TCM.com to make sure I get it right.

I think you probably meant that you went to turnerclassicmovies.com. TCM.com is a human resource/training & development site. Not quite the place to look for classic movies. 

To let everyone know, at 8pm est, Wuthering Heights is on (sort of the current paramour set on DS).

I would definitely recommend this version with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. Slightly dated? Yes. But it's a classic film that still holds up well. And it's on Saturday the 13th, BTW

[Patti Feinberg]

ANNDDD...looking at Sunday, 14th at 3:30pm est, "Rebecca" is on (lose version of 1970PT).

Patti....hey...turner classic likes us

[Philippe Cordier]

I didn't expect I'd have more to add to this, but I was just on the Turner Classic Movies page (I always try "tcm.com" first, too!), and I saw an article featured on the site that actor David Hemmings died on December 3rd.  I had never heard of Hemmings until Gothick referred to his role in "Eye of the Devil."  So for those who like David Hemmings, there's a timely reason to watch, or re-watch, "Eye of the Devil."  He fit the role well IMO.

Patti, you might want to set your VCR 10 minutes early or so as it's possible TCM might air the brief behind-the-scenes filming of the movie, which was primarily a showcase introducing Sharon Tate.  You should still have plenty of tape left for the movie as I think it runs 96 minutes and the documentary is about 10 minutes.

[LorraineAAB]

I didn't expect I'd have more to add to this, but I was just on the Turner Classic Movies page (I always try "tcm.com" first, too!), and I saw an article featured on the site that actor David Hemmings died on December 3rd.  I had never heard of Hemmings until Gothick referred to his role in "Eye of the Devil."  So for those who like David Hemmings, there's a timely reason to watch, or re-watch, "Eye of the Devil."  He fit the role well IMO.

Also see:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,4120,1101548,00.html

"People thought I was dead - I was just directing the A-Team."

[Mysterious Benefactor]

"People thought I was dead - I was just directing the A-Team."

That remark was hysterical! 

[Gothick]

David Hemmings was one of the more understated iconic male actors of the Sixties.  Two other performances from him that I enjoy are in Barbarella, and in the title role of Alfred the Great, a hard-to-find film that I saw on TV way back in the Seventies and found moody and resonant.

He did a lot of great work--perhaps TCM will do a retrospective on him.

G.

[Darren Gross]

He was a terrific icon of the sixties and 70's, especially in classics like BLOW UP and DEEP RED.

I was delighted to see him have a minor comeback in the last few years with colorful roles in GLADIATOR and GANGS OF NEW YORK, though I being quite startled the moment I recognized him in GLADIATOR and was shocked at how bloated and out of shape he'd become. A great, distinctive and gravelly voice in latter years as well...