''Demons of the Mind'' is a 1972 British horror film, directed by Peter Sykes and produced by Anglo-EMI, Frank Godwin Productions and

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve clas ...

. It was written by

Christopher Wicking Christopher Wicking (10 January 1943 – 13 October 2008), also known as Chris Wicking, was a British screenwriter, often in the horror and fantasy genres, notably for the British arm of American International Pictures and with Hammer Film Pro ...

, based on a story by

Frank Godwin Francis Godwin (October 20, 1889 – August 5, 1959) was an American illustrator and comic strip artist, notable for his strip ''Connie'' and his book illustrations for ''Treasure Island'', ''Kidnapped'', ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Robin Hood'' ...

and was released on 5 November 1972. The cast includes

Gillian Hills Gillian Hills (born 5 June 1944) is an English actress and singer. She first came to notice as a teenager in the 1960s in the British films '' Beat Girl'' (1960) and ''Blowup'' (1966). She also spent a number of years living in France, where sh ...

(playing a role originally intended for

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...

, Patrick Magee,

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, May 2009, accessed 22 July 2015 was ...

and

Shane Briant Shane Briant (17 August 1946 – 26 May 2021) was an English actor and novelist. Briant studied law at Trinity College Dublin but became a professional actor playing the lead in ''Hamlet'' at the Eblana Theatre, Dublin. Briant is best known for ...

Plot

A wealthy widower locks up his two grown-up children, afraid that they will go mad, as did his wife. He then invites a doctor of dubious reputation to supervise their mental health and cure them of the unnatural attraction they have for each other. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the mansion, murders are happening in the local village and a travelling priest arrives to help drive out any local demons.

Cast

as Zorn *

as Emil *

as Elizabeth *

Yvonne Mitchell Yvonne Mitchell (born Yvonne Frances Joseph; 7 July 1915 – 24 March 1979) was an English actress and author. After beginning her acting career in theatre, Mitchell progressed to films in the late 1940s. Her roles include Julia in the 1954 BBC ...

as Hilda * Paul Jones as Carl Richter * Patrick Magee as Falkenberg *

Kenneth J. Warren Kenneth John Warren (25 September 1929 – 27 August 1973) was an Australian actor. Bald and heavily built, Warren went to North Sydney Boys High School. He started acting in 1949. He emigrated to the UK in the late 1950s, after appearing in t ...

as Klaus *

as Priest * Robert Brown as Fischinger *

Virginia Wetherell Virginia Wetherell (born 9 May 1943 in Farnham, Surrey) is an English actress known for her roles in Hammer horror films such as ''Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde'' (1971) and ''Demons of the Mind'' (1972). Her other film appearances include ''The ...

as Inge * Deirdre Costello as Magda * Barry Stanton as Ernst * Sidonie Bond as Zorn's Wife *

Thomas Heathcote Thomas Heathcote (9 September 1917 – 5 January 1986) was a British character actor, a former protégé of Laurence Olivier. He was educated at Bradfield College in Bradfield, near Reading in Berkshire, England. His films included '' A Night ...

as Coachman *

Sheila Raynor Sheila Raynor (15 March 190617 February 1998) was a British actress. She appeared in Jack Clayton's adaptation of ''Room at the Top (1959 film), Room at the Top''. One of her notable roles was that of Alex's (Malcolm McDowell) mother in ''A Clock ...

as Old crone

Background

The film's working title was ''Blood Will Have Blood''. "Hammer thought there were too many bloods," said Wicking later. "I don't think anybody knew it was a quote from Shakespeare because they would have said no to that."All's Well That Ends: an interview with Chris Wicking Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 55, Iss. 658, (Nov 1, 1988): 322. Principal photography took place from 16 August to September 1971. Peter Sykes was hired after Hammer were impressed by his work on ''Venom''. The movie was based on the life of

Franz Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorised the existence of a natural energy transference occurring between all animated and inanimate objects; this he called " ani ...

. Wicking says "there was a sort of snobbery about" the film "which I think is a bad thing." He says Sykes wanted

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...

and then

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House'' (1954) for the Rank Organ ...

and when neither of them wanted to do it, Hammer felt they could not ask their usual leading men, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and went to Robert Hardy, which Wicking thought was a mistake.

Critical reception

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' called the film "an exotic, Wildean horror story, visually as extravagant and tantalising as a decadent painting" that is "badly let down, though, by some grotesque overacting". ''The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films'' wrote of the film: "oblique, ambitious and suffused with an air of primal dread, ''Demons of the Mind'' deserved better."

References

Sources

External links

* 1972 films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Hammer Film Productions horror films 1972 horror films Films directed by Peter Sykes Films set in country houses Gothic horror films EMI Films films 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{1970s-horror-film-stub