# What was up with all the Satanic movies in the 70s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-all-the-satanic-movies-in-the-70s/527295 "2010-02-01T21:17:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-all-the-satanic-movies-in-the-70s/527295/41 "2010-02-02T19:08:23Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, I don’t know about that. The UK, despite having an established church, is (in terms of actual popular religious belief) very much a secular humanist, or “post-Christian,” nation, and has been for centuries. And it still produced [_Night of the Demon._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_demon) Oh, I came in here to mention that the British [Hammer films](http://www.imdb.com/company/co0103101/) made a ton of horror movies during this period with about a 3rd or so featuring “satanic” themes. Including the OP’s “To the Devil a Daughter”. The other 2/3rd were more classic gothic themes that were already popular in British literature for more than 100 years; vampires, mummies, serial killers and ghosts. And as for the UK being “post-Christian”, there’s still plenty of superstition to go around. I know more than a few British people who believe in ghosts. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-all-the-satanic-movies-in-the-70s/527295/42 "2010-02-03T01:23:04Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Oh, I came in here to mention that the British [Hammer films](http://www.imdb.com/company/co0103101/) made a ton of horror movies during this period with about a 3rd or so featuring “satanic” themes. Including the OP’s “To the Devil a Daughter”. The other 2/3rd were more classic gothic themes that were already popular in British literature for more than 100 years; vampires, mummies, serial killers and ghosts. Weren’t the last couple of Hammer’s Dracula films also in that “satanic” category? I know at least one even had “Satanic Rites of Dracula” as the title or alternate title. (On checking your link, it’s #42 on that list) I think I rented that on VHS once in the late 90’s. Very odd movie if I remember it right about a satanic cult in 1970’s London bringing back Dracula or some such. Not at all what I’d expected when I asked my mom to bring back a Dracula movie when she went to the video store. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-all-the-satanic-movies-in-the-70s/527295/43 "2010-02-03T04:12:41Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, I don’t know about that. The UK, despite having an established church, is (in terms of actual popular religious belief) very much a secular humanist, or “post-Christian,” nation, and has been for centuries. And it still produced [_Night of the Demon._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_demon) Night of the Demon is a different animal. The demon in there is very European; very old world; very druidic; you get the sense of it’s being connected throughout history to the ancient shadows of forgotten ancestors. It seemed to be more a fear of the “old ways,” like traditional British thrillers and ghost stories. No one suggests that demonic storylines were invented out of whole cloth in the 70s; this thread is just an attempt to discuss the surge of such subject matter at that time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-up-with-all-the-satanic-movies-in-the-70s/527295.md?page=2)