Eye of the Devil (1966)
Directed by J. Lee Thompson
This ones a true hidden gem. It's hard to believe it's not more well known than it is. The cast is crazy, Deborah Kerr (The Innocents), David Niven (The Pink Panther), Donald Pleasence (Halloween), David Hemmings (Blow Up, Deep Red), and introducing Sharon Fucking Tate (The Fearless Vampire Killers). On top of that it's directed by J. Lee Thompson, the man behind Cape Fear. That's a pretty impressive roster, for a film that only got a DVD release a couple of years ago.
An impressive list of names wouldn't mean much if the film it self wasn't any good, but Eye of the Devil is a great slow burning Occult Thriller, with major thematic connections to the Later film The Wicker Man (1973). David Niven plays a French aristocrat who must return to his ancestral lands to deal with a crop failure. His plan is to leave his wife (Deborah Kerr), and kids in Paris till the situation is sorted out, but Kerr follows, children in tow a few days later. The film then follows Kerr as a fish out of water, as she tries to make sense of the strange goings on, and her even stranger in-laws, in the bizarrely backward rural setting. There aren't a lot of "Boo" type scares here, but there is a wonderful sense of dread that grows as we move slowly toward the eventual sacrifice.
This is a moody, atmospheric film, that builds toward an intense climax. It's got great performances form it's cast, and a solid score. If you like the earlier film The City of the Dead (1960), or later films like The Wicker Man, or Linkeroever (Left Bank) (2008), search this one out. You won't be disappointed.
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