Movie Review: To The Devil A Daughter (1976)

Genre: Occult Horror  

Director: Peter Sykes  

Starring: Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Denholm Elliott, Nastassja Kinski, Honor Blackman  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: In London, occult author John Verney (Richard Widmark) accepts a request from Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to hide Henry's daughter Catherine (Nastassja Kinski). She was raised as a nun in seclusion by excommunicated priest Father Rayner (Christopher Lee), who has plans to unleash a version of Satan with a ceremonial baptism on Catherine's 18th birthday. John has to protect Catherine and find a way to stop Rayner's plot.

What Works Well: This low-budget Anglo-German Hammer adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's book benefits from a high caliber cast. A beady-eyed Christopher Lee revels as a dark side priest, Denholm Elliott is sweaty and flustered as a father trapped in a Faustian pact, Richard Widmark is serviceable, and Nastassja Kinski suitably mysterious. Director Peter Sykes conjures up some effective moments of sexualized suspenseful disgust. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Some plot details appear to be either incoherent or made up on the fly, the sinister conspiracy is barely explained, and after 20 years of plotting and with apparent supernatural powers at their disposal, the evil doers are all too easily stumped by a stuffy author. The budget limitations are exposed by choppy or inconsistent audio, editing, and cinematography.

Key Quote:

Verney: 98 percent of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks by dancing naked in freezing church yards. They use the Devil as an excuse for getting some sex. But then there's that other two percent. I'm not so sure about them.

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