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OK, the first review of the new upcoming Studio Canal Blu-ray release of The Devil Rides Out, which I was seriously looking forward to getting next month, contains this piece of interesting (and I must say unsettling) information:
"One of the most impressive sequences in The Devil Rides Out - not quite the climax, but near enough - has the heroes inside a magic circle as Mocata's satanic forces are sent to attack them. It's a powerful, dramatic, almost hysterical scene that ranks amongst the best of Hammer's dramatic set pieces, and renders the actual finale of the film a bit of an anti-climax. It's also long been one of the most problematic moments of the film thanks to some special effects that were pitiful even at the time. Both the giant tarantula and the Angel of Death that Mocata send to attack are neutered by really, really rotten optical effects. This new version tweaks these and other effects in a surprising George Lucas style spot of digital revisionism. Okay, it's not that dramatic - but unusually, there are several moments of new digitally created or revised effects in the film to improve on original imperfections. These are most obvious in this scene - the spider is made much more effective, the arrival (and facial close-up) of The Angel of Death arguably less so (simply because they are more obvious digitally created). None of these changes alter the dramatic thrust of the film, and I'd argue that even the most questionable are actually improvements over what was there to begin with - Hammer purists, however, might want to hold on to their old DVDs as well as own this."
"One of the most impressive sequences in The Devil Rides Out - not quite the climax, but near enough - has the heroes inside a magic circle as Mocata's satanic forces are sent to attack them. It's a powerful, dramatic, almost hysterical scene that ranks amongst the best of Hammer's dramatic set pieces, and renders the actual finale of the film a bit of an anti-climax. It's also long been one of the most problematic moments of the film thanks to some special effects that were pitiful even at the time. Both the giant tarantula and the Angel of Death that Mocata send to attack are neutered by really, really rotten optical effects. This new version tweaks these and other effects in a surprising George Lucas style spot of digital revisionism. Okay, it's not that dramatic - but unusually, there are several moments of new digitally created or revised effects in the film to improve on original imperfections. These are most obvious in this scene - the spider is made much more effective, the arrival (and facial close-up) of The Angel of Death arguably less so (simply because they are more obvious digitally created). None of these changes alter the dramatic thrust of the film, and I'd argue that even the most questionable are actually improvements over what was there to begin with - Hammer purists, however, might want to hold on to their old DVDs as well as own this."
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