|
Menu
|
|
The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)
Plot
In a small English town in the 17th
century, a farmer uncovers some strange fur-covered remains and decides to
get the local judge to have a look at it. When they return, the remains have
gone and the judge dismisses the farmer’s fears. Soon afterwards, strange
patches of fur start to grow on some of the town’s children. Slowly but
surely the children begin performing satanic rituals in an abandoned church
in the woods in an attempt to resurrect the Devil, built with the body parts
of their victims.
Review
In 1968, British company Tigon had attempted to muscle in on the
Hammer-dominated horror market with a handful of releases, including The
Blood Beast Terror and The Witchfinder General. Now commonly
heralded as an unsung classic, the The Witchfinder General originally
met with disgust by critics and was heavily censored. But Tigon didn’t let
that put them off and they returned to the same themes for The Blood on
Satan’s Claw, another nasty little piece of work but not as good.
The Blood on Satan’s Claw shares many similarities with The
Witchfinder General and has been labeled somewhat of a spiritual
successor. Though the difference being that the witchcraft in this one is
real and not just an excuse to persecute and pillage. But the level of
nastiness which runs through both films is still high: here you’ve got child
abduction, rape, some unnecessary surgery, some limb-hacking and much more.
When people think of the waves that something like The Human Centipede
create today, one can only imagine what sort of shock and outrage The
Blood on Satan’s Claw would have caused back in the 70s. Overall though,
the film is a mixed bag and suffers from a confusing mix of ideas,
especially during the first half. But all will be revealed at the end so the
film can be forgiven for taking some liberties with plot threads when
everything comes together later on. The English countryside is used
brilliantly as the backdrop to this supernatural mayhem and with the
beautiful setting, you really get a sense of 17th century time and place.
The film has been shot under grey skies and this adds to the film’s
atmosphere. Right from the opening shots, there is something ominous
attempting to break free and the lifeless, subdued colour scheme really
enhances the bleak tone. Of course it helps that the woods themselves are
rather eerie looking and you wouldn’t want to go anywhere near them. The
finale also lets the film down in a big way as the nearly-resurrected
monster is seen in the woods. The film had run out of budget by this point
but for the majority of the film, the less-is-more approach had worked so
well so we didn’t really need to see ‘Behemoth’ in all of its glory.
Patrick Wymark drops in and out of the film too much which is a shame as his
character was being set up well as the good-natured judge, determined to get
to the bottom of what is going on but not resorting to the tried-and-tested
methods of witch hunting. Linda Hayden, as Angel, is his opposite in the
film. The young actress, barely an adult herself, is the embodiment of Satan
for the film, doing his evil bidding whilst he rebuilds himself with the
limbs of sacrificed victims. She starts the film as a plain peasant girl but
as the film progresses, she transforms herself into a sexually-aware
seductress, using her body to corrupt others and do the Devil’s bidding.
With a couple of scenes of full frontal nudity, credit must go to Hadyen for
wanting to go through with it at such an age but the character is all the
better for it as the contrast between her obviously-young age and her
overtly mature sexuality is startlingly effective. I must add that as pretty
as Hayden is, it’s not ‘titillating’ nudity to get worked up in a lather
over! These scenes will make you feel really dirty as they’re not presented
in an erotic manner. Ditto the child rape scene. You’ll need a take a shower
after watching but not a cold shower – the grime and dirt of the film will
get under your skin. Anthony Ainley, who would go on to play The Master in
Doctor Who, gets a rare chance to play a good guy for once, as the
unfortunate local vicar who gets seduced by Angel after she strips naked in
front of him.
Verdict
The Blood on Satan’s Claw is bloody enough, disturbing
enough and acted well enough to make it one of British horror’s most
underrated gems. Hardly a classic but a strong effort which will leave a
nasty taste in your mouth after watching. |
