First proposed in 1963, the film was revived four years later once censorship worries over Satanism had eased. The BBFC required no misuse of Christian emblems and no parodies of Christian prayers. Hammer agreed, and the film went ahead.

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968), directed by Terence Fisher, casts Lee against type as the Duc de Richleau, a hero rather than a villain, battling Charles Gray’s cult leader Mocata to save a friend’s soul from damnation. Richard Matheson adapted Wheatley’s novel, trimming its sprawl into something fit for 95 minutes, and Wheatley was reportedly so pleased with the result that he gave Lee a first edition of the book.

The film’s centerpiece finds Richleau and his companions trapped inside a pentacle overnight, besieged by visions conjured to break their nerve, culminating in the arrival of the Angel of Death itself. Arthur Grant’s cinematography and James Bernard’s score keep the dread tight and controlled rather than gothic sprawl.

Lee called it one of his favorite films, and said more than once that he wished someone would remake it with modern effects, with him returning as an older Duc de Richleau. The man who spent years getting the film made spent years wanting to make it again.