Devils Of Darkness (1965)

While on vacation in Brittany, a man (William Sylvester) witnesses a local ritual on All Souls Night when an old gypsy woman (Marie Burke) prophecies death and shortly after, two of his friends are dead. But it's more than just black magic, a satanic cult led by a 500 year old vampire (Hubert Noel) is behind it all and he's not finished with his evil doings yet. Directed by Lance Comfort, this British horror film didn't come from Hammer studios but it has all the earmarks of a Hammer production (including babes spilling out of their dresses). It's smart and doesn't dumb down until its rather silly finale. There is a sequence that's a hoot in its depiction of a swinging 60s decadent party. William Sylvester makes for a suitably somber hero but you need someone like that to ground all the supernatural nonsense flying about. Curiously the film has four veterans of Kubrick classics in the cast. In addition to Sylvester (2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY), there's Tracy Reed (DR. STRANGELOVE) plus Diana Decker and Marianne Stone from LOLITA. If you're into vampire movies, you should have some fun with this one. With Eddie Byrne, Rona Anderson and Peter Illing.