EDITOR’S NOTE: Eye of the Devil was on the CBS Late Movie on May 10 and September 8, 1972 and September 6, 1973.

Based on Day of the Arrow by Philip Loraine, this was shot under the title Thirteen. It was a prophetic title, as the film had to have felt cursed.

Sidney J. Furie was originally going to direct, but he was replaced by Michael Anderson, who then got sick and was replaced by J. Lee Thompson. Even worse, two weeks before filming was scheduled to end, star Kim Novak was thrown from her horse and hurt her back. Production shot around her, but it would take eight more weeks for her to heal up, so the entire movie was shot with Deborah Kerr.

But the circumstances of her injury remain shrouded in mystery.

In Blow Up… and Other Exaggerations: The Autobiography of David Hemmings, the actor said that he saw Novak arguing with producer Martin Ransohoff, and she was fired afterward.

Philippe de Montfaucon, the Marquis de Bellenac (David Niven), owns an ancient estate in Bordeaux. The grapes have not grown in three years, but he lives far away in Paris with his wife Catherine (Kerr) and two children.

He is asked to come home, where Père Dominic (Donald Pleasence), a dark priest, gives him a strange amulet. After their son Jacques dreams about his father, Catherine takes her children to Bordeaux. As soon as they arrive, they see Christian de Caray (David Hemmings) shoot a dove.

When asked of him, Aunt Estelle (Flora Robson) says that he is “an evil little boy” and that his sister Odila (Sharon Tate) is “no better.” That night, Catherine watches them conduct a ceremony with the body of the dead dove before an old man closes the doors and tells her to take her children and get away.

That’s when she learns how many heads of the family have died and starts to see robed figures everywhere. Her husband must die to keep the family’s fortunes and even the town strong. There’s no stopping it.

Alex Sanders, renowned as the King of the Witches, was the consultant for all the rituals in this movie, adding a layer of intrigue and authenticity to the film’s occult elements.

This was Tate’s first movie and the last black-and-white movie from MGM.