An unfortunate miscalculation here, one suspects, but one that does no real harm to an immensely enjoyable piece of hokum, thoroughly well researched, performed and directed.

The gothic ambiance and mood synonymous with the era's familiar tales of unholy menace is wholly absent. If there is evil here, it doesn't know it's evil.

Anthony Shaffer penned the screenplay which, for sheer imagination and near-terror, has seldom been equalled.

Its true subject is less about the enmity between paganism and Christianity specifically than the terrifying certainty of faith itself. That theme has lost none of its power or relevance since the film’s 1973 release.