Written by Robert Wynne-Simmons And Piers Haggard
Directed by Piers Haggard
The Judge: "You must have patience, even while people die. Only thus can the whole evil be destroyed. You must let it grow."
Delving into some 1970s British horror, this was a movie that I had been meaning to catch up on. I finally did so yesterday evening and I was certainly glad that I did.
The movie had a brilliantly macabre opening with local farmer, Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) finding a skull with a fresh eye and strange fur. However when he tried to alert others to his creepy finding, it wasn't there.
Then there's the young couple, Peter Edmonton (Simon Williams) and his fiancé Rosalind Barton (Tamara Ustinov). Rosalind didn't endear herself to Peter's aunt, Isobel Banham (Avice Landone) but it didn't take long for both women to come afoul of the Satanic activities going on in this movie.
In fact, it seemed like everyone was involved in some way or another. The Reverend Fallowfield (Anthony Ainley) found himself unable to control his younger congregation, especially local girl Angel Blake (Linda Hayden) and he was nearly killed for a false accusations made by Angel.
This movie got especially gory when the youngsters targeted poor Cathy Vespers (Wendy Padbury) and subjected her to a Satanic sacrifice. On the other hand, one of the Satanists, Margaret (Michele Dotrice) had her furry mark removed and found herself on the outside with both sides of the village.
By the time we get to the end of the movie, many characters have been killed in the bid to raise Behemoth with The Judge (Patrick Wymark) having to step to save Ralph's soul. This movie did not hold back with the gore throughout and there's a fiery outcome for a cult following.
- Doctor Who fans will easily recognise both Anthony Ainley and Wendy Padbury but also Roberta Tovey and Simon Williams.
- The film often seems to be paired up with Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man for the progenitor of folk horror.
- The film was originally conceived as three separate stories that would be linked by Satan.
- Chronology: A rural village in early 18th century England.
I really enjoyed this. The Blood On Satan's Claw certainly lived up to its creepy reputation for a folk horror. There's several disturbing moments throughout and it's got one hell of an ending.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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