Devils Of Darkness / Witchcraft | 
 enlarge | Directors: Lance Comfort, Don Sharp
Actors: William Sylvester, Hubert Noël, Carole Gray, Tracy Reed (ii), Diana Decker
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $8.07
You Save: $6.91 (46%)
New (38) Used (9) from $6.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 25084
Format: Black & White, Color, Dvd-video, Widescreen, Ntsc
Language: French (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 203
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 2245976
UPC: 024543459767
EAN: 0024543459767
ASIN: B000RXVNCY
Theatrical Release Date: September 1964
Release Date: September 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
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Product Description
Includes:Disc 1: Devils of Darkness (1965)Disc 2: Witchcraft (B&W) (1964)System Requirements:Running Time: 167 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR/CLASSICS Rating: NR UPC: 024543459767 Manufacturer No: 2245976
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Arresting visuals make for zesty vampire offering. August 11, 2008
Much better than often reported, this beautifully photographed British horror is a well upholstered turn down the familiar vampire path, enlivened by some delicious tongue in cheek. Directed by cult director Lance Comfort, (see Brian MacFarlane's monograph on his career) the film opens with a dazzling dance sequence set amidst a mid forest gypsy encampment, interrupted by the first burst of horror--accompanied by a swooping bat and a gust of wind.
These forest sequences are visually arresting, and include an eerie torch light parade photographed in reflection from a lake's surface.
As for the story, it concerns a modern day male vampire, (equipped with Louis Jourdan accent and beautifully cut suits) who turns out to be reincarnated from the ancient past.
Despite some dull detective sequences, (of the type that slow down Bava's "Blood and Black Lace") the picture manages an effective array of diverse settings including forest sequences, a country manor house, a catacomb lair, a jammed to the rafters antique shoppe, an artists' atelier, the reading room of the British Museum and a groovy bachelorette pad that is host to one of the screen's all time campiest cocktail parties.
Indeed, this sequence, replete with the Watusi, and Frug, and featuring an array of cigarette puffing (with holders!) extras that seem to have been recruited between takes from the sets of "Darling" and "A Taste of Honey", (one keeps looking for Julie Christie to appear) is guaranteed to elicit howls. And if that doesn't catch you, please note that Diana Decker's wardrobe had the female audience cooing at a recent screening.
Moreover, the climax, featuring a cave in which destroys the vampire clan, is well staged and shot.
Picture seems influenced by Don Sharp's superb "Kiss of the Vampire," and while it doesn't hold a candle to that stellar feather in Hammer's cap, it does emerge as an interesting and zesty contemporary take on the same theme.
 All Part Of The Vast Satanic Conspiracy... December 3, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is one of my favorite Midnite Movie double features so far! DEVILS OF DARKNESS has Hubert Noel as the evil, undead Sinistré; the leader of a satanic cult of ne'er-do-wells. Sinistré has returned from his long dirt-nap in order to take a bride from among the living. DOD is packed full of interesting / strange characters and plenty of fun hocus pocus. WITCHCRAFT has Lon Chaney jr. as Morgan Whitlock, head of a family w/ long ties to witchcraft and devil-worship. He's upset that the Lanier family, the descendents of the very people who (centuries earlier) killed many Whitlocks as witches, is now destroying their ancestral graveyard! This one really gets going when Vanessa Whitlock (Yvette Rees) rises from her cold earth in order to exact vengeance. She is the perfect ghoul (in a Barbara Steele/Vampira way). Both of these movies are re-watchable and make for a great Saturday afternoon creepfest...
two for one! November 5, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I adore these multi-discs.It's a grand opportunity to catch up on old 'friends' without breaking the bank.Witchcraft is a particular favourite of ours - nicely constructed and with a suitably fiery ending.
Chaney Jnr was wonderful and the ensemble did him proud.
Devils of darkness was a Sunday-for-one-day-only at the movies, with an occasional airing on TV.Nice to own it now - and what a beautiful print.
I Put a Spell On You October 31, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I gotta be honest, I don't remember that much about these, and I only saw them a week ago. I suppose that says something. As I recall, they both has a nice Cold War paranoia about them, and were pretty typical for horror films of the period. Themes of emerging sexuality, xenophobia, and challenges to the Capitalist authoritarian patriarchy may be read between the lines (I guess here between the frames). Good films to do your taxes by.
Witchcraft - good 60's b&w witch movie October 27, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
For those who enjoy British and Italian b&w horror films from the 60's like City of the Dead/Horror Hotel, The Mask of Satan/Black Sunday, Night of the Eagle/Burn Witch Burn, Danse Macabre/Castle of Blood, etc, you just might like Witchcraft as well. And especially if you like creepy, haunting witches, like Elizabeth Selwyn in Horror Hotel and Asa the vampire witch in Black Sundy, I think you will find Vanessa Whitlock, the resurrected witch in Witchcraft, to be in some ways the most chilling of all. Yvette Rees plays Vanessa, and she plays the character as much less animated than Elizabeth or Asa. In fact, she doesn't say a word in the whole film, but Rees' understated performance works, conveying a cold, icy feeling. I agree with other reviewers that the cinematography is good, with well lit scenes; the script and acting for the most part are good; and there are nice, eerie touches, like when Vanessa Whitlock breathes onto the voodoo doll of her next victim. Are there flaws in the film? Yes, as in other b-movies of this era, but I agree with Phil Hardy in the Encyclopedia of Horror when he describes Witchcraft as "quietly effective" and "better than average."
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