As a satanic spectacular, this is the business, even if, for once in a Hammer horror, Christopher Lee is on the side of virtue. Director Terence Fisher searches for credibility in Dennis Wheatley's trashy tale of the Duc de Richleau (Lee) trying to save Patrick Mower's soul from the clutches of Charles Gray, a rotted limb of Satan. Whatever cynical giggles this might cause are soon flattened by the deadpan approach, some seriously orgiastic production numbers and a scary script from the ever-reliable Richard Matheson that's guaranteed to get your goose bumps rising.

The powers of good are pitted against the forces of evil as the Duc de Richelieu wrestles with the charming but deadly Satanist, Mocata, for the soul of his friend. Mocata has the knowledge and the power to summon the forces of darkness and, as the Duc de Richelieu and his friends remain within the protected pentacle, they are subjected to ever-increasing horror until thundering hooves herald the arrival of the Angel of Death.