To the Devil a Daughter

To the Devil...A Daughter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Sykes
Produced by	Roy Skeggs
Written by	Christopher Wicking & John Peacock (screenplay) Dennis Wheatley (novel)
Starring	Richard Widmark Christopher Lee Honor Blackman Nastassja Kinski Denholm Elliott
Music by	Paul Glass
Cinematography	David Watkin
Editing by	John Trumper
Studio	Hammer Film Productions
Distributed by	EMI
Release date(s)	March 4, 1976
Running time	95 min. (USA)
Country	United Kingdom / West Germany
Language	English

To the Devil... A Daughter is a 1976 horror film made by Hammer Film Productions, taken from the novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley, directed by Peter Sykes. It stars Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Nastassja Kinski and Denholm Elliott. The original music score was composed by Paul Glass.

Plot

Occult writer John Verney is asked by Henry Beddows to pick up his daughter Catherine from the airport. Catherine is a nun with The Children of the Lord, a mysterious Heretic order located in Bavaria and is allowed to come to visit once a year on her birthday. But after Catherine arrives, Beddows then insists that she stay with Verney. But the order, under the sinister Ex-Communicated Heretic Father Michael Rayner, makes all efforts to get Catherine back and marshals black magic to stop Verney as he protects her. Verney learns that the order really harbours a group of practicing Satanists who have prepared Catherine to become an avatar of Astaroth upon this, her eighteenth birthday.

Cast

• Richard Widmark as John Verney
• Christopher Lee as Father Michael Rayner
• Honor Blackman as Anna Fountain
• Denholm Elliott as Henry Beddows
• Michael Goodliffe as George De Grass
• Nastassja Kinski as Catherine Beddows
• Eva Maria Meineke as Eveline de Grass
• Anthony Valentine as David
• Derek Francis as The Bishop
• Constantine Gregory as Kollde
• Brian Wilde as Black Room Attendant
• Howard Goorney as Critic
• Frances de la Tour as Salvation Army Major

Production

The film was adapted by Christopher Wicking and John Peacock from the 1953 novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley. It was the second of Wheatley's "black magic" novels to be filmed by Hammer, following The Devil Rides Out, released in 1968.

This was Michael Goodliffe's last film just shortly before he committed suicide while suffering from depression.

Christopher Lee's line "It is not heresy... and I will not recant!" was sampled by heavy metal band White Zombie for the song "Super-Charger Heaven".

The film was marketed with the tagline "...and suddenly the screams of a baby born in Hell!"

A controversy involved Nastassja Kinski's fully frontal nude scene in the film; she was 15 at the time of shooting.

External links

• To the Devil a Daughter at the Internet Movie Database
• To the Devil a Daughter at Rotten Tomatoes
• To the Devil a Daughter at AllRovi
• Review from dvdmaniacs.net
• To the Devil a Daughter, by Dennis Wheatley (Google Books)