Beginning in the late 1950s, the relaxation of censorship laws governing motion pictures, as well as an increasing sophistication on the part of audiences, a number of newer topics and themes began to be explored in American cinema, especially in the Horror genre. One of the most popular and persistent involved Satanism, Witchcraft, and Demonology. There were a scattering of such films between 1958 and 1968, but after the end of the Production Code in 1967, the subgenre virtually exploded, and the 1970s became, in many ways, the decade of the Devil in film.
There were many such films produced after 1967. A few became classics—The Sentinel (1977), Inferno
(1980), The Wicker Man (1973), or Suspira (1977). Some were okay—Race with the Devil (1975), El
Diablo se Lleva los Muertos –aka— Lisa
and the Devil (1974), or To the Devil
a Daughter (1976). Most were just
bad. Movies such as Ruby (1977), Abby (1974),
or Simon, King of the Witches (1971),
while undeniably inferior movies, still packed audiences into Drive-Ins and
Grindhouses.
Three films, however, would stand out from the crowd, and be
recognized as outstanding examples of filmmaking, and not just in the Horror
genre. These would be Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, released in 1968;
William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, in
1973; and Richard Donner’s The Omen,
from 1976. Together, they would come to
symbolize the Satanic films of the ‘70s.
While Polanski’s Rosemary’s
Baby wasn’t the first Horror film with satanic themes (1913’s The Student of Prague, directed by
Stellan Rye, probably holds that distinction), it was one of the first to take
advantage of the newfound realism of the late ‘60s cinema. Prior to Polanski’s groundbreaking film,
themes of Satanism, Devil Worship, Witchcraft, and Cults were approached with
caution by Hollywood, if at all. The
Production Code, put into place by the Hays Office in 1930 in an effort by the
studios to avoid official censorship, was fully in control by 1934, severely
restricting the content of motion pictures.
Though depictions of Satanism or Devil-Worship weren’t specifically
forbidden under the code, the major studios were generally unwilling to
approach, much less push, the boundaries set by the Hays Office.
One of the last Satanically-themed films produced before the
Production Code took full effect was Edgar Ulmer’s 1934 classic The Black Cat, by Universal. With overt themes of satanic worship and
implied necrophilia and virgin sacrifice, it would have been impossible to
release just a year later. As it was,
studio executives ordered the film to be cut in order to lessen the violence
and horror, while allowing Ulmer to slip some of the movie’s most decadent bits
past them.
The Production Code was officially in place until 1967,
though in reality numerous factors had been whittling away at it for many years
prior to that date. First, the code only
applied to films produced in the US. While
other nations’ cinemas had their own censorship issues to deal with, those
tended to be more politically, rather than morally, oriented.
The second circumstance that led to the downfall of the
Production Code was that, with increasing rapidity, Courts were conferring
greater and greater protection to motion pictures under the aegis of the First
Amendment. The Supreme Court, in 1915,
had ruled that motion pictures were a business, not art, and thus weren’t
protected speech under the First Amendment.
However, that view had been shifting since the early 1950s, coinciding
with the end of the Studio System. As
local censorship laws began to be struck down, there was increasing pressure on
the Supreme Court to revisit their earlier decision, to bring order out of the
patchwork quilt of censorship laws which covered the nation.
Third, and most importantly, the Code was entirely
voluntary. The major studios were the
only ones bothering to abide by the code, and were the least interested in
fighting censorship. That fight was left
to the independent Exploitation filmmakers, those who fought a constant battle
with local censors for the right to exhibit their wares. It was they who dragged the majors, kicking
and screaming, into the modern era, which rendered the Production Code an
archaic afterthought.
As the code began to crack and come apart,
Satanically-themed films began to appear sporadically at Drive-Ins and
Conventional theatres. One of the best
of this era was a British import, based on the M. R. James novel “Casting the Runes,” and directed by
Jacques Tourneur. Night of the Demon, released in the US as Curse of the Demon, was heavily edited prior to its theatrical
release (approximately twelve minutes were cut); in its original form, it was a
well-written and –directed, if at times slow paced, Horror film. Literate, mature, and intelligent, it was the
framework upon which the best of the Devil-Worship films were constructed.
Ten years after Night
of the Demon hit theatres, low-budget Horror producer/director William
Castle brought a project he was interested in developing to Robert Evans at
Paramount. Castle had gotten the advance
galley proofs of a new novel by Ira Levin entitled Rosemary’s Baby from the book’s publisher, Random House. Evans loved the story, and could see its
potential as a feature film. His only
stipulation involved William Castle.
Well aware of the latter’s reputation for camp and gimmickry, Evans said
that he could produce the film, but he wanted another director to helm the
project. They gave the job to an
up-and-coming Polish filmmaker who was developing a solid reputation in
Europe.
Roman Polanski, then thirty-five, had just filmed a supposed
Horror-Comedy, The Fearless Vampire
Killers, released in the US by MGM (I say “supposed” because in my opinion
it fails at both genres). Polanski, best
known for his 1965 film Repulsion,
which had drawn critical praise, seemed a good fit for Rosemary’s Baby, at its core a psychological horror similar in tone
to Repulsion. And with the increased freedom following the
demise of the Production Code, Polanski had the opportunity to make the first
truly serious, mature Horror film.
Despite my personal animus towards Polanski as a person,
which I have written of prior to this, I will give him his due as a talented
director. And Rosemary’s Baby might be his best film; certainly his best early
work. With a cast led by Mia Farrow and
John Cassavetes, Polanski crafted a slow, suspenseful build-up to a shocking
ending. Critics loved it. Moviegoers loved it. And Hollywood took notice, and began
developing similar properties in order to cash in.
In the wake of the blockbuster success of Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, every studio, from the
Hollywood Majors to low-budget exploiteers, wanted their own Satanic, demonic,
or cult-themed film. That’s the nature
of the business; one innovates, everyone else imitates. Within a year or two, Horror films involving
witches, covens, and Devil-Worshippers were a standard trope in low-budget
Horror films. Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General, directed by Michael Reeves
and starring Vincent Price, actually beat the Polanski film into theaters, at
least in Great Britain. Though not
strictly speaking a Horror film (though it was marketed as such, especially in
the US where it was retitled The
Conqueror Worm, after an Edgar Allan Poe poem), it nonetheless demonstrates
that such topics were beginning to permeate the zeitgeist.
1971 saw an explosion of such movies, and titles such as The Brotherhood of Satan, The Mephisto Waltz,
Tombs of the Blind Dead, and The
Devil’s Nightmare were popular low-budget entries into the genre. Similar films would be released in 1972,
including Daughters of Satan and Horror Rises from the Tomb. But it would be 1973 before the majors came
back to the subject of demonic movies, and when they did, it would be with a
vengeance.
In 1971, author William Peter Blatty, inspired by a 1949
case of reported demonic possession, published a novel telling the story of a
young girl, tormented by such a occurrence, and two Catholic priests who fight
to save her soul from a demon. The Exorcist was a runaway best-seller
in print form, and it was only a matter of time before it was adapted for the
screen. Warner Bros. purchased the film
rights to the book, and chose William Friedkin, coming off directing The French Connection, winner of five
Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, to helm it.
Seemingly overnight theaters and Drive-Ins were swamped with
demons and devils, witches and warlocks.
Time magazine might have
declared God dead, but Satan was alive and well and living in Hollywood. As is often the case with efforts to
capitalize on a newly burgeoning trend in Hollywood, most of these low-budget
Exploitation film takes on the subject weren’t very good. However Italian and Spanish filmmakers, with
deep roots in Catholic theological tradition, generally fared better with these
themes, perhaps as an expression of rebellion against the cultural domination
on the part of the Church in those countries.
In particular, a Spanish director named Jesús Franco showed a marked
antipathy towards the Church, so much so that the Vatican declared him, along
with fellow Spaniard Luis Buñuel, the most dangerous filmmakers in the world.
Sometime in 1973, Bob Munger, a friend of producer Harvey
Bernhard, suggested to the latter that a movie about the Antichrist, the son of
Satan, would be good box office.
Bernhard agreed, and immediately hired David Seltzer to turn the idea
into a screenplay. Seltzer, who had
gotten his start in the business with an uncredited rewrite of Roald Dahl’s
script for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate
Factory, took a year to finish the assignment, but when it was completed,
everyone connected with the project felt that The Omen would be a winner.
Richard Donner, an experienced film and television director, was
selected to helm the project for Warner Bros.
As the Slasher films began to dominate the Horror genre in the
late 1970s, the Satanic films waned in popularity, though never completely
disappearing. In the decades since, they
have remained a staple of the Horror fan’s diet, holding their own against the
vampires, ghosts, aliens, and zombies that populate modern Horror films. I don’t see that changing anytime soon—after
all, the battle between Good and Evil is as old as Mankind itself.
