Eye of the Devil (1967)

Eye of the Devil is a 1967 film with occult and supernatural themes.

David Niven plays the owner of a vineyard, who is called back to the estate when it falls on hard times. Accompanied by his wife (Deborah Kerr), the couple are confronted by a beautiful witch (Sharon Tate), who also lives on the estate with her brother (David Hemmings).

When Philippe de Montfaucon (the Marquis de Bellac) is informed that for the 3d successive year his vineyards near Bordeaux have failed to produce, he instructs his wife, Catherine, to remain in Paris and then leaves for his ancestral chateau. But Catherine, disturbed by his behavior, follows a few days later with their two children.

Upon arriving at the chateau, she is greeted coldly by Countess Estelle (Flora Robson), Philippe's aunt, diffidently by Père Dominic (Donald Pleasence), the local priest, and disdainfully by the menacing Christian de Caray and his equally hostile sister, Odile. Informed that her husband has gone to a nearby town for the day, Catherine wanders into a chamber in the chateau and accidentally spies Philippe and 12 other men engaged in a mystic ceremonial rite.

She is soon afterward terrorized in the Bellac woods by 12 hooded men, and later she learns that Philippe's father, believed dead, is actually living in a turret of the chateau. From him she hears of the dreadful fate her husband has set for himself: tradition decrees that whenever the vines fail for 3 years the head of the Montfaucon family must offer his life's blood as a sacrifice to the barren earth. Horrified, Catherine races from the chateau to summon help. But she is stopped by Père Dominic and taken back to Bellac, while Philippe and the 12 hooded horsemen ride through the village. She escapes but is too late to prevent the death ritual as Christian shoots an arrow into her husband's heart.

The next day Catherine leaves with her children, vowing never to return. But she is unaware of the significant glances exchanged between Père Dominic and her young son, Jacques. The new Marquis de Bellac already knows that the ancient tradition must be carried on.

Filmed in 1965, it featured the first film performance of Tate, who was cast by Filmways executive Martin Ransohoff who hailed her as his great discovery. Finally released two years later it attracted little attention, however The New York Times wrote of Tate's "chillingly beautiful but expressionless" performance. Although it was not a commercial success in the United States when first released, it was popular in Europe, and it has acquired a degree of cult status, largely due to its surreal themes, and the 1969 murder of Tate.

The film is also known by the titles Thirteen and 13.

Directed by J. Lee Thompson, Eye of the Devil is one of the last major B&W studio releases. The film had a troubled production history. The female lead had been Kim Novak, but when she was injured during filming, Deborah Kerr took over and had to reshoot all of her scenes - a costly and troublesome process. However, this meant that Kerr was reunited with her Separate Tables co-star David Niven (the pair would be seen on screen again the following year in Casino Royale).

The film is disturbing from minute one, largely because it is devoid of any humor whatsoever. Every minute exudes a sense of menace. The cinematography adds greatly to the tension and the cast is highly watchable, even if no one attempts to hide their full-throated British accents while playing French characters. (The exteriors were shot in France, the interiors were filmed at MGM's Borehamwood Studios). The movie is consistently engrossing, even if it never reaches the level one might expect, given the sterling cast. Tate makes a significant visual impression, but it should be noted that her immaculate British accent was dubbed.