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| Deborah Kerr |
Phillipe de Montfaucon (David Niven) lives in Paris with his wife, Catherine (Deborah Kerr), and their two beautiful children, Jacques (Robert Duncan) and Toni (Suky Appeby). Learning that there is a possibility that his vineyards back in his ancestral home of Bellenac may be failing, Phillipe returns there and tells Catherine to stay in Paris with the children. But Catherine misses her husband and brings the children to his side, where she discovers strange things are going on around the Castle Bellenac. Men in black robes gather in underground rooms and in the forest, and also hovering about are a strange brother and sister team, Christian (David Hemmings). who shoots doves with his bow and arrow, and Odile (Sharon Tate), who seems to have magical powers. Catherine eventually figures out exactly why her husband came back to Bellenac, but she may be too late to save him ... Eye of the Devil predates both The Wicker Man and Thomas Tryon's novel Harvest Home, both of which also deal with pagan sacrifice, but there's something a little off in this movie. Niven and Kerr, along with Edward Mulhare, Flora Robson, Donald Pleasence and little Robert Duncan all give good performances, but there doesn't seem to be much of an attempt to create real tension or a sense of encroaching dread until the admittedly effective climax. Two sequences when Jacques and then his mother nearly fall to their deaths from the castle roof are also taut. Sharon Tate [Valley of the Dolls] had appeared in one film and several TV shows before she was "introduced" in this movie, and she is perfectly cast and adept (if possibly dubbed) as the very strange and rather sinister Odile. Hemmings [Deep Red] has less to do but maintains the proper spooky attitude.
Verdict: Not entirely successful and slightly supernatural thriller. **1/2.
Very interesting, Bill, I like your read on this film, though I like it much more than you seem to. You are right, there is something off kilter about the film, it doesn't entirely work, though there are some very atmospheric elements and a few chills, and great actors in it. But the pacing is wrong, the suspense doesn't build...
ReplyDeleteI read that Sharon Tate's voice was entirely overdubbed here, could that be one of the reasons the whole film rings false? Maybe...(though I read somewhere that Tate assiduously practiced and took lessons to acquire the British accent. What do you think??)
I don't know why, but I like it! David Niven and Deborah Kerr can do no wrong! LOL
-Chris
Yes, they are both fine actors. As for Tate's voice, I admit the accent threw me, but if she's dubbed it must have been a very carefully synced job because it doesn't seem apparent. I thought she was good, whoever's voice it was, and it might well have been hers.
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