The Devil's Hand (1961)

The films' featuring voodoo which i have seen, are relatively recent. Generally they have all been terrible, whether it was the disastrous Skeleton Key, or the low budget Voodoo Academy, all of them have been lacking something. So it was with hesitation that I put "The Devil's Hand" (also known elsewhere as "Devil's Doll" and "Live to Love") into my DVD player.

The film's biggest star in it is Linda Christian, who has claim to being the first ever bond girl. Linda plays Bianca, a self-proclaimed witch who appears to Rick (Robert Alda) in his dreams. Rick's fiance, Donna (Ariadna Welter) wants nothing more than to get married, unfortunately for her, Rick's luck is down and has recently quit his job.

Bianca guides rick to a doll shop, where he finds dolls' that resemble both Bianca and Donna, this then starts a chain of events that surround Rick as he falls deeper and deeper into a Voodoo cult. He becomes troubled as he has fallen for Bianca even though he is aware she is evil, and struggles with the guilt he feels for leaving his fiance.
Rick realises that for his safety he can't leave the cult, not just because of the jealous rage Bianca feels, but also the threat of the Cult Leader, Francis Lamont(Neil Hamilton*).

If there is doubt about a members loyalty to the cult then they are placed under a rotating wheel with swords on it, Only one sword will be real and cut through to the heart. The fear that the writers wanted to instill in the viewer is somewhat lost by putting a glitter ball in the centre of the wheel, making it more like it belongs in a gameshow.

However, dodgy props aside, this film is undoubtedly the best I have seen about a Voodoo cult. Although some of the writing is really cheesy, especially during romantic scenes, for the most part it is passable. Even if the writing isn't great, some of the actors really out did themselves. Neil Hamilton stole the whole film, as he played quite a menacing, uncompromising Cult leader. He managed to play his character and bring a lot of under-stated creepy movements, especially when handling the dolls.

Overall "Devil's Hand" was a good moral tale of infidelity (ie - don't do it, or you will end up involved in some evil religious cult). It doesn't do a lot, but what it does it generally does well.
This might just be the first film reviewed for the Movierectum that I thought would be bad, but instead gets my thumbs up.

*By the way Neil Hamilton also played the Police Commisioner Gordon in the popular 60's Batman series.