Well, this is rural creepy done correctly--with an authentic French gothic castle, no less. Deborah Kerr spends most of the time trying to figure out why Sharon Tate and David Hemmings are trying to scare, or even kill her. Kerr's husband, played by a very low-key David Niven, acts like it's no big deal. She just doesn't get that the locals are, you know, traditional. Like pagan, satanist, human-sacrifice sort of traditions.
One supernatural thing is how Niven and Kerr managed to have two very young children; they're old enough to be the kids' grandparents. We learn that the drug belladonna "promotes states of trance...religious ecstasy." Kerr certainly has weird experiences: nearly plunging to her death over a castle parapet, and surrounded and tormented by hooded figures in the woods. Donald Pleasance is pretty good as the village priest.
In fact, the whole village is under a sort of Brigadoon-like enchantment. But in a dark, unsettling way. The presence of the monkish figures, and the witchy Tate and Hemmings, leaves a macabre impression, even on church services. There's a sense of impending doom that keeps our interest. What we have is a doubling, or convergence of the sacred and profane: the priest, among others, has a side-job in the pagan stuff. "The earth has to have sacrifice" Niven's father tells Kerr. Well, a bad crop means someone has to go, or, rather, to pay. That's how Niven's family, the Montfalcons, have kept the village appeased since medieval times.
That's a tidy premise for the horror genre. But it's hard to see how Kerr's character could've avoided her husband's dark side all this time--a run of good harvests, I guess. I would've been more intrigued to have the Montfalcons in the background, and the de Carays (Tate and Hemmings) as the main characters. Their roles are far more interesting. In a word, the de Carays are more devilish.
As we wind toward the end, the hooded guys trot by with Phillip (Niven) as their prisoner. Looks like Christian (Hemmings) gets to do the honors by zapping Niven with an arrow from his stout bow. Catherine (Kerr) vows "I shall never come here again." Man, I bet the locals are humbled now. We see the sacrifice has worked: a drenching rain occurs just as Catherine leaves with the kids.
As I've hinted, there's a naturally spooky atmosphere, which is enhanced by the pagan stuff. Nonetheless, Niven and Kerr, for opposite reasons, don't seem to fit in here. It doesn't help that the first sequence plays like an ordinary upper-middle-class family drama; then suddenly, we're in a different movie. Neither of the leads really seemed comfortable or believable traversing this mythic terrain.
I was disappointed, because although there were so many aspects in place here, and a great cast (Niven and Kerr made so many fine movies), the script and plot weren't quite able to support the visual elements.
One supernatural thing is how Niven and Kerr managed to have two very young children; they're old enough to be the kids' grandparents. We learn that the drug belladonna "promotes states of trance...religious ecstasy." Kerr certainly has weird experiences: nearly plunging to her death over a castle parapet, and surrounded and tormented by hooded figures in the woods. Donald Pleasance is pretty good as the village priest.
In fact, the whole village is under a sort of Brigadoon-like enchantment. But in a dark, unsettling way. The presence of the monkish figures, and the witchy Tate and Hemmings, leaves a macabre impression, even on church services. There's a sense of impending doom that keeps our interest. What we have is a doubling, or convergence of the sacred and profane: the priest, among others, has a side-job in the pagan stuff. "The earth has to have sacrifice" Niven's father tells Kerr. Well, a bad crop means someone has to go, or, rather, to pay. That's how Niven's family, the Montfalcons, have kept the village appeased since medieval times.
That's a tidy premise for the horror genre. But it's hard to see how Kerr's character could've avoided her husband's dark side all this time--a run of good harvests, I guess. I would've been more intrigued to have the Montfalcons in the background, and the de Carays (Tate and Hemmings) as the main characters. Their roles are far more interesting. In a word, the de Carays are more devilish.
As we wind toward the end, the hooded guys trot by with Phillip (Niven) as their prisoner. Looks like Christian (Hemmings) gets to do the honors by zapping Niven with an arrow from his stout bow. Catherine (Kerr) vows "I shall never come here again." Man, I bet the locals are humbled now. We see the sacrifice has worked: a drenching rain occurs just as Catherine leaves with the kids.
As I've hinted, there's a naturally spooky atmosphere, which is enhanced by the pagan stuff. Nonetheless, Niven and Kerr, for opposite reasons, don't seem to fit in here. It doesn't help that the first sequence plays like an ordinary upper-middle-class family drama; then suddenly, we're in a different movie. Neither of the leads really seemed comfortable or believable traversing this mythic terrain.
I was disappointed, because although there were so many aspects in place here, and a great cast (Niven and Kerr made so many fine movies), the script and plot weren't quite able to support the visual elements.