Ultimate Hammer Collection: Demons of the Mind DVD

Dir: Peter Sykes, 1972, UK, 89 mins
Cast: Patrick Magee, Robert Hardy, Virginia Wetherell, Shane Briant, Gillian Hills

Amid a spate of murders in the nearby village, deranged Baron Zorn (Hardy) keeps his son and daughter incarcerated in their family mansion for fear that the insanity that claimed their mother is hereditary. As the mourning and scared townsfolk suspect demons are to blame for the gruesome killings, enigmatic scientist Falkenberg (Magee) claims he has the cure for Zorn’s offspring.

Even though it contains all of the trademarks of the Hammer oeuvre, Demons of the Mind is an intriguing departure from the studio’s usual storylines. Sadly, that the film resorts to unimaginative clichés quickly undermines an original premise with a lazy script. After a promising and creepy opening sees a thwarted escape by daughter Elizabeth from her father’s imprisonment, the film quickly starts to stumble. In siblings Elizabeth (Hills) and Emil (Briant), the audience is given very little to empathise with beyond being held against their will by their father. A suggested incestuous bond between them neither convinces nor endears them so viewers are left uncaring as to the fate of these stock manipulated victims.

While the tortured Baron Zorn is well acted by Robert Hardy, no performance could hide the wildly uneven characterisation the script provides him with and so the film is left without a clear main character. It is only when oddball Doctor Falkenberg arrives with his questionable methods of hypnosis that the film’s momentum picks up. Hiring comely village wench Inge (Wetherell) to act as Emil and Elizabeth’s late mother in a psychological role-play, Falkenberg quickly learns the truth of their situation.

As the action is split between the gothic luxury of Baron Zorn’s estate and the humble earthiness of the nearby village, the film’s pace slows, as the two worlds do seem very disconnected. Visually, the film is a lush and glorious spectacle but seems to largely have been shot in gorgeous sunshine. This renders any potential for atmosphere from the real woodland and gothic mansion locations obsolete and further highlights the crossed wires and mixed intentions that seem to have plagued the production.

While nudity had been appearing in several Hammer films by 1972, the unnecessary nature of Inge’s sporadic full frontals severely distracts and detracts from the plot and it is often hard to discern whether it is the characters or simply the actors ogling at her. By resorting to gratuitous nudity and then gratuitous bloodletting, Demons of the Mind soon announces that it has run out of ideas long before the film climaxes with a predictable parade of angry villagers storming around with torches and pitchforks. Ultimately, Demons of the Mind tries to be something different and yet plays it far too safe at the same time. Unfortunately and frustratingly, it fails to succeed in either direction.

Box Set Extras:
Includes trailers, interviews, the full-length documentary To the Devil…the Death of Hammer and six audio commentaries, which include contributions from the following filmmakers:
ROY WARD BAKER
The veteran director made seven films for Hammer between 1967 and 1973, as well as an episode of the company’s television series Journey to the Unknown. He appears on the commentary for SCARS OF DRACULA.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
Although they were never a double act, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are indelibly linked to the studio that made them international stars. Lee appears on the commentary for SCARS OF DRACULA.
JIMMY SANGSTER
Writer, producer and director Jimmy Sangster was one of the original architects of Hammer horror. He wrote The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957 and saw 15 subsequent scripts filmed by the company. He appears on the commentaries for THE NANNY, The Horror of Frankenstein and Fear in the Night.
PETER SYKES
Peter Sykes’s relatively brief directing career included two Hammer films, both of which are featured in this box set. He appears on the commentary for DEMONS OF THE MIND and in the documentary that accompanies TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER.

The box set also features the following Hammer films:
TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER
SCARS OF DRACULA
THE DEVIL RIDES OUT
PREHISTORIC WOMEN
THE REPTILE
THE NANNY
SHE
DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS
THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES
RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK
THE WITCHES
ONE MILLION YEARS B.C.
THE VIKING QUEEN
FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN
QUARTERMASS AND THE PIT
THE VENGEANCE OF SHE
THE HORROR FRANKENSTEIN
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB
STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING
FEAR IN THE NIGHT

John Hunter