The Devil Rides Out is a 1968 British horror film directed by Terence Fisher and based on Dennis Wheatley’s 1934 novel of the same name. Starring Christopher Lee, Charles Gray and Niké Arrighi, it follows the Duc de Richleau as he tries to save a young friend from a Satanic cult led by the sinister Mocata. Unlike many Hammer films in which Lee played the monster or villain, this time he is cast as the heroic force opposing evil, which helps give the film a slightly different place within the studio’s horror catalogue. It is now widely regarded as one of Hammer’s strongest occult films, combining black magic, apocalyptic dread and period atmosphere with unusual seriousness.
Although much of the film has the enclosed, carefully controlled feel associated with Hammer, it also made effective use of real English locations. One of the most important was the Edgwarebury Hotel, now known simply as The Manor, in Elstree, Hertfordshire, which served as the country house of Richard and Marie Eaton and appears repeatedly in arrival scenes and exterior views. The wooded and more threatening outdoor material was filmed in Black Park in Buckinghamshire, one of the most frequently used landscapes in British genre cinema, whose lakeside roads and dense tree cover helped create the film’s eerie sense of isolation. Other identified locations connected with the production include High Canons in Borehamwood and Grims Dyke House in Harrow Weald, while the film’s main interiors were completed at Bray Studios. Together, these places give the film a very specifically English character, rooted in manor houses, parkland and secluded countryside rather than in exotic or fantastical settings.
High Canons
High Canons appears in The Devil Rides Out, The Satanic Rites of Dracula, Murder on the Orient Express, Half Moon Street, and many more.
The Manor Elstree
The Manor Elstree has appeared in productions including School for Scoundrels, The Devil Rides Out, A Clockwork Orange, Stardust, Hot Fuzz, and many more.
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