Trivia / The Devil Rides Out

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Christopher Lee had been lobbying hard for Hammer to do an adaptation of a Dennis Wheatley novel. He called this his favourite role. He also expressed interest in doing a remake reprising the role.
• Christmas Rushed: To meet deadlines, some of the special effects weren't finished. The 2012 Blu-Ray notably fixed many of them; the scene with the Giant Spider being given a shadow and CGI smoke, flames added behind the Angel of Death and some matte lines tidied up.
• Colbert Bump: This film gave Dennis Wheatley's black magic themed books a real boost in popularity.
• Completely Different Title: The movie's US title was changed to The Devil's Bride because its original title made it sound much too much like a Western.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Christopher Lee called it his favorite Hammer movie.
• Creator-Preferred Adaptation: Dennis Wheatley, author of the book, loved the film. He was considerably less happy with Hammer's next adaptation of his work - To the Devil, A Daughter.
• Dueling Works: This came out the same year as Rosemary's Baby - a story about Devil worshippers. As such it wasn't much of a hit in America, but enjoyed plenty of success in Britain.
• Executive Meddling:
  • The reason that the orgy scene is so tame, and the characters so modestly dressed. And the fact that the sabbat is never completed.
  • Additionally the censors meant that the words 'cult' or 'Satan' couldn't be said on screen by any characters.
  • Subverted in another case. Hammer wanted a more typical Ms. Fanservice in the role of Tanith, but director Terence Fisher fought to have Nike Arrighi.
• Follow the Leader: To City of the Dead and The Witches (1966) - other horror films about black magic and human sacrifice.
• Never Work with Children or Animals: The horse used for the Angel of Death scene was asthmatic and thus couldn't do too much in one go - resulting in a lot of slow-motion and repeated shots.
• Playing Against Type: Christopher Lee is unambiguously The Hero in this piece.
• Real-Life Relative: Leon Greene was dubbed by Patrick Allen - who was the husband of Sarah Lawson (Marie).
• Saved from Development Hell: Was made four years after it was first proposed, after worries over Executive Meddling towards the Satanism had relaxed.
• Shown Their Work: Some of the incantations and symbols were from the Golden Dawn rituals, making the black magic depicted in the film semi-authentic.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A script in 1963 was rejected by Universal for being "too English".
  • Gert Fröbe was the first choice for Mocata.
  • Roddy McDowall was scheduled to play Simon. However, he had to pull out at the last minute in order to stay in New York to care for his good friend Louise Brooks, who was stricken with emphysema and arthritis. Patrick Mower replaced him at the last minute.

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