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To the Devil... a Daughter (1976) Country of Origin: UK / West Germany PRODUCTION SCRIPT DIRECTION PHOTOGRAPHY EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION MUSIC SOUND MAKE UP AND COSTUMES SPECIAL EFFECTS DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION OTHER CREW LOCATIONS STUNTS CAST PLOT SUMMARY Father Michael Rayner is excommunicated for his heretical devotion to Astaroth, demonic Lord of the Flies. He and his followers embark on a 20 year project to create a human host for Astaroth in the shape of Catherine who was bequeathed to the sect by her mother as she died in a grisly ceremony and who has since been raised by devil-worshipping nuns. Catherine is abducted by author John Verney at the request of her father, Henry Beddows who is still tied to the cult by a curse that ill result in his death by fire should he ever cross them. But Catherine is already under the spell of Rayner and the frog-like mutant baby that he plans to fuse with her to help restore Astaroth to human form... A budget of some $1 million, the largest that Hammer had ever played with, paid for some interesting performers and some handsome visuals but precious little else. To the Devil a Daughter is a well-intentioned disaster, despite a Wicking script and an impressive cast. Limply directed by Sykes, this was Hammer completely failing to understand what it was that was making the American horror films so successful, constantly looking back forlornly at past glories while embarrassingly fumbling to grasp the new dynamics of the genre. Better than average special effects and a strong performance from Lee as the demonic priest do little to save To the Devil a Daughter and the botched ending was a sad way for Hammer to conclude their long and noble run of horror films. UK USA Australia Germany Spain Sweden UK USA 1975 October December 1976 May July September 1977 1980 1999 2001 The evil power of black magic has fascinated millions of cinema-goers. First... "Rosemary's Baby." Then... "The Exorcist." And now a motion picture that probes further into the mysteries of the occult than any has dared before! Die Braut des Satans - German title MAGAZINES Cinefantastique vol.5 no.2 (Autumn 1976)
p.26 (USA) Dark Terrors no.1 (January 1992) pp.7-10
(UK) Film-Echo / Filmwoche no.32 (8 June 1988)
p.6 (Germany) Film Review vol.26 (March 1976) pp.34-35
(UK) Films and Filming vol.22 no.7 (April
1976) pp.39-40 (UK) The House That Hammer Built no.8 (April
1998) pp.462-465 (UK) Little Shoppe of Horrors no.4 (April
1978) p.14 (USA) Little Shoppe of Horrors no.12 (April
1994) pp.65-72 (USA) Monthly Film Bulletin vol.43 no.506 (March
1976) p.64 (UK) Photoplay vol.23 (March 1976) pp.22-25
(UK) Radio Times vol.250 no.3275 (30 August
1986) p.70 (UK) Screen International no.4 (27 September
1975) pp.14-15 (UK) Screen International no.25 (28 February
1976) p.12 (UK) Variety 10 March 1976 p.22 (USA) BOOKS English Gothic pp.228-229 The Hammer Story pp.166-167 Ten Years of Terror pp.254-256 KEYWORDS book into film, satanism, priests, demons, nuns, the occult, possession, rituals, the supernatural, writers
Last Updated: 1 January, 2009
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