This is an compelling and stylish entry in the short-lived “folk horror” genre. These movies were based on rural folklore and natural settings, and contrasted with the Hammer brand of Gothic atmosphere.
Tagline: “A living nightmare of black magic… and unspeakable evil!”
AKA: Satan’s Skin, Satan’s Claw
WTF Factor: ***
Notable dialogue:
- The Judge: “Doctor, witchcraft is dead. And discredited. Are you bent on reviving forgotten horrors?”
- The Doctor: “How do we know, Sir, what is dead? You come from the city. You cannot know the ways of the country.”
Synopsis:
Ralph Gower (Barry Andrews) [It’s 1970’s Roger Daltrey!] finds a non-human skull while plowing the fields. He believes it to be a “fiend,” but when he returns with the skeptical Judge (Patrick Wymark), the skull is gone.
Peter (Simon Williams), the nephew of the landowners, and Rosalind (Tamara Ustinov) are to be married. Peter’s aunt (Avice Landone) and the Judge dislike Rosalyn, who is only a peasant girl. Rosalind is rudely sent to sleep in the attic. In the middle of the night she starts screaming, goes insane, and scratches the aunt, who disappears the next day (after an initial search, everyone just accepts that she’s gone for good). In the morning, men come to take Rosalind to an asylum; Peter sees that she has claws for one hand.
Angel Blake (Linda Hayden) finds a claw in the field and takes it to Bible class. The other kids in school are intrigued. That night Peter goes to stay in the attic, and is not pleased when the floor lifts and out comes a clawed hand, which is attached to some sort of hairy beast. Later, a clawed arm grabs Peter by the throat while he’s sleeping and he takes a knife and stabs at it, severing his own hand.
Obviously something bad is going on, but the Judge has urgent business in London. The local doctor (Howard Goorney) loans the Judge a book on witchcraft while the Judge is away. Ralph begs him not to leave, but the Judge has some advice:
“But you must have patience. Even while people die, only thus can the whole evil be destroyed. You must let it grow.”
And with that, he rides off, leaving the estate to deal with the growing evil. Nice guy, that one, and full of bad advice.
Most of the local kids are in thrall to Angel and obey her commands. Servant Ellen Vespers (Charlotte Mitchell) has a son Mark (Robin Davies) and a daughter Cathy (Wendy Padbury). Mark has a terrible pain in his side after handling Angel’s claw. Two girls follow him home, and invite him to play “new games” with Angel and the others. Most kids have skipped Bible class and are playing Blindman’s Bluff. Mark is murdered while the others watch. Ellen finds Mark buried under a pile of wood in the barn. She is not pleased.
That night Angel goes to the Reverend (Anthony Ainley) in a night dress, strips, and tries to seduce him. The Reverend rejects her and Angel tells him that the kids killed Mark. At the funeral Angel puts a whammy on Cathy, who develops pain in her back. Angel and her father tell the Squire that the Reverend raped her and killed Mark. The Reverend is arrested.
Boys grab Cathy in the woods while she is picking flowers. They tie her up and take her to the others for a ceremony, while Ralph searches for her. In a spooky processional, Cathy is taken to an old ruined church where they read a Black Mass.
<trigger warning> Angel says the devil needs flesh and we see that several kids have been mutilated. A large cloaked figure lurks in the background. Cathy is raped and stabbed, and then a large patch of dark furry skin is cut out of her back. Ralph finds Cathy’s body and is not pleased. He takes her to the Squire and accuses Angel of the murders. The Squire buys it instantly and has the Reverend released. Meanwhile Peter rides to London to retrieve the Judge, who is now an expert on witchcraft.
A mob chases a suspected witch (Michele Dotrice) and tries to drown her. Ralph saves her and Ellen hides her. She has a patch of dark furry skin on her leg, which Ralph calls the devil’s skin. He asks the doctor to remove it, which he does in graphic detail. There is no blood and the girl is not pleased.
Her name is Margaret and she is a fervent devil worshiper. She tries to seduce Ralph, who doesn’t go for it, but she then escapes.
The Judge returns with a bald, mute servant [look, it’s Lobo!]. The Judge shows Margaret’s excised devil’s skin to his dogs for the scent. Margaret finds Angel but is caught in a game trap. Angel sees that Margaret’s skin, her offering to Satan, is gone and refuses to help her.
The good guys find Margaret and return to the village. The Judge questions Margaret and finds out there will be a ceremony at the old church tonight. Meanwhile Ralph discovers he has a very hairy leg. An angry mob assembles and the Judge leads them to the church. The devil worshippers come for Ralph in the attic and take him to the church ruins for a satanic rite. A naked girl dances to convince Ralph to cut off and donate his afflicted leg to make the devil complete.
The Judge pulls out a big ass sword and the mob gets ready to attack. Angel manages to impale herself on a pitchfork, and then the battle goes into slow motion. The Judge impales the devil with his sword, hoists him into the air, and then flings him into the fire. His worshipers don’t look all that pleased.
Ralph’s leg is now normal. This is all going to be hard to explain in the morning. The End.
Thoughts: Tigon was a British film production company that operated in direct competition with Hammer during the late 1960s and early ‘70s, which was definitely not Hammer’s golden era. Tigon is known mainly for horror movies, such as The Sorcerors (1967, with Boris Karloff), Witchfinder General (1968, with Vincent Price), this movie, and The Creeping Flesh (1973, with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee).
Blood on Satan’s Claw was actually constructed from a three-part mini-series which director Piers Haggard combined into a single movie, explaining how disjointed the plot is at times. For example, the subplot with Peter and Rosalind is only peripheral to the main storyline. This doesn’t significantly hinder the movie, but it does lead to minor plot threads, such as the fate of Peter’s aunt, being dropped.
The cinematography of the film is outstanding. They used real locations with an abandoned church and much of the movie takes place outdoors. The acting is good all the way around, with Patrick Wymark a standout, along with Linda Hayden, who was only 17 at the time of filming. Many of the other actors were underage as well.
One troubling aspect of the movie is its exploitation of women (or girls, in some cases). Aside from Angel’s full frontal nudity, the rape scene is protracted and should come with a trigger warning. The director has said in later interviews that he wished he had toned it down. Me too.
There is, however, one scene that came out inadvertently humorous. A mob chases Margaret down to the local pond and throws her in to see if she’s a witch. Ralph runs up to stop them, but in she goes and immediately sinks.
Notable dialogue:
Ralph: “How do you know she be a witch?”
Mob: “We know… if she don’t sink, she be one!”
Ralph: “If she sink, you’ve done her murder!” [Mob gets sheepish looks on their faces and slinks away]
Anyone who has seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) will have a flashback [this movie did it first. Hmm.]. Amusingly, the mob takes off too quickly to see that Margaret then pops up and floats. She is indeed, by her own assertion, a witch.
Random thoughts:
- This was Patrick Wymark’s last formal film. He appeared in numerous genre movies, such as Repulsion (1965), The Skull (1965), and The Conqueror Worm (Witchfinder General, 1968), as well as many mainstream movies.
- There is an excellent, distinctive score by Marc Wilkinson, who was a prolific composer for theater, movies, and television.
- They sure gave up on the aunt quickly after she wandered off.
- The final battle would work better if the sword didn’t wobble like rubber.
- What becomes of all the children at the end of the movie is a major question. With all the goings-on, they aren’t exactly positioned to be model citizens.
Suggested double feature: Witchfinder General (The Conqueror Worm, 1968) or The Wicker Man (OG, of course, 1973) – both examples of the short-lived “folk horror” genre.
Tagline for Coming Attraction: “It’s curtains for his critics!”
