 Decemberdike
December 9th
To The Devil a Daughter (1976)
Christopher Lee plays a defrocked, devil-worshipping Catholic priest who convinces a man (Denholm Elliott) to sign over his daughter, Catherine, (Nastassja Kinski) so she will become the devils' representative on earth on her 18th birthday. As the time draws near the two (and Richard Widmark) become locked in a deadly battle over possession of the innocent girl's soul.
The final horror film from the studio that dripped blood. To The Devil a Daughter is one of Hammer's great unsung films. The film has strong occult influences, but it's modern day setting takes it out of any fantasy story and as with The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976) the contemporary setting makes it all the more believable and indeed terrifying.
The final showdown between Lee and Widmark is unfortunately a bit of a let down and it passes by in a blur of wildly coloured film stock, however there's plenty of occult nastiness before hand to make up for it including a naked Lee (probably a stand in) taking the virginal Catherine on the altar and a frankly disgusting sequence with a demonic baby literally giving her head. These sequences are genuinely grim and should have inspired Hammer's direction into the 80's but alas it was not to be.
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December 10th
Slaughterhouse Rock (1987)
Fairly dreary and hard to sit through slasher horror set on Alcatraz island. It's a muddled mess that features too many dream like sequences, cannibals, soul transference, bad 80's pop rock and Toni Basil.
The poster is far more memorable than the film itself.
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