Moviecut—Ritual of Evil

source: Ritual of Evil

Ritual of Evil

I really enjoyed this film and wish there had been more in the series. It was interesting and the ending was left open, probably so that Diana Hyland--whose chemistry with Jourdan was perfect--could come back. She was one of the best female "villains" I have ever seen on TV, because she was complex. It would have been great to see this as a series of movies. Louis Jourdan is one of the all-time great "smooth" actors. He was eminently watchable--sort of an Alain Delon without all the private "drama" going on. I miss him as an actor--miss Hyland, too--and Jourdan's "Dracula" is the best rendition ever of the roll imho. Let's agitate to bring this series back--fx or one of the premium cable channels would be a natural to sponsor, don't you think?

Due to the ratings success of the TV-movie "Fear No Evil" a year earlier, Universal decided to bring back demon-fighting David Sorell (Louis Jourdan) and have him deal with a sinister cult of devil-worshippers among the "beautiful people" of southern California. Chief among those are Academy Award winner Anne Baxter, John McMartin, and Diana Hyland (the beloved older paramour of the then twenty-something John Travolta). Wilfred Hyde-White, Jourdan's friend from the first film, returns in this one, while "The Rookies" Georg Stanford Brown is on hand as an artist with connections to the cult. I recall that there was much uproar when the film aired because its conclusion left many viewers confused and disappointed in the resolution of the storyline. This was especially disappointing for those of us that thought the first film was so well done. Perhaps, this is the reason why there wasn't a third in the series.