Released March 4, 1976 (U.K.), July, 1976 (U.S.); 92 minutes; Technicolor; a Hammer-Terra-Anglo Production; an EMI Release (U.K.), a Cine Artists Release (U.S.); filmed at MGM/ EMI Studios, Elstree, England, and on location in Berlin and West Germany; Director: Peter Sykes; Producer: Roy Skeggs; Screenplay: Chris Wicking, based on the novel by Dennis Wheatley; Adaptation by: John Peacock; Director of Photography: David Watkin; Camera: Ron Robson; Continuity: Sally Jones; Production Manager: Ron Jackson; Production Assistant: Jean Clarkson; Assistant Director: Barry Langley; 2nd Assistant Director: Mike Higgins; 3rd Assistant Director: Roy Stevens; Art Director: Don Picton; Special Effects: Les Bowie; Hairdresser: Jeannette Freeman; Makeup: Eric Allwright, George Blackler; Music: Paul Glass; Musical Supervisor: Philip Martell; Sound Recordist: Dennis Whitlock; Costumes: Laura Nightingale; Wardrobe: Eddie Boyce; Editor: John Trumper; Casting: Irene Lamb; Stills Photographer: Ray Hearne; Publicity: Mike Russell; Sound Editor: Mike Le Mare, G.B.F.C.; Recording Director: Tony Lumkin; Dubbing Mixer: Bill Rowe; Construction Manager: Wag Hammerton; Gaffer: Ted Hallows; Production Accountant: Ken Gordon; U.K. Certificate: X; MPAA Rating: R.
Two big stars could not save this feeble Dennis Wheatley adaptation.
Richard Widmark (John Verney), Christopher Lee (Father Michael), Nastassja Kinski (Catherine), Honor Blackman (Anna Fountain), Michael Goodliffe (George), Denholm Elliott (Henry Beddows), Eva Marie Meinke (Eveline de Grasse), Anthony Valentine (David), Petra Peters (Sister Helle), Derek Francis (The Bishop), Isabella Telezynska (Margaret), Constantin de Guguel (Kolde), Anna Bentinck (Isabel), Frances de la Tour (Salvation Army Major), Irene Prador (German Matron), Brian Wilde (Attendant), William Rideoutt (Porter at Airport), Howard Goorney (Critic), Zoe Hendry (First Girl), Mindy Benson (Second Girl), Jo Peters (Third Girl), Bobby Sparrow (Fourth Girl).
Excommunicated priest “Father” Michael (Christopher Lee) engineers his godchild Catherine’s (Nastassja Kinski) return from Bavaria to England to celebrate her eighteenth birthday on All-Hallows Eve. In London, occult expert John Verney (Richard Widmark) is begged by her father, Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott), to free her from a satanic cult. After her arrival, Verney takes Catherine to his apartment where she has a horrific dream about the birth of a demonic child. Verney asks his friends Anna (Honor Blackman) and David (Anthony Valentine) to help protect her. Michael, with Eveline (Eva Marie Meinke) and George de Grasse (Michael Goodliffe), principals of Catherine’s Bavarian “convent,” establish an occult contact with her. Verney learns from the Bishop (Derek Francis) that twenty years ago, Michael attempted to bring the demon Astaroth into the world through a human host, and had been excommunicated. He plans to do so again, using Catherine.
Under Michael’s influence, Catherine kills Anna and escapes from the apartment. After confronting Beddows, Verney and David go to an abandoned church where they find the symbol of the demon—a necklace that incinerates David. Beddows tells Verney that Catherine is to be baptized in the blood of Astaroth’s demon child, which will transform her into the devil himself. Verney challenges Michael in the abandoned cemetery, and turns Astaroth’s power against him, saving both himself and Catherine.
Christopher Lee and Nastassja Kinski star in Hammer’s final horror film, To the Devil … A Daughter (photo courtesy of Tim Murphy).
To the Devil … A Daughter, Hammer’s last horror, was too little, too late. By the time this film of Dennis Wheatley’s novel was released in the spring of 1976, blockbusters like The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976), covering similar territory, had claimed the market. Instead of being on the leading edge, Hammer was uncharacteristically cashing in. Since Hammer had had the rights to Wheatley’s book since February, 1964, the company could have beaten them all. However, when Anthony Nelson-Keys left Hammer and, with Christopher Lee, formed Charlemagne Productions, they took with them the rights to To the Devil … A Daughter.
After failing to get backing, Lee and Keys went back to Hammer. “The script at that time,” said Peter Sykes (Bizarre), “was by Brian Hayles. Hammer was going to make it as a co-production with Charlemagne. When it came time for Charlemagne to produce some money, they couldn’t, and Charlemagne went out of business. Lee and Keys sold the rights to Hammer, but they had Lee on contract to star in the film.”
Roy Skeggs’ production was scheduled for June, 1974, then postponed to January, 1975, and finally began on September 3. Peter Sykes was not impressed with the Hayles script and called in Chris Wicking. The film was to be released in Britain by EMI, who arranged for co-financing through Terra Filmkunst, a German company. The deal hinged on Hammer’s casting a German in a leading role. Meanwhile, problems continued with the script, centering on its unsatisfying climax.
The search for an American actor for the lead added to Hammer’s problems, with Richard Chamberlain, Kris Kristofferson, Cliff Robertson, and Richard Dreyfuss suggested. Finally, Richard Widmark, who had just completed Murder on the Orient Express, was signed. Nastassja Kinski satisfied the German backers’ requirement on the pivotal female role. The teenagers’ nude scenes gave the film some much needed publicity, but added little to it.
During the film’s eight week schedule, location work was done in the Rhineland and the Dashwood Mausoleum. To the Devil … A Daughter went into general release on the ABC circuit on March 4, 1976. American International had shown some interest in the picture, but Cine/Artists picked it up for a limited U.S. release in July. Reviewers in both Britain and America were unimpressed. The Financial Times (March 5, 1976): “The film spends a mountain of time constructing its molehill of a plot”; The Evening Standard (March 4): “It reduces Dennis Wheatley’s Satanist novel to an obsession with gynecological deliveries, bloodstained wombs, and sacrificed babies”; The Daily Express (March 5): “If we are going to have horror films, they should at least be constructed with some sense of logic within their own terms”; Films and Filming (April): “About as artistic as picking one’s nose in public”; and Variety (March 10): “Lack lustre occult melodrama.” Other than Denholm Elliott’s performance, the film has little to recommend it. Hammer’s last horror was a sad affair, and a clear indication that the company had lost its way.