Getting a 4K UHD / Blu-ray release from Studio Canal, and a film that rarely finds itself on people’s lists of Top Ten Hammer films, DEMONS OF THE MIND is one of those curious, slightly overambitious projects Hammer made at a time when it seemed as if any producer with a completed script could get backing from the company. Its reach may well exceed its grasp, but that doesn’t stop DEMONS OF THE MIND from being one of Hammer’s more interesting films.
In his castle deep in the Hammerland countryside lives the Baron Zorn (Robert Hardy) with his two adult children Emil (Shane Briant) and Elizabeth (Gillian Hills). The Baron’s wife, a woman of peasant stock (or so we are told) committed suicide when the children were much younger. A strain of madness runs in the Zorn family and the Baron is terrified that it will be passed on to his children. Of further concern to him is the amorous interest they have begun to show in each other, with the result that he keeps them locked in their bedrooms and has Elizabeth bled regularly to keep her subdued. In an attempt to cure the family’s madness the Baron recruits the services of discredited charlatan psychiatrist Dr Falkenberg (Patrick Magee) who has some rather exotic theories about how best to treat insanity.
While all this is going the local village is being terrorised by a killer who murders village girls and scatters rose petals over their bodies. A mad wandering priest (Michael Hordern) is convinced the girls’ disappearing is the work of the devil, and that the devil is currently resident at Zorn’s castle. Falkenberg solves the mystery of the killer as a mob of angry villagers descends on the estate looking for revenge.
The above plot summary makes DEMONS OF THE MIND seems less like a Hammer Film and more like something from the crazier side of EuroHorror. Indeed, one almost gets the feeling that if someone like Sergio Martino had been recruited to make a Hammer-style gothic, this is what he might have come up with. As it is Peter Sykes acquits himself admirably in the director’s chair and the flair evident in Sykes’ style is one of the reasons the film feels more progressive than much of Hammer’s output of the period.
What makes and breaks DEMONS OF THE MIND, however, is its script. Christopher Wicking does a splendid job of trying to do something a little bit different from Hammer’s usual gothic formula. There are some nice touches to the Baron’s backstory, especially the mention of bloodlust and ritual sacrifice of his ancestors that suggests that the Zorn psychological malady may at some time in the past have been thought to be vampirism or lyncanthropy, and the touches of cod psychiatry are neat and effective. Unfortunately it is also Wicking’s oblique narrative style that lets the film down, rendering much of what is going on confusing, a problem that plagued some of the other film projects he was involved with at that time.
The second problem with the film is one of the performances. Both Shane Briant and Gillian Hills are very good in their portrayals of the tortured children and Patrick Magee towers over everyone with a skilful, layered performance as Dr Falkenberg, the quack who might be a genius (we never really get to decide which). Unfortunately Robert Hardy as Baron Zorn overbalances everything with a scenery-chewing eye-rolling performance that really needed reining in and quite possibly locking away in a box until it had calmed down. Hammer heroes are always pretty colourless specimens and Paul Jones puts in a likeable enough performance as the forgettable and ineffectual Carl the Medical Student.
Most of all, DEMONS OF THE MIND remains fascinating because of how everything turns out. It has to be one of the bleakest films Hammer ever made, with no happy ending for anyone as almost all the leads end up dead or insane by the end of the picture. In this respect it’s a little bit like Michael Reeves’ WITCHFINDER GENERAL, and Harry Robinson’s lush bittersweet music does much the same job as the Greensleeves-style portions of Paul Ferris’ score did for the Reeves picture.
Studio Canal’s 4K release has a new interview with actress Virginia Wetherell (14 minutes) and does a fine job of consolidating extras from previous releases. There are two commentary tracks, one from Steve Haberman and the other with Sykes, Wicking and Wetherell moderated by Jonathan Sothcott. There's also the making of featurette from the previous Studio Canal Blu-ray release (16 minutes), & an interview with camera operator Neil Binney (4 minutes). As well as behind the scenes and lobby card galleries you get a 64 page booklet featuring new writing on the film.
Peter Sykes’ DEMONS OF THE MIND is on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from Studio Canal on Monday 6th April 2026
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