Demons of the Mind (1974)

"This place reeks of madness and decay!" Well, yes, we're in a Hammer horror mansion, so it would. This time the setting is early 19th-century Bavaria, where a baron (hammy Robert Hardy) is desperately trying to cure his grown children of the hereditary affliction that bedevils them. Although it's obsessed with blood, this movie is rather anemic, notwithstanding the sexiness of early-'70s Hammer pictures. It does boast a striking cast: young hero Paul Jones was the lead singer of Manfred Mann, ethereal blonde Gillian Hills is a memorable waif (a role envisioned for Marianne Faithfull), Michael Hordern is a rabble-rousing priest, and Patrick Magee does his usual boiling-teakettle sputtering as a mad mesmerist. There's promise in Magee's weird ideas about a psychological cure for the incest-minded household, but like so much about this film, it's not as much fun as it sounds. --Robert Horton Amazon.com

"Demons of the Mind" Is Pure Psychological Madness

From the title alone, one can deduce that "Demons of the Mind" is psychological horror. It was once thought that all psychological illness was caused by demonic possession. In "Demons of the Mind," Baron Zorn (Robert Hardy) believes that his own psychotic behavior is a genetic disease that his adult children have inherited. Therefore, he locks them in separate rooms and keeps them weak and helpless with drugs and blood letting. Meanwhile, young women are being attacked and murdered in the nearby village. Who in the Zorn household is responsible?

An excellent performance is given by Gillian Hills who is Elizabeth Zorn. We watch her transform from helpless victim to vengeful, wrathful psychotic before our very eyes. Amicus regular Patrick Magee ("Tales of the Crypt, "Asylum," and "And Now the Screaming Starts") is excellent as the unethical Dr. Fischinger who blames the children's madness on their father's physical and emotional abuse. Michael Horden ("Theatre of Blood") is excellent as the fanatical priest who, with ax and flaming cross, leads an angry village mob in putting an end to the madness of the Zorn family.

"Demons of the Mind" is one of the strangest gothic films I've ever seen. Not as frightening as I had hoped it would be, but very creepy and disturbing. One can't help but frown upon how mentally ill patients must have been treated in the eighteen hundreds. Furthermore, most of the film's violence takes place during daylight hours. In some ways, this is good because we can see it all; however, it's not as frightening. A higher body count among the villagers would've helped the plot move faster. Most of the killings occur in the film's final ten minutes; the finale is quite gruesome and unique, and very sad. The fanatical priest steals the show.

Anchor Bay did an excellent job of restoring "Demons of the Mind." The picture and audio are excellent as though it was filmed yesterday.

I enjoyed "Demons of the Mind" tremendously. However, being partial to gothic horror, I realize that everyone might not appreciate it as much as I. Therefore, I recommend that you rent it first.
June 9, 2008

the worst move ever

I love bad movies, this is the most unbearable movie ever made. dont ever buy it for a penny November 26, 2007

An okay Hammmer film

The movie was okay but not great, especially if one has seen any of the other Hammer movies. The script is a little jagged in the beginning so the plot is hard to follow but otherwise the acting is great as is the music and the scenery.

"Demons of the Mind" features a good cast but I would have liked a little more energy from them. Not to imply that the acting was bad, in fact it was quite good. It just seemed to lack a little stage presence that slowed the movie down even more. I'm not familiar with any of the actors (except for the doctor) so perhaps it is my own ignorance that led me to think this.

Basically it's an okay movie with some scary bits. I like Hammer Horror films (esp. the 1970's ones) and this one was fun. As someone else mentioned the terror in this movie is not a physical being but a mental state and contributes to the unusualness of the movie. February 10, 2007

An incoherent snoozer.

By the time this movie ends, if you've followed the incoherent plot, you probably won't even care about the characters. No character is developed beyond a sheet of stale cardboard, so we have rather empty people saying rather empty things. Hammer films always fell victim to some dialogue cliche (basically, all the follies of Gothic fiction) in order to keep the movie moving along, but this dialogue? Wow. And this plot? One long winding string of "I don't care" after another. There's something of a plot here: one guy is crazy; he's afraid his kids are crazy; he wants a doctor to cure them; the doctor says he can; the doctor then says that the children's "illness" is a result of the first guy exercising his "will" over the children; then the first guy tries to kill his kids. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there, the first gets weepy and frustrated over he and his wife's conjugal bed. Uh-huh. Or something like that. One reviewer said this movie has great scenery, and I agree; but the characters populating that scenery are the real problem -- especially in a movie that wants so desperately to be character-driven. A character-driven movie without characters is bound to fall flat on its face. And "Demons of the Mind" does exactly that. Sorry Hammer. Sorry Peter Sykes. Thanks for "To the Devil...A Daughter." That was a creepy, unnerving movie, and it was driven forcefully by good characters and interesting actors. Too bad you didn't keep this one on the shelf. April 13, 2005

"It's in the blood"

Hammer Studios 1972 release of Demons of the Mind wasn't quite what I expected...it does have a number of the markings of a Hammer film, gothic settings, lush scenery, horse drawn coaches, angry villagers, a little blood, and let's not forget the naked women, but it takes a different turn in the type of story presented. There are hints of a physical monster, but the real terror appears to us in a more metaphysical sense.

The movie is very slow going for about the first half, as the movie seems clutch to certain plot elements like a miser to his coins, not sharing much. Patience is needed, but may not be worth the wait for someone expecting a more traditional Hammer horror film in the manner of Dracula or Frankenstein. I recognize and appreciate the effort made to try and expand on the traditional Hammer format, but I just didn't feel this movie clicked entirely with me. I didn't so much mind the slow pacing, but the horror was more obtuse and unfocused, in my opinion.

The story involves a Baron and his semi-adult children and a horrible event that happened when the children were much younger. They seem to suffer some sort of malady, which the Baron is convinced is 'in the blood', so he keeps them drugged up real good and uses archaic techniques of blood letting to try and find the cause, which renders his children pale and weak. There is murder, incest, and a slight mystery involving a subplot about nearby village women being murdered, but the mystery isn't much of a mystery.

Not a bad movie, and I really did enjoy the gothic feel throughout. I also really enjoyed Patrick Magee's (A Clockwork Orange) performance as Falkenburg, a doctor with dubious credentials enlisted by the Baron to assist in helping the Baron cure his children from their 'Demons of the Mind'. Another notable actor in this movie is Paul Jones, lead singer of the 60's rock group Manfred Mann.

Anchor Bay releases an excellent wide screen print of the film, along with the standard trailer and also includes a separate commentary track with the director, the writer, and one of the actresses, of which I have not had the opportunity to listen to yet...and look for the excellent and thorough 'liner' notes in the small foldout inside the DVD case. January 5, 2004

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