Devils of Darkness
Count Sinistre is the menacing vampire leader of the Satanic cult in Devils of Darkness, a previously forgotten horror film in the vein of AIP’s Poe films or Hammer fare like The Devil Rides Out. Devils of Darkness pits our sinister Sinistre against — well, basically, it pits him against a dad from some early 60s sitcom in a veritable whirlwind of opera capes and devil cloaks versus cardigan sweaters and well-pressed slacks. This is the sort of movie where square-jawed everymen sit on couches with their legs crossed and stare intently at their cigarettes while saying things like, “Vampires? But this is the 20th century!” and everyone seems to know a guy who happens to be a professor of the occult. You know, I went to college, and all I learned about was physics and John Adams and whatever the hell it was I didn’t pay attention to in that macroeconomics class everyone was required to take to get into the school of journalism. As far as I know, there were no professors whose entire tenure at the university involved them sitting around giving speeches about Pazuzu and magick circles, but maybe I just didn’t take the proper classes.