Eye of the Devil

1966

Action / Crime / Horror / Mystery

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 56% · 3 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 56% · 500 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 3638 3.6K

husband wife relationship france black magic family secrets archery

Plot summary

A French nobleman deserts his wife because of an ancient family secret.

Director

J. Lee Thompson Photo
J. Lee Thompson

Top cast

Edward Mulhare Photo
Edward Mulhare as Jean-Claude Ibert
Arthur Goodman Photo
Arthur Goodman as Villager
Sharon Tate Photo
Sharon Tate as Odile de Caray
John Le Mesurier Photo
John Le Mesurier as Dr. Monnet
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
879.84 MB
1280*766
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 1
1.59 GB
1792*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 35 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lost-in-limbo 7 / 10

"You can never understand".

Curiously solid, little occult psychological thriller that's sinisterly gloomy and consists of a banged-up ensemble cast featuring names like David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasance, David Hemming and Sharon Tate. A wealthy French nobleman returns back to his home town, along with his wife and children to help out with the town's failing vineyard. When there he tries to keep it secret from his wife, but she soon discovers the family tradition of Pagan sacrifice . The professionally classy performances are fitting, especially the support roles with Hemming and Tate really embellishing a creepy presence. Same for a cold-glazed Pleasance. Director J. Lee Thompson's atmospheric touch shows in many frames of this crisp b/w presentation, from the spooky castle, to the watching townsfolk and a disorientating chase scene through the castles nearby forest. It's attractively photographed, where Thompson also goes about providing some frenetic camera angles to lay out the anxiety of the circumstances. Despite some short-lived pockets, tension seems to be replaced by glum atmospherics in what feels like a slow-burn mood piece with a stringently compounded script breathing plenty of mystery and intrigue from that dark secret formula. Some things are not entirely explained, but it gives in to a devilish ending, but it's a very long build up to its foreseeable payoff. Some motions and actions of Kerr's concerned, but caring mother figure were somewhat an irritation. Niven is fine as the man tormented by his ancestral responsibilities, but it doesn't ask too much from him. While Kerr was the opposite with her emotive turn. The music score is melodically haunting in its angelic cues. A wickedly sleepy black mass thriller."Drive out of this valley. Never come back.".
Reviewed by moonspinner55 5 / 10

Perhaps the devil made 'em do it?

Good cast, good director (J. Lee Thompson)...so what went wrong? Despite a sumptuous production and handsome locales, thriller about an ancient French estate needing a human sacrifice to restore life to the dying grape vineyards is frantic and confusing. The editing is such a hodgepodge, it's as though the negative got crammed into a blender. How else to explain the total lack of character content, the muddled continuity, or the perplexing plot itself? Also referred to as "13", the title-switcheroo proved unlucky for everyone, maybe most especially Sharon Tate (who does look gorgeous and has one neat scene where she changes a toad into a dove). Tate wanders through the film in a passive fog, and is later the victim to a whip-snapper; she gets an 'introducing' credit here, just as she did for 1967's "Don't Make Waves", though neither film is memorable nor uses her adequately. Poor miscast David Niven has nasty bags under his eyes, and his repartee with old friend Deborah Kerr (brought in after Kim Novak was either let go or dropped out) has no nuances--they seem like strangers. ** from ****
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