The last of the original Hammer horror films, what began with a bang in the form of "The Curse of Frankenstein" 19 years earlier ends with a whimper here. I suppose that it's appropriate that Christopher Lee was there at the beginning and the end. On the bright side, Lee is characteristically excellent as the intense and suitably creepy Father Michael Rayner, an excommunicated Catholic priest and the leader of a group of Satanists called the Children of Our Lord. This was his last Hammer film until "The Resident" 35 years later. Honor Blackman and Denholm Elliott, who makes his only Hammer appearance here, were also very good but their roles were less well developed. The same is true of Michael Goodliffe in his final film appearance. Unfortunately, he committed suicide only two weeks after it was released. Richard Widmark is quite a good leading man but the more likable and charismatic Cliff Robertson was considered for John Verney and I wish that he had been cast instead. It's interesting that, towards the end of its original incarnation, Hammer returned to its early to mid 1950s practice of hiring well known American actors in the hope that they would appeal to American audiences, something which they only really did with Bette Davis and Joan Fontaine in the 1960s. I have never seen Nastassja Kinski in anything else but I can't say that I was terribly impressed by her acting in the film, though in fairness I am sure that it is difficult to act in a language that isn't your first one, particularly for child actors.Due to the storyline, the fact that it is based on a Dennis Wheatley novel and Lee's presence, it's impossible not to compare the film to the superlative "The Devil Rides Out" but it falls far short of that film in every respect, I'm afraid. It's badly structured and often boring. As part of the final scene was cut, it ends very abruptly. It seems to owe more to films like "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Exorcist" than it does to any of Hammer's very best films. It also has some superficial similarities to "The Omen", though that is only a coincidence since that film was released three months later. What really bothered me about though was the fact that it was needlessly gory in the way that earlier Hammer films never were. The weird sex scenes were disturbing and I don't mean that in a good, horror film way. They were particularly so since they involved Nastassja Kinski who was only 14 years old at the time in spite of the fact that she played an 18-year-old. She also had a full frontal nude scene towards the end of the film. It wasn't illegal at the time in the UK but was certainly in very poor taste. I never thought that I'd come across a scene in a Hammer film more tasteless than the incongruous rape scene in "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" which was designed to add sex appeal to that film but I was proved wrong, unfortunately. Could they not have hired an older actress? Even if they had, the nude scene still wouldn't have added anything to the film but it would have at least been less shameless and exploitative.Overall, this isn't the worst Hammer horror film - I still think that that dubious distinction goes to "The Horror of Frankenstein" - but it's very close. It was released in 1976, two years after the last Hammer "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" films. 1975 was the first year since 1946 that Hammer did not release at least one film. This film was a co-production with West Germany while "The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires" and "Shatter" were co-productions with Hong Kong so the studio was clearly running out of money faster than it was making it. The last original Hammer film was "The Lady Vanishes" in 1979, which managed to be even worse than this one (which, for all its flaws, has some nice performances). It was also a big flop that nearly bankrupted Hammer. While it made two short-lived TV series in the 1980s, "The Lady Vanishes" was the last film produced by Hammer until the studio, like Dracula in so many of its films, was resurrected in 2008.

An American occult novelist (Richard Widmark) battles to save the soul of a young nun (Nastassja Kinski) from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest (Christopher Lee), who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.As a White Zombie fan, I was thrilled to hear the Latin of the excommunication scene and finally know where one of their best songs took its clips from. That alone makes the movie satisfying (though it hardly carries the entire film).Despite being a Hammer film and featuring Christopher Lee, the film does not seem well-liked by many people. IMDb rates it below a 6 and Rotten Tomatoes has it holding a 17% approval rating. I feel obligated to defend it, if even just a little bit. I mean, wow, what a truly creepy and disturbing birthing ritual -- the blood, the bondage, Lee's diabolical grin... Oh, and that other ritual...I would say this film is a winner, despite the harsh criticism people seem to have for it. Some parts are a bit slow or bland, but the overall story is interesting and the imagery is fascinating. A lot of work was put into this one.

To the Devil a Daughter starts as Father Michael Rayner (Christopher Lee) is excommunicated, several years later & Father Rayner runs a Cathoic order named The Children of the Lord in Bavaria. A young nun with the order named Catherine (Nastassja Kinski) is soon to be turn eighteen, Catherine is allowed to fly home to London to spend her birthday with her father Henry (Denholm Elliott). However as Catherine's eighteenth birthday approaches father Raynor & The Children of the Lord have special plans for her, plans that terrify her father Henry who manages to persuade occult writer John Verney (Richard Widmark) to pick her up from the airport & look after her. Henry hopes this will be enough to protect Catherine from Father Raynoe & his Satan worshipping sect of followers but supernatural powers beyond their grasp are being used to prepare for the arrival of a Satanic demon named Astaroth & Catherine is vital to their plans...This English German co-production was directed by Peter Sykes & was Hammer Studios final theatrically released horror film, their last theatrically released film was actually the remake of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Lady Vanishes (1979) three years later & while To the Devil a Daughter may not be the most fondly remembered Hammer horror film I thought it was an interesting little occult thriller. The script was based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley (who apparently flat out promised that Hammer would never make another one of his books into a film after seeing it) & although I have not read Wheatley's book by all accounts it's meant to be totally different in very aspect apart from the title. To the Devil a Daughter is a little too complicated for it's own good, it also has lofty ambitions which Hammer couldn't accomplish on it's budget restraints with the extremely weak ending a prime example. Instead of a climactic battle between good & evil with Catherine's life at stake Richard Widmark throw's something at Christopher Lee, the screen turns a funny colour, there's a little bit of evil wind & that's it. The whole film, as complicated & sometimes confusing as it is builds up to absolutely nothing which is a pity. The script starts out promisingly with various things happening in both England & Germany that at first seem unconnected, of course the script tries to weave everything together in a tale of Satanists & their search for Catherine. At just under 90 minutes long To the Devil a Daughter is fairly slow, it concentrates on build-up & developing the story as it unfolds but it never quite sparkles, it never quite captivates or engrosses like the best films do. To the Devil a Daughter could have used a bit more fleshing out, some of it doesn't make that much sense & it feels a bit random at times & unfocused. Part thriller, part horror, part mystery To the Devil a Daughter is an unusual film that is maybe not the swansong for Hammer it could have been but is an interesting & watchable film despite it's flaws.I did like the story for To the Devil a Daughter & there's some striking images throughout, from blood soaked mutant babies to nude Satan worshipping to some very dated 70's fashions & hair styles. Hammer seemed to want to leave it's Victorian Gothic horror films behind & set it's films in the contemporary world, The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973) & this were prime examples but it didn't really work for them. I guess US occult horror like Rosemary's Baby (1968) & The Omen (1976) were just better & more effective & convincing than To the Devil a Daughter. This was also lacking in any real blood or gore or scares, there's devil foetus thing & a bit of blood but nothing else, in fact there's more nudity than horror with Nastassja Kinski, who had only fourteen or fifteen at the time of filming, going full frontal.This looks nice enough with decent production values, shot on location in Germany & England. The acting is a mixed bag, Christopher Lee is excellent as you would expect, Kinski is alright & looks nice while Widmark seems bored with some of his reactions unintentionally funny. Denholm Elliott, Honor Blackman & Anthony Valentine have nothing more than extended cameos.To the Devil a Daughter is an odd film that I am in two minds over, while it's confusing & narratively all over the place I liked the story & thought it was watchable with a very good cast. It's just a shame the end is such a let down after sticking with it for over an hour & twenty minutes. Probably not the film Hammer wanted to be remembered for.

This film is about a Satanic cult helmed by fallen priest, Christopher Lee. The film begins with him being defrocked and soon picks up 20 years later--after he's created an order of nuns who look just like Catholic ones. The difference is that they've devoted their lives to Beelzebub.A young nun (Nastassja Kinski) is being sent from their headquarters in Bavaria to London. However, her father (Denholm Elliott) seeks out the help of Richard Widmark, a noted author on the occult, to rescue Nastassja and prevent her from going through with a pact with Satan. Why exactly he picked Widmark is uncertain but the American spends much of the film trying to stop the Satanists from kidnapping the girl. The trouble is, it turns out she's rather willing to join them--which leads to a bizarre and confusing finale.After watching this film I watched one of the DVD extras ("To the Devil... The Death of Hammer") and those connected with the film (such as Christopher Lee and the film makers) were very disappointed in the film as well--particularly the sloppy ending that just didn't work at all. Thank goodness for some outside validation for my relatively low score! TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER started off well enough and set a great chilling mood. However, as the movie neared the climax, it just seemed that the film got lost and was frantically looking for its way. Well, the documentary confirms this in several ways. First, in a very foolish move (caused by the pending closure of the studio), the film began without a finished script! Re-writes were done up until the last minute and as a result the film seemed rather incoherent at times. Second, the ending which would have been a lot better (having Lee getting impaled) was removed because they realized it was pretty much identical with one of the Dracula films that Lee had already made for Hammer Studios. Instead, the improvised ending was both confusing and limp. Apparently, the message the ending tells us is to toss a big rock at evil and it will easily be defeated!! Additionally, someone decided to stick in a rather gross scene involving a stupid demon having sex with Nastassja Kinski. Lee described this scene as "pornographic" in the documentary. I just thought it was icky and stupid--after all, the demon was an obvious puppet--and a bad one at that.Overall, fans of Hammer films will probably be very disappointed--except for the card carrying cult members who ALWAYS see every Hammer film as a cinematic masterpiece. Others will no doubt find the film confusing and less and less enjoyable as the film progresses.A final note--There is a lot of nudity and blood in this film. Full-frontal nudity and several terrifically violent and bloody scenes make this a very BAD choice for the kids!!