1966’s Eye of the Devil is a curious film. It anticipates the folk horror genre which would only kick into gear a few years later. It has the feel of Polanski’s workaround that time. Strangely, he is two degrees of separation away from this production, at best, as his future wife Sharon Tate is in this. Even then, he didn’t meet her until the next year. And yet, this film also seems to foretell the coming age of supernatural horror which his Rosemary’s Baby would greatly influence.
David Niven and Deborah Kerr are a couple wealthy enough to host a black-tie party where everybody is thrilled to watch an expert harpist perform his art. Only the most wealthy are thrilled to watch anybody play the harp who isn’t Harpo Marx. In the middle of this party, Niven is called away for a visitor who has brought news of the grape crop failing. He informs Kerr he must return to his ancestral home in the Bordeaux region of France to address the crisis. One wonders what exactly he could do in such a situation.
We see him as he drives alone through the village and to the castle that has been in his family for hundreds of years. All along the route he takes, the citizens doff their caps, as if this is still a fiefdom. What is funny is we see many of those same people later when Kerr decides to go there with the children in tow, and everybody is very displeased to see them.
Niven also isn’t pleased to see his family arrive, yet he tries to acts as normally as possible. Still, he seems to eerily zone out when he drones on about his responsibility to the people, though he is incredibly vague on exact what he must do for them. Regardless of what that may be, it is obvious sacrifices must be made.
There’s all kinds of intrigue happening around this vast estate. There’s secret ceremonies with robed figures. A painting of Niven’s grandfather has in one corner a group of such figures in a circle around a man, suggesting this ritual goes back an extremely long time. If Kerr is smart, she won’t put her trust in anybody. Even the village priest (Donald Pleasance) seems to be hiding something. Also, there’s a curious number of British people in this provincial French town, such as John Le Mesurier as the local doctor. Apparently, that was just questionable casting, but I know I would suspicious if I went to rural France and encountered almost nothing but Brits.
But nothing is as mysterious as two figures in the margins, an alleged brother and sister played by David Hemmings and Sharon Tate. I would say there was something vaguely incestuous about their relationship, except I was never certain if they were exactly human. Whatever they are, I have a feeling they had been there as long as that castle has, maybe even longer.
He is an archer, forever shooting pigeons, some of which were produced by his sister, who can magically create them from frogs. Now there’s an unusual symbiotic relationship. Hemmings also repeatedly demonstrates to Kerr that he could kill her at any time, and he really really wants to do that. Niven is quick to defend Hemming pointing an arrow at Kerr, saying it must have been in jest. That has to be a sign your marriage has some issues.
Tate leaves quite a strong impression here, though her character seems to be inessential to the plot. Instead, her performance is critical for the atmosphere, which is more than half of the viewing experience. Simply put, she is mesmerizing in this film. There’s an especially memorable scene where she is on a rooftop with Kerr, where she is literally mesmerizing the woman to try to get her to fall to her death. It is a moment which channels something I find hard to put into words, and which makes this rather slight film feel more substantial than it is.
The other real star of the film is the photography, which is crisp black and white. There’s an interesting luminosity to the image, as if this was from a silver nitrate print, which I am certain the studio did not do. One image that sticks in my mind is Kerr spying on a secret ceremony behind closed doors, under which the light is so intense that it sears the eyes.
Eye of the Devil is an intriguing, but not very satisfying film, and I say that as somebody who has seen it twice. Fans of folk horror should check it out, as it has a surprisingly similar plot to one of the most famous films of that genre, preceding it by only a few years. Those who are curious about Sharon Tate should seek it out for her unique performance, which hints at directions a longer career could have taken her.
Dir: J. Lee Thompson
Starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Sharon Tate
Watched on Warner Archive blu-ray