Demons of the Mind

Demons of the Mind is a 1972 British horror film, directed by Peter Sykes and starring Paul Jones, Gillian Hills, Robert Hardy, Patrick Magee, Michael Hordern and Shane Briant.^[3] It was produced by Anglo-EMI, Frank Godwin Productions and Hammer Film Productions, and written by Christopher Wicking, based on a story by Frank Godwin.

Demons of the Mind
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Sykes
Written by	Christopher Wicking
Story by	Frank Godwin
Produced by	Michael Carreras Frank Godwin
Starring	Paul Jones Patrick Magee Yvonne Mitchell Robert Hardy Michael Hordern Kenneth J. Warren
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Edited by	Chris Barnes
Music by	Harry Robinson
Production companies	Anglo-EMI Frank Godwin Productions Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	Anglo-EMI Film Distributors MGM-EMI Film Distributors
Release date	5 November 1972 (1972-11-05)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£250,000[1] or £190,000[2]

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

• Robert Hardy as Zorn
• Shane Briant as Emil
• Gillian Hills as Elizabeth
• Yvonne Mitchell as Hilda
• Paul Jones as Carl Richter
• Patrick Magee as Falkenberg
• Kenneth J. Warren as Klaus
• Michael Hordern as priest
• Robert Brown as Fischinger
• Virginia Wetherell as Inge
• Deirdre Costello as Magda
• Barry Stanton as Ernst
• Sidonie Bond as Zorn's wife
• Thomas Heathcote as coachman
• Sheila Raynor as old crone

Production

Finance came from EMI Films."^[4]

The film's working title was Blood Will Have Blood.^[5] "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."^[6]

Producer Frank Godwin said " I wanted to retain my independence, and not be regarded as a Hammer 'stooge', it was agreed that the film would be a Hammer production in association with Frank Godwin Productions. This proved important because it enabled us to break all the Hammer rules, shooting a huge amount on location, even interiors.... Most of the casting, too, was not typical Hammer."^[7]

Principal photography took place from 16 August to September 1971.^[5] Much of it was shot in Bolney in Surrey, where a castle had been built by a German banker.^[7]

Peter Sykes was hired after Hammer were impressed by his work on Venom. The movie was based on the life of Franz Mesmer.^[1]

Wicking says "there was a sort of snobbery about" the film "which I think is a bad thing."^[6] He says Sykes wanted Paul Scofield and then Dirk Bogarde 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 the role was given to Robert Hardy, which Wicking thought was a mistake.^[6] Frank Godwin said Eric Porter was going to star but Porter changed his mind after seeing a mock up poster of the film and deciding he no longer wished to do horror movies.^[7]

Sykes said the film was well reviewed and has become a cult film but was a commercial disappointment. "It wasn't a recognisable subject; there was no Frankenstein in it," said Sykes.^[1]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Demons of the Mind opens with a coach rattling through the forest and closes with torch-wielding villagers descending on the wicked Baron. But although it is made with style (Peter Sykes proves adept at recreating the oppressive atmosphere of Hammer's earlier films), the content is meagre, and unfortunately the days are past when a string of horror-film clichés (terrified coachmen, beautiful screamers, crimson rose) could stand in lieu of a plot. It may be a measure of the makers' intentions that the part played by Gillian Hills was originally meant for Marianne Faithfull (former pop idol Paul Jones still plays the male lead); but with the script providing few pointers, the three juveniles manage only shallow performances, while Michael Hordern and Patrick Magee plump for gross overplaying. The film's principal distinction is its violence, mostly gratuitous and, in the case of the climactic bloodbath, thoroughly unpleasant."^[8]

Time Out 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".^[9]

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."^[5]